Space-x
This week, SpaceX laborers in South Texas stacked the third full-scale Starship model—SN3—onto a test stand at the organization’s Boca Chica dispatch site. On Wednesday night, they pressure-tried the vehicle at surrounding temperature with nitrogen, and SN3 performed fine.
On Thursday night SpaceX started cryo-testing the vehicle, which implies it was stacked again with nitrogen, yet this time it was chilled to flight-like temperatures and put under flight-like weights. Tragically, a brief time after 2am neighborhood time, SN3 fizzled and started to crumple on itself.
Why Space-x Fail?
It showed up as though the vehicle may have lost pressurization and become top-heavy.This week, SpaceX laborers in South Texas stacked the third full-scale Star-ship model—SN3—onto a test stand at the organization’s Boca Chica dispatch site. On Wednesday night, they pressure-tried the vehicle at surrounding temperature with nitrogen, and SN3 performed fine.
On Thursday night SpaceX started cryo-testing the vehicle, which implies it was stacked again with nitrogen, yet this time it was chilled to flight-like temperatures and put under flight-like weights. Sadly, a short while after 2am neighborhood time, SN3 fizzled and started to crumple on itself. It showed up as though the vehicle may have lost pressurization and become top-overwhelming.
Here’s a recap of SpaceX’s efforts to test full-size Starships to date:
- Star-ship Mk1: Construction began in December, 2018. Failed during pressure test in November, 2019.
- Star-ship SN1: Construction began in October, 2019. Failed during a pressure test on Feb. 28.
- Star-ship SN2: Construction began in Feb., 2020. After SN1 failure, was converted into a test bed for thrust puck at base of rocket. Passed test on March 8, and was retired.
- Star-ship SN3: Construction began in March, 2020. Cryogenic test failure on April 3.
- Star-ship SN4: Construction began in March, 2020. Testing begins later this month?
