Elon Musk's success in taking off from Florida has been overshadowed by the explosion in Texas of his Starship launcher
The first manned space capsule occupied only by U.S. astronauts is now traveling through space to the International Space Station (ISS). Much of the credit goes to the efforts of billionaire Elon Musk, owner of the space company SpaceX that makes both the Dragon and the Falcon 9 carrier rockets.
Gone is the aborted launch attempt of three days ago due to atmospheric causes and in oblivion the almost a decade - exactly 3,252 days - without the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) having had any possibility of transporting human beings to the Earth's orbit.
But the historic flight from the Kennedy Space Center -in the state of Florida- on Saturday, May 30th, at 9:22 p.m. Spanish time, has been overshadowed by the impressive explosion that took place a little more than 24 hours before, at the Elon Musk launch and test spaceport in Boca Chica (Texas), 2,200 kilometers away.
A tremendous explosion followed by a spectacular fireball has completely destroyed the Starship SN4 test vehicle. This is the fourth prototype of the final stage with which Elon Musk aims to build a space rocket to the moon. Standing 120 metres high and weighing some 150 tonnes at launch, it is larger and more powerful than the Saturn V, which carried NASA astronauts to the lunar surface during the 1960s and 1970s.
The Starship SN4 was carrying out a test firing of its single engine when, after a few seconds of operation, a fire broke out followed by an explosion that disintegrated the spacecraft but did not cause any injuries. This is the fourth prototype that in the course of just 6 months has been shattered during the testing of the liquid hydrogen engine, which will undoubtedly halt the ground and flight test programme for the SN5, SN6 and SN7 prototypes. Fortunately, the Starship's technology has little to do with that of the Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Dragon manned craft, which departed less than 24 hours ago for the ISS with astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley on board.
President Donald Trump has again come to the Kennedy Space Center to personally witness the second and final attempt of what has been a resounding success. As he had done 72 hours earlier, Trump and his wife Melania were accompanied by U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, the senior staff of his administration, and a large group of senators, congressmen and senior managers from the influential U.S. space industry.
Among the guests was Marillyn Hewson, the head of the powerful aerospace and defense industrial group Lockheed Martin, which is manufacturing for NASA the manned capsule Orion to return American astronauts to the Moon.
NASA's team of meteorologists has been successful in their forecasts and the Falcon 9 rocket with the Dragon capsule on top was ascending smoothly into space at the scheduled time - 9:22 pm peninsular time - from the same space base that witnessed the last mission of the shuttle Atlantis on July 8, 2011 and has not seen any flights with astronauts on board since then. For NASA technicians, half of the result of the Demo-2 mission has already been successfully accomplished. The take-off and separation sequences of the different stages are the most critical moments of the mission.
But the last part of the journey to the ISS is still pending, which consists of getting a correct berth in the orbital complex at 16:29 on Sunday, 31 May, and ensuring that the return journey and splashdown in about two months time will be smooth.
Only when Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley are rescued safely from the waters of the Atlantic and the US Agency's technicians verify that the ship has behaved safely. They have already begun preparations for the next manned mission. Called Crew-1, it is scheduled to take off on 30 August and will carry three NASA astronauts and one Japanese astronaut. If the schedule is met, Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley's Dragon Demo-2 will have to return to the ground by mid-August. It will be inspected with the maximum degree of detail and, if necessary, certified by NASA technicians so that the Crew-1 mission can be launched with full safety guarantees.
Privileged astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley were awakened at 09:00 Eastern Standard Time. After washing up, they passed the mandatory medical check-up, ate a frugal breakfast and received the latest weather reports. With all the calm in the world, NASA technicians helped both of them to put on their spacesuits and then they were transported in the Tesla cars provided by Elon Musk to the base of the launch ramp.
Elon Musk's SpaceX Falcon 9 family of rockets has flown into space a total of 87 times since its maiden launch on June 4, 2020, just over 10 years ago. Their reliability rate is 97.7 per cent, with a total of 85 complete successes, making launch insurance premiums cheaper.