The launch and landing of SpaceX’s fifth starship made history. Launching is normal, as with the previous four starship rockets, but landing is unique. This time the starship’s booster meant that the first stage did not land on a floating platform or launch pad in the ocean. He could not even touch the ground. Before this, Mechazilla’s mechanical arms of the launch pad held him in the air. In the future, SpaceX will use this same technology in its launches.
SpaceX CEO and owner Elon Musk upped the ante this time. He used mechanical weapons for booster landing. That too within seven minutes of starting. This time the launch pad was equipped with heavy and powerful weapons. Who has a 232 feet long booster stuck inside him like a chopstick. Mechazilla is a kind of mechanical arm that grabs a rocket booster as soon as it approaches.
The booster also came from space as it was supposed to be in these arms. As soon as this booster was in the hands of the launch pad, SpaceX employees started screaming. Elon Musk wrote on his X handle that Tower is holding a rocket. The decision of this dangerous and new landing is the flight director of this mission.
One small mistake and it explodes like the first four starships
The flight director must decide at what speed the booster will descend in real time. How far does it turn so that the mechanical arms can hold it? Whether to take manual control or not. SpaceX later said that both the booster and the launch tower needed strong stable conditions. Preparations for this have been going on for several months. If the launch was not successful, like the first four starships, it also exploded in the Gulf of Mexico.
Controlled by a retro engine, the one-hour flight was completed in seven minutes
Fortunately everything went well. Made of stainless steel, the spacecraft is equipped with retro engines. It helps to come back down. Help control them. Earlier this flight was one hour. But the rockets sailed smoothly over the Indian Ocean. The booster returned and settled in the arms of the launch pad.
Falcon-9 rockets are also fully reusable.
For the past 9 years, SpaceX has been reusing the first stage booster of the Falcon-9 rocket. This is a first for a starship. Astronauts travel to and from the space station via the Falcon rocket. Its boosters land on a floating platform in the ocean. They’re not yet caught in the arms of the launch pad. Similar tests are likely to be conducted in the future as well.
