Hey everybody, welcome back to the Elon Musk Podcast.
This is a show where we discuss the critical Crossroads, The
Shape, SpaceX, Tesla X, The Boring Company, and Neuralink,
and I'm your host, Will Walden. So SpaceX had a recent Starship
System test and it marks an important, albeit very complex
point in its development journey.
Despite the loss of the Super Heavy booster and the Starship
spacecraft during the IFT 2 flight, SpaceX remains
optimistic, viewing the event as a valuable learning opportunity
for advancing its multi planetary ambitions.
Now SpaceX in a statement emphasizes the significance of
the test for gaining crucial data to enhance starships
reliability. This incident underscores the
challenges of SpaceX faces and perfecting the technology needed
for future space missions, including colonization of other
planets like Mars and beyond. Now the Starship system is not
only a key player in Spacex's grand vision for space travel,
but also a critical component in NASA's Artemis program.
This program aims to return US astronauts to the moon, a feat
not achieved in over 50 years or five decades.
And this one's different. They're going to establish
permanent lunar outpost, the Artemis 3 mission scheduled for
late 2025 but possibly being pushed on even further Plans to
utilize the Starship spacecraft and the recent test flight
failure has raised concerns about meeting this deadline,
although the NASA officials maintained an optimistic
outlook, valuing the lessons learned from each one of these
tests. IFT 1, IFT 2 and soon, probably
February of 2024 IFT 3. Let's go back to the second test
flight of the Starship. The system demonstrated
significant improvements over its first attempt.
The successful ignition of all 33 engine and the survival of
the launchpad against immense thrust are notable achievements.
However, this mission also faced critical failures that hindered
its full execution. Now the Super heavy booster is
unexpected explosion after detaching from the Starship and
the subsequent loss of signal from the Starship capsule
highlight key areas for improvement.
These events prevented SpaceX from testing vital landing and
reusability maneuvers. Now Elon Musk, the SpaceX CEO,
has acknowledged the complexity of ensuring safe re entry and
landing for the Starship. This aspect remains one of the
most challenging hurdles in the vehicle's development.
Reusability is a cornerstone of all of Spacex's strategy, but
essentially the Starship system needs this in order to complete
the goal to get to the lunar surface.
Now successfully recovering and reusing both the Starship
spacecraft and the Super Heavy booster is crucial for frequent
and cost effective lunar missions.
The orbital refueling of Starship is also a critical step
for lunar missions. Given the immense fuel
consumption during loss, over a dozen tanker missions may be
required to refuel a single Starship for its lunar journey.
Just recently, in a talk with NASA, a SpaceX representative
said it would take about 10 refuels for the Starship and the
lunar mission. Now, achieving a moon landing
with Starship involves multiple development milestones,
including hundreds of satellite missions, tanker version
testing, and an uncrewed lunar landing.
Spacex's approach to edit this out, Spacex's approach to
development embraces the risk of explosive failures as a path to
rapid learning and also improvement of the Starship
system. Comparatively, NASA's
traditional development approach, characterized by
extensive ground testing, contrasts with Spacex's more
experimental and cost effective method.
The difference in approach reflects the varying priorities
and methodologies of government and now private sector space
exploration with SpaceX. Now, when the broader context of
lunar Landers, SpaceX Starship competes with Blue Origins Blue
Moon, another contender for future Artemis missions, each
company faces unique challenges in the respective designs and
strategies for Moon landings. Now, the current initiatives to
send humans back to the Moon through programs like Artemis
mark a shift from NASA's historic Apollo missions.
Unlike Apollo, which was primarily focused on achieving
the first lunar landing and established American dominance
in space during the Cold War, the Artemis program aims for a
sustainable and long term presence on the Moon.
This new era in lunar exploration is not about
repeating the past. What about laying the new
groundwork for future space endeavors, including potential
missions to Mars? And a key difference between the
Apollo program and current lunar missions is the emphasis on
sustainability and also reusability in space travel.
While Apollo missions were essentially one off ventures,
the Artemis program, with the help of technologies like
Spacex's Starship, seeks to establish a continuous human
presence on the Moon. This approach involves
developing infrastructure for repeated trips, permanent lunar
bases, and technologies that can be adapted for future Mars
missions, representing a significant advancement from the
Apollo era. Apollo basically sent humans to
the moon and brought them back to Earth.
We're going to set up an infrastructure for future
generations with the Artemis program, and the Artemis
missions also differ in their collaborative nature.
The Apollo program was a largely national effort, driven by the
geopolitical context of the 1960s, the Cold War, and in
contrast, Artemis is more international and commercial,
involving partnerships with various countries and also
various private companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin.
This collaborative approach not only spreads the financial
burden, but also brings together a diverse range of expertise in
technology, making the mission more robust and inclusive.
The technological advancement since the Apollo era also play a
critical role in shaping the Artemis missions.
Today's spacecraft, lunar Landers, and other space
technologies benefit from decades of innovation in
material science, computing, and engineering.
These advancements enable more ambitious missions, such as
establishing a permanent base on the Moon and eventually sending
humans to Mars, which were beyond the scope of the Apollo
program. The Artemis missions therefore
stand as an important milestone in the ongoing evolution of
space exploration. Now, looking ahead, SpaceX plans
to ready the Starship system for another test flight within
weeks, Should be about mid January, late January.
For this, however, the timeline is uncertain given the need for
a thorough analysis of the recent test data and regulatory
approvals from the FAA and the FA.
Involvement in investigating the recent test flight and its role
in approving future launches adds another layer of complexity
to Spacex's timeline. The duration of these regulatory
processes remains unclear. SpaceX is hoping to get FAA
clearance by February. Spacex's recent Starship test
represents a significant but mixed step in the journey
towards advanced space exploration.
The successes and setbacks of this test provide vital insights
for SpaceX as it continues to develop technology that could
shape our approach to exploring and inhabiting space from the
Moon to Mars and beyond. Hey, thank you so much for
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