SpaceX Starship Launch Countdown to Thursday
upstart writes:
SpaceX Starship launch countdown: all of the news on its first test flight:
Elon Musk's stated goal of putting humans on Mars relies heavily on the development of a next-generation reusable spacecraft, and Starship (formerly known as Big Falcon Rocket or BFR) is ready for its first orbital test flight. It's not the "six months" goal Musk projected in 2019, but after a number of suborbital tests that included some terrific successes and fantastic, fiery failures, the big day is finally almost here.
With just over five minutes to go before its first scheduled launch attempt Monday morning, SpaceX announced that due to a pressurization issue with the first stage, the attempt became a "wet dress rehearsal," and the countdown ended with 10 seconds to go. SpaceX now says it's targeting April 20th for another attempt, with a launch window between 8:28AM CT (9:28AM ET) and 9:30 AM CT (10:30AM ET).
If all goes according to plan, the Starship will fly to orbital velocity after separating from its Super Heavy booster rocket about three minutes into the trip, then splashdown in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii.
The entire trip should take about 90 minutes to complete, and SpaceX is livestreaming the events on its YouTube channel.
Previously: SpaceX's First Orbital Test Flight of Starship Imminent [Scrubbed]
Read more of this story at SoylentNews.