SpaceX is expected to make this Thursday the third test flight of Starship, the largest spacecraft in the world

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Billionaire Elon Musk’s company scheduled its launch for 9am, Brasília time. Model designed for future trips to the Moon and Mars exploded in the other two attempts, both unmanned. Starship at the SpaceX air base in Texas, before the third launch, in a photo from March 13, 2024 Reuters/Joe Skipper SpaceX, billionaire Elon Musk’s rocket company, is expected to carry out its third flight this Thursday (14) test of Starship, the largest ship in the world. Takeoff is scheduled for 9 am (Brasília time). The schedule may change due to technical problems or the lack of ideal weather conditions. Once again, the mission will not have passengers, despite the ship being designed to transport people in the future. FOLLOW the launch HERE The first two tests ended with explosions a few minutes after launch, although SpaceX celebrated both events as part of the project’s evolution (remember the missions below). “Each of these flight tests remains just that: a test. They are not taking place in a laboratory or on a test stand, but are placing flight hardware in a flight environment to maximize learning,” says SpaceX. What went wrong in the other tests? The other launches ended with explosions at different times of the mission. In the first attempt, in April 2023, a failure caused the engines to shut down and forced the company to activate a destruction system to explode the Super Heavy rocket and the ship while they were still docked. SpaceX has gained fame for creating thrusters that are reusable. See what Starship’s first launch was like In the second test, in November 2023, the Super Heavy rocket exploded again, this time after separating from Starship. The company also said it had lost contact with the ship. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the body that regulates space flights in the United States, concluded the investigation into this accident in February and said that SpaceX identified 17 corrective actions. The company, in turn, stated that the failure probably occurred due to a blockage in the filter through which liquid oxygen is taken to the engines. This caused a loss of pressure in the engine pumps, which ended up not working as expected. “SpaceX has implemented hardware changes in upcoming Starship vehicles to improve leak reduction, fire protection and refined operations associated with propellant ventilation to increase reliability,” the manufacturer said. See what Starship’s 2nd launch was like. What will Starship’s third flight be like? SpaceX’s plan is for the Super Heavy rocket to detach from the spacecraft (also called a capsule) about two minutes after launch. And, if everything goes as planned, the capsule, in turn, should reach Earth orbit and fall into the Indian Ocean after just over an hour. Musk’s company detailed the phases planned for the flight. The planning may undergo changes, but, in principle, these will be the main moments of the mission: 0min52 after launch: rocket reaches “Max Q”, as the peak of mechanical stress is known; 2min44: the two stages (rocket and capsule) separate and then the rocket begins the procedure to end the flight in the water, in the Gulf of Mexico; 8:35: Starship’s engine is turned off and the ship continues in Earth orbit; 49min05: after circling the planet, the ship leaves Earth’s orbit and begins to return to the atmosphere; 1:04:39: Starship ends flight with water landing, in the Pacific Ocean. Discover the largest rocket in history, created by Elon Musk’s company Why is flight important? Starship will be used to carry out cargo flights in the Artemis program, a series of missions that NASA, the American space agency, plans to take humans back to the Moon, starting in 2026. Plans for Starship also include space tourism : two flights that will take artists around the Moon, lasting around a week each. There is no forecast for them to happen. One of them is expected to carry Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa and artists invited by him, and the other has as its first passengers American businessman and the world’s first space tourist Dennis Tito and his wife Akiko Tito. It is also in the plans of Elon Musk, owner of SpaceX, to make trips to Mars. The idea was that it could pave the way for space travel with up to 100 people on interplanetary flights. Starship at the SpaceX air base in Texas, before the third launch, in a photo from March 13, 2024 Reuters/Joe Skipper What does the Starship spacecraft look like? It is 120 meters high (including Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy propellant) and 9 meters in diameter It can carry up to 100 people It is designed to be reusable, just like other SpaceX ships It has the capacity to carry up to 250 tons, if it can be discarded after a mission, and 150 tons, when it needs to be reused It has been tested since 2019 (without the Super Heavy propellant), but the first successful landing only took place in 2021 It will be used in NASA’s Artemis 3 mission, which will take astronauts back to surface of the Moon, in 2025 Its first three manned missions should be carried out with space tourists, two of which will go around the Moon. In the future, it could be used to transport people and cargo to Mars, according to SpaceX Starship at the SpaceX air base , in Texas, before the third launch, in a photo from March 13, 2024 Reuters/Cheney Orr Meet Starship, the spacecraft that SpaceX will use on flights around the Moon Starship Arte/ g1

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