Every age has its hero, its inventor, innovator and a person who drives change. For our age, that has to be Elon Musk, the person behind SpaceX, Tesla and plenty of other companies which are striving to take us upward to space and to make our life on Earth an easier one. Sustainable power, green vehicles and inventions which are a step in the right direction are what Elon Musk stands behind.
One of the newer products is catching the eye of the public, called the Starship. It is a simple name but it does not tell us much apart from it being a spaceship. Here is more on the topic.
The Final Goal – A Multi-Planet Species
Humans have always considered that some sort of apocalypse is headed our way. From various prophecies to a global pandemic, we are being challenged at every turn. Elon Musk has stated that his end goal for humans is to settle multiple planets, or die out on Earth in an eventual extinction event.
In order to speed up our journey to nearby planets, Musk started SpaceX with that goal. Settling Mars is the first step in the journey to settling other planets. Starship is a way to get there.
Starship – An Interplanetary Transport
Starship is one of the many ideas that will most likely come to life and start transporting people to other planes and satellites in the coming years. It is a space-faring vessel which can carry around 100 people. It is launched into orbit by a Super Heavy Booster, a set of engines which will be detached once the Starship has enough velocity to get off the planet. The launching should be done in 5 separate stages.
Once discarded, the Booster will be caught, to be eventually reused. Starship is also going to eventually send Nasa astronauts to the Moon.
Starship – A Lander in Development
The Nasa Artemis mission requires a functional lander to get people to the Moon. In 2024, this mission is scheduled to launch. SpaceX got the funds to make Starship into a viable lander which can take astronauts to the Moon and back.
The Starship lands in a very peculiar way. It goes down vertically and then flops to its belly and starts using the atmosphere and steel flaps to create drag. This should slow it down enough that by the time it gets close to the ground, a simple flip and engine burn should give it a steady landing.
There were multiple prototypes, most of them destroyed, until SN15 made a clean landing.
Get ready for a trip to Mars, in a decade or so, or even longer. Starship is one of the steps that will get us there and Elon Musk is the mastermind behind it.
