SpaceX's Starship SN3 prototype collapses in pressure tank test
By
Meghan Bartels
Published Apr 3, 2020 1:42 PM EDT
The night sky has a lot in store for us for the month of April. Grab your telescopes and start making plans for a night in your backyard.
SpaceX began testing its newest prototype of a massive Starship vehicle in Texas overnight, and video footage suggests that process did not go smoothly.
Starship is the company's massive spacecraft designed to colonize Mars and tackle other heavy-lift deep-space missions. For about a year now, SpaceX has been building and testing various prototypes of the vehicle, including a miniature Starhopper that flew in August 2019. The latest version, dubbed SN3 (short for Serial No. 3) was scheduled to undergo a series of tests culminating in short, "hopping" flights. But something went wrong in an early test conducted yesterday (April 2).
SpaceX's Starship SN3 prototype collapses during cryogenic pressure test on April 3, 2020 at the company's Boca Chica, Texas facility. (Image credit: SPadre.com)
"We will see what data review says in the morning, but this may have been a test configuration mistake," SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said in a post on Twitter.
"Some valves leaked at cryo temp. Fixing & will retest soon," Musk added in a follow-up tweet.
The test, a cryogenic pressure test, was intended to demonstrate that SN3 could withstand the high pressure of very cold fuel that such a vehicle will need to endure before flights. In another tweet, Musk said that SN3 had passed an ambient temperature test the night prior to the failed cryogenic pressure test.
The cryogenic pressure test would have been followed by a static fire, during which the vehicle's engines would have briefly lit while SN3 was held in place, and a hopping test, when SN3 would have made the first flight of a full-size Starship prototype.
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News / Astronomy
SpaceX's Starship SN3 prototype collapses in pressure tank test
By Meghan Bartels
Published Apr 3, 2020 1:42 PM EDT
Partner Content
The night sky has a lot in store for us for the month of April. Grab your telescopes and start making plans for a night in your backyard.
SpaceX began testing its newest prototype of a massive Starship vehicle in Texas overnight, and video footage suggests that process did not go smoothly.
Starship is the company's massive spacecraft designed to colonize Mars and tackle other heavy-lift deep-space missions. For about a year now, SpaceX has been building and testing various prototypes of the vehicle, including a miniature Starhopper that flew in August 2019. The latest version, dubbed SN3 (short for Serial No. 3) was scheduled to undergo a series of tests culminating in short, "hopping" flights. But something went wrong in an early test conducted yesterday (April 2).
SpaceX's Starship SN3 prototype collapses during cryogenic pressure test on April 3, 2020 at the company's Boca Chica, Texas facility. (Image credit: SPadre.com)
"We will see what data review says in the morning, but this may have been a test configuration mistake," SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said in a post on Twitter.
"Some valves leaked at cryo temp. Fixing & will retest soon," Musk added in a follow-up tweet.
The test, a cryogenic pressure test, was intended to demonstrate that SN3 could withstand the high pressure of very cold fuel that such a vehicle will need to endure before flights. In another tweet, Musk said that SN3 had passed an ambient temperature test the night prior to the failed cryogenic pressure test.
The cryogenic pressure test would have been followed by a static fire, during which the vehicle's engines would have briefly lit while SN3 was held in place, and a hopping test, when SN3 would have made the first flight of a full-size Starship prototype.
Click here to continue reading on SPACE.com.
Report a Typo