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Title: SpaceX Launches Massive Starship On Its Sixth Test Flight

Link: https://science.slashdot.org/story/24/11/20/0...

SpaceX's Starship rocket successfully completed its sixth launch today. Not
only did it carry the first-ever payload but it also briefly re-lit one of
its six Raptor engines about 38 minutes into flight, a crucial milestone for
future space missions. Space Magazine reports: SpaceX landed Starship's huge
first-stage booster, known as Super Heavy, back at the launch tower on the
vehicle's most recent flight, which occurred on Oct. 13. The company aimed to
repeat that feat -- which the tower achieved with its "chopstick" arms --
today, but the flight data didn't support an attempt. "We tripped a commit
criteria," SpaceX's Dan Huot said during the company's Flight 6 webcast. So
Super Heavy ended up coming down for a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of
Mexico instead, hitting the waves seven minutes after liftoff. Today's
mission aimed to do far more than just bring Super Heavy back to Earth in one
piece. SpaceX also wanted to put Starship's upper stage -- a 165-foot-tall
(50 m) spacecraft called Starship, or simply "Ship" -- through its paces. The
launch sent Ship on the same semi-orbital trajectory that it took on Flight
5, targeting a splashdown in the Indian Ocean off the northwestern coast of
Australia about 65 minutes after liftoff. But Ship also achieved some new
milestones along the way this time. For example, Flight 6 carried the first-
ever Starship payload -- a plush banana onboard Ship, which served as a zero-
gravity indicator. (It was not deployed into space.) In addition, Ship
briefly re-lit one of its six Raptor engines about 38 minutes into the
flight. (Super Heavy also employs Raptors -- a whopping 33 of them.) This
burn helped show that Ship can perform the maneuvers needed to come back to
Earth safely during orbital missions. Indeed, Ship is designed to be fully
and rapidly reusable, just like Super Heavy; SpaceX eventually intends to
catch it with the chopstick arms as well, and will likely try to do so on a
test flight in the near future. Flight 6 also tested modifications to Ship's
heat shield, which protects the vehicle during reentry to Earth's atmosphere.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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