Meet SpaceX's Starship Hopper

Source: Space.com

Meet SpaceX's Starship Hopper

By Lee Cavendish 11 hours ago Spaceflight

SpaceX continues to amaze in popularizing space exploration. Not only is it doing fantastic work in reaching and exploring space, shown by its efforts to transport supplies and astronauts to the International Space Station, it also flaunts retro exhibitions that capture the interest of people worldwide. Recently, Elon Musk — the CEO of SpaceX — released images and information on what he calls the "Starship" Hopper test rocket.

The prototype hopper was recently constructed in a project that will hopefully be used to help colonize Mars. Anyone who follows Musk will know that he is a keen advocate of going to Mars, and with scientists and engineers urging everyone to get behind an exploration mission that can take us to a whole new frontier, it is now becoming more of a reality than a dream. Starship and its huge first-stage booster, Super Heavy — which together were formerly known as the Big Falcon Rocket (BFR) — could be the vehicles to undertake this important task. In order for Starship and Super Heavy to be successful, there are many things to take into account, and a lot of power needs to be exerted.

This is not just another 384,400-kilometer (238,855 miles) mission to the moon. This is going to be a journey more than 140 times longer. This means that there needs to be enough food, supplies and protection from the harmful radiation of space in order to survive this journey, and even then there’s the question of how much fuel is needed to break free of Earth’s gravity and make it Mars.

These are the reasons why a voyage to Mars is a struggle. But nothing good ever comes easy. SpaceX has shown extremely promising signs of improved space exploration with the introduction of reusable rockets, and now Musk has released the first images of the Starship prototype that will soon undergo short "hopping" excursions to test its feasibility. These vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) tests will hover up to 5 kilometers (3 miles) above the ground before landing back on Earth. The hopper prototype towers at a height of about 39 meters (128 feet) and has a diameter of 9 meters (30 feet), with a stainless-steel exterior starting at its pointy tip to its three rear "fins" that serve as its legs as it stands on the ground.

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Read more: https://www.space.com/spacex-starship-hopper-elon-musk-explained.html


Artist's illustration of a prototype of SpaceX's Starship vehicle. Starship is designed to help humanity explore and settle the moon, Mars and other distant destinations.(Image: © Adrian Mann/Steve Jurvetson)