Hi everybody and welcome back to the Elon Musk podcast. I'm your host will Weldon. And I'll today's episode, we're going to be talking about spacex's Starship rocket. Now this is a highly anticipated. Launch That was supposed to happen today, but it got scrubbed. For one reason.
It has been called off today, due to a pressure issue with the massive super heavy booster engine ears, attempted to troubleshoot the problem, but with the countdown clock showing less than 10 minutes remaining, the launch was officially scrubbed by SpaceX and SpaceX engineer, John Innes Brucker stated that the team would work to determine when the next
launch attempt could be made. In addition to the pressurization issue, John said that there's a possibility that they could launch within two days. Elon Musk actually tweeted about it and said there is a 48-hour turnaround time for this kind of engineering problem.
Now Starship which sits atop a super-heavy booster is covered with Really 20,000 hexagonal black tiles and they're designed is heat shields to protect the spacecraft as it re-enters Earth's atmosphere after the flight That was supposed to happen. These tiles are only applied to one side of the Starship is the vehicle re-enters. Horizontally with the tiles coating its belly.
Now, this is important because when the Starship takes off, there's a possibility that these hexagonal black tiles could fall off the ship. That's because the rumbling of the super-heavy booster and the friction is caused by the atmosphere. And this actually has happened before with the space shuttle. If you remember now, this Starship launch. It was supposed to happen today.
It's a huge significant Milestone not only for SpaceX but also for the United States. Government's ambition for human space. Exploration Masa is awarded SpaceX contracts and options worth several billions of dollars to use Starship to Or it NASA astronauts to the Moon
Under the Artemis program. Now, however, SpaceX is history of embracing, mistakes, mishaps explosions, these all, refine it spacecraft designs and means that the pressure is not solely on the inaugural test flight That was supposed to happen. Today, Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX has set expectations low for the Starship launch stating that getting far enough away from the launch pad before. Something goes wrong.
Would be considered a Success. Now SpaceX has been testing Starship designed for years at a Spaceport near Brownsville, Texas on the u.s. Mexico border. The company started with brief. Sort of hop tests of early spacecraft does this Thames and prototypes before evolving to how you altitude flight tests, many of which resulted in dramatic explosions is the company attempted to land the
craft upright. Like their Falcon 9 rocket sin in May 20 21, a suborbital, flight test ended in success, And they landed perfectly super-heavy booster which houses 33 Raptor two engines designed to carry the Starship spacecraft. During launch has also been in development in this time when fully stacked the Starship, which sits Atop The super-heavy booster stands around 400 feet
tall. Now, while the weather is always a determining factor in a launch, several other considerations must be taken into account before. Starship can be cleared for takeoff Engineers must Monitor data from the rocket throughout the morning and any issues detected could trigger a scrub at any time. And even in the final moments before liftoff onboard, computers and II could detect a problem and halt, the launch.
Now despite today's setback vocals and Spectators around the world eagerly await the rescheduled launch of SpaceX is Starship. Now for those in Texas South Padre Island offers an amazing viewing location while Spectators in Hawaii. You may also be able to see the Starship spacecraft effort as it re-enters Earth's atmosphere. You can check it out from Florida as well. If you're in the south coast of Florida you may be able to see
this Starship launches. Well that was SpaceX Works to address the pressure issue with a super-heavy booster and clear other things from the launch cycle, anticipation is building for the Starship eventual Journey towards an orbital flight test. It's almost orbital, it's pretty close. And with the Potential to revolutionize, space travel and exploration. The Starship launch is a huge milestone and it'll be remembered for years. And it's important that SpaceX
get this right the first time. Because if something were to happen on the pad on the Launchpad for the Starship, it could set SpaceX back. Six months. Maybe a year to rebuild all of this systems in the orbital launch Mount. It's a custom launch Mount. There was built specifically for this rocket. So they would have to possibly rebuild the whole thing and it
could take a long time. Now, Falcon heavy, this is another rocket that SpaceX has it held the title for the most powerful rocket before the NASA SLS rocket took flight last year in Ilan said it only had a 50-50 chance of succeeding. He jokingly told CNN at the time people came from all around the world to see what will either be a great rocket launch or the best fireworks display they've ever. Ever seen the Falcon heavy launch proved to be a huge
success. Now, the stakes are high for Starships, Maiden flight and is crucial. Not only for SpaceX has further growth, but it's also important to get people to the moon for the Artemis 3 mission safely.
And if SpaceX can conduct itself and can do this launched properly, they'll show NASA and they'll show the world that Starship is capable of A perfect proper launch and possible Landing. So we're going to be doing with this Starship. The booster is going to go into the Gulf of Mexico and while it's above the Gulf of Mexico with a Starship on top of it, the two will separate in the Starship will continue up for its orbital flight test.
And the booster will flip in midair and boost back, it will use some of its booster fuel to boost back towards the Gulf of Mexico Landing site. And then it'll flip vertical and they're going to be attempting a soft launch or a soft Landing. I'm sorry. In the Gulf of Mexico. It's going to be incredible. Now, with the Artemis program, they have to make sure that the Starship itself is capable of surviving the launched, by itself, clearing the pad clearing into the Gulf of Mexico.
And then separating from the booster. Now, this is also just the Girl flight. So this is a test flight, this isn't going to have people in it. This may not even have Cargo in it. There was nothing said by SpaceX that there's any sort of cargo within the Starship itself. So there's a possibility, it's an empty Starship and they don't want to lose anything of importance for this. Inaugural flight now is SpaceX prepares for the reschedule
launch though. The company will no doubt be taking every precaution to ensure safety. And for the success of For this flight.
Now, as musk is emphasized, numerous times setbacks and failures are all part of the development process for Starship in a SpaceX continues to push the boundaries of space, exploration, the lessons learned, and the data gathered from every single launch attempt of the Starship, whether successful or not will contribute to the development of or Advanced and reliable Starships in the future.
And those eager to witness this missed this history-making Launch SpaceX will be providing a live stream of the rescheduled launch. It is possible. It could happen on the 19th of April, while it may not be possible for spectators around the world to catch live views of the Rock in Flay. The live stream looks absolutely incredible. So Starship launched its highly
anticipated. It's a huge milestone for SpaceX and the space industry as a whole and today Scrub may have been disappointing too many but it serves as a, reminder of the complexities involved in sending a spacecraft into orbit, especially something this huge and it's SpaceX Works to resolve. The pressure issue with a super-heavy booster and they clear the pad.
Again, anticipation continues to build for the next launch attempt on possibly the nineteenth of April in this will potentially revolutionize all space travel, all space exploration and it will be a historic moment. So I I urge you to please tune into spacex's YouTube channel to witness this for yourself. Thanks for listening to the Elon Musk podcast today. I appreciate your support.
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