Starhopper First Test A Big Win скачать в хорошем качестве

Starhopper First Test A Big Win

SPACEX STARHOPPER FIRST TEST A BIG WIN SpaceX Starhopper performed its first full flight test late last night after many delays. This is the first test of interplanetary hopper test frame that will test raptor engines and overall Starship Concept in coming months. SpaceX has been working on Starhopper since late last year when they unveiled Starhopper design to the world. The Design has since suffered few setbacks, first the cone of the spacecraft was blown away by unexpected storms in early January, delaying any potential test flight by weeks if not months. Repairs on Starship which took sometimes, gave Starhopper new look, however, the new look is only temporary and new cone will be attached to the Starhopper with in next few weeks as Starhopper starts higher altitude tests, that will require aerodynamic efficiency and stability. So what happened last night you might wonder? Elon Musk clarified the last night tests was first full-scale Starship inaugural hop test, igniting its lone Raptor engine and straining against a trio of tethers attached to its legs. This is the first in many tests SpaceX will conduct on Starhopper, however although this was relatively minor in the scope of SpaceX’s next-generation rocket program, Starhopper’s successful tethered hop now paves the way towards untethered testing in which the suborbital testbed could spend several minutes aloft and reach altitudes as high as 5 km. The importance of this test as stated before clears the way for more complex flight tests that will take Starhopper to higher altitudes, up to 5000m, the reason for tests at this altitude is to ensure the test frame completes all important high altitude hovering and power descent from high altitudes as this is something Starship will be required to do as it delivers its cargo or passengers here on Earth but more importantly in thin Martian Atmosphere. This also marks perhaps an even more significant milestone for Raptor, completing the engine’s first successful test-fire as part of an integrated flight vehicle, that being said, only one engine was tested, the Starhopper’s next major milestone will be integration of 2 additional Raptor engines for total of 3, which is expected to happen in late April, for high altitude flights are expected to commence in May, a month before first Starship rolls out. Starhopper’s first successful Raptor ignition comes after the better part of two weeks of concerted testing of the integrated prototype, beginning around March 18/19. That testing included 5+ wet dress rehearsals (WDRs) that involved loading the vehicle with a significant quantity of liquid methane and oxygen propellant, verifying the performance of avionics and plumbing, and ultimately attempting to ignite Raptor. If all proceeds nominally, it’s possible that SpaceX could begin untethered hop tests in the in few weeks time. Regardless, this marks an excellent step forward for the company’s next-generation Starship/Super Heavy spaceship and launch vehicle – all data gathered in this phase will help to optimize and improve the final design of the first orbital vehicles.