Europa Clipper Launch + People & Teams Supporting NASA's Mission

Europa Clipper Launch + People & Teams Supporting NASA's Mission

Europa Clipper scientists and engineers of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL)

Europa Clipper teams at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Launch team at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC)

NASA Social visitors at NASA's Kennedy Space Center

Europa Clipper team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)

"At JPL, we’ve got our lucky peanuts ready for Europa Clipper!" 🥜It is a longstanding tradition at JPL to have peanuts on hand during a launch. Read the backstory here: http://go.nasa.gov/3VcqmSn

NASA's Europa Clipper Mission was successfully launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A at 12:06 p.m. EDT on Monday, October 14, 2024.

About a thousand people have recently worked on the NASA's Europa Clipper mission, including more than 220 scientists from both the U.S. and Europe. Since the mission was officially approved in 2015, more than 4,000 people have contributed to Europa Clipper.

Learn more about the Europa Clipper Team:

https://europa.nasa.gov/mission/the-team/overview/

Beyond Earth, Jupiter’s moon Europa is considered one of the solar system’s most promising potentially habitable environments. After an approximately 1.8-billion-mile journey, Europa Clipper will enter orbit around Jupiter in April 2030, where the spacecraft will conduct a detailed survey of Europa to determine whether the icy world could have conditions suitable for life. Europa Clipper is the largest spacecraft NASA has ever developed for a planetary mission. It carries a suite of nine instruments along with a gravity experiment that will investigate an ocean beneath Europa’s surface, which scientists believe contains twice as much liquid water as Earth’s oceans.

Europa Clipper's science instruments include cameras, spectrometers, a magnetometer, and an ice-penetrating radar. These instruments will study Europa’s icy shell, the ocean beneath, and the composition of the gases in the moon’s atmosphere and surface geology, and provide insights into the moon’s potential habitability. The spacecraft also will carry a thermal instrument to pinpoint locations of warmer ice and any possible eruptions of water vapor. Strong evidence shows the ocean beneath Europa’s crust is twice the volume of all the Earth’s oceans combined.

For more information on the mission, visit: https://europa.nasa.gov/

'Dreaming of Europa' Posters and Wallpaper (phone and desktop)

Full-size downloads: https://go.nasa.gov/3ZIDxgu

Image Credits: NASA/JPL/KSC

Release Date: Oct. 14, 2024

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #EuropaClipper #EuropaClipperSpacecraft #SpaceX #FalconHeavyRocket #Jupiter #Europa #Moon #Ocean #Astrobiology #Biosignatures #Habitability #Radiation #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #JHUAPL #MSFC #GSFC #JPL #KSC #Spaceport #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

NASA Europa Clipper Mission: SpaceX Falcon Heavy Pre-Launch Views

NASA Europa Clipper Mission: SpaceX Falcon Heavy Pre-Launch Views

NASA's Europa Clipper Mission lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A at 12:06 p.m. EDT on Monday, October 14, 2024 as scheduled. Here are views before this historic planetary science launch.

Beyond Earth, Jupiter’s moon Europa is considered one of the solar system’s most promising potentially habitable environments. After an approximately 1.8-billion-mile journey, Europa Clipper will enter orbit around Jupiter in April 2030, where the spacecraft will conduct a detailed survey of Europa to determine whether the icy world could have conditions suitable for life. Europa Clipper is the largest spacecraft NASA has ever developed for a planetary mission. It carries a suite of nine instruments along with a gravity experiment that will investigate an ocean beneath Europa’s surface, which scientists believe contains twice as much liquid water as Earth’s oceans.

Europa Clipper's science instruments include cameras, spectrometers, a magnetometer, and an ice-penetrating radar. These instruments will study Europa’s icy shell, the ocean beneath, and the composition of the gases in the moon’s atmosphere and surface geology, and provide insights into the moon’s potential habitability. The spacecraft also will carry a thermal instrument to pinpoint locations of warmer ice and any possible eruptions of water vapor. Strong evidence shows the ocean beneath Europa’s crust is twice the volume of all the Earth’s oceans combined.

For more information on the mission, visit: https://europa.nasa.gov/

'Dreaming of Europa' Posters and Wallpaper (phone and desktop)

Full-size downloads: https://go.nasa.gov/3ZIDxgu

Image Credit: SpaceX

Capture Date: Oct. 13, 2024

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #EuropaClipper #EuropaClipperSpacecraft #SpaceX #FalconHeavyRocket #Jupiter #Europa #Moon #Ocean #Astrobiology #Biosignatures #Habitability #Radiation #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #JHUAPL #MSFC #GSFC #JPL #KSC #Spaceport #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Liftoff: NASA Europa Clipper Ocean Moon Mission | SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket

Liftoff: NASA Europa Clipper Ocean Moon Mission | SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket

NASA's Europa Clipper Mission lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A at 12:06 p.m. EDT on Monday, October 14, 2024.

Beyond Earth, Jupiter’s moon Europa is considered one of the solar system’s most promising potentially habitable environments. After an approximately 1.8-billion-mile journey, Europa Clipper will enter orbit around Jupiter in April 2030, where the spacecraft will conduct a detailed survey of Europa to determine whether the icy world could have conditions suitable for life. Europa Clipper is the largest spacecraft NASA has ever developed for a planetary mission. It carries a suite of nine instruments along with a gravity experiment that will investigate an ocean beneath Europa’s surface, which scientists believe contains twice as much liquid water as Earth’s oceans.

Europa Clipper's science instruments include cameras, spectrometers, a magnetometer, and an ice-penetrating radar. These instruments will study Europa’s icy shell, the ocean beneath, and the composition of the gases in the moon’s atmosphere and surface geology, and provide insights into the moon’s potential habitability. The spacecraft also will carry a thermal instrument to pinpoint locations of warmer ice and any possible eruptions of water vapor. Strong evidence shows the ocean beneath Europa’s crust is twice the volume of all the Earth’s oceans combined.

For more information on the mission, visit: https://europa.nasa.gov/

'Dreaming of Europa' Posters and Wallpaper (phone and desktop)

Full-size downloads: https://go.nasa.gov/3ZIDxgu

Video Credit: SpaceX

Duration: 48 seconds

Capture Date: Oct. 14, 2024

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #EuropaClipper #EuropaClipperSpacecraft #SpaceX #FalconHeavyRocket #Jupiter #Europa #Moon #Ocean #Astrobiology #Biosignatures #Habitability #Radiation #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #JHUAPL #MSFC #GSFC #JPL #KSC #Spaceport #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA Europa Clipper Mission: Prepared for SpaceX Falcon Heavy Launch

NASA Europa Clipper Mission: Prepared for SpaceX Falcon Heavy Launch

Launch is slated for no earlier than 12:06 p.m. EDT on Monday, October 14, 2024, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Meteorologists are predicting a 95% chance of favorable weather conditions. 

Watch here: http://go.nasa.gov/europaclipperlive

Beyond Earth, Jupiter’s moon Europa is considered one of the solar system’s most promising potentially habitable environments. After an approximately 1.8-billion-mile journey, Europa Clipper will enter orbit around Jupiter in April 2030, where the spacecraft will conduct a detailed survey of Europa to determine whether the icy world could have conditions suitable for life. Europa Clipper is the largest spacecraft NASA has ever developed for a planetary mission. It carries a suite of nine instruments along with a gravity experiment that will investigate an ocean beneath Europa’s surface, which scientists believe contains twice as much liquid water as Earth’s oceans.

Europa Clipper's science instruments include cameras, spectrometers, a magnetometer, and an ice-penetrating radar. These instruments will study Europa’s icy shell, the ocean beneath, and the composition of the gases in the moon’s atmosphere and surface geology, and provide insights into the moon’s potential habitability. The spacecraft also will carry a thermal instrument to pinpoint locations of warmer ice and any possible eruptions of water vapor. Strong evidence shows the ocean beneath Europa’s crust is twice the volume of all the Earth’s oceans combined.

For more information on the mission, visit: https://europa.nasa.gov/

'Dreaming of Europa' Posters and Wallpaper (phone and desktop)

Full-size downloads: https://go.nasa.gov/3ZIDxgu

Image Credit: SpaceX

Release Date: Oct. 14, 2024

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #EuropaClipper #EuropaClipperSpacecraft #SpaceX #FalconHeavyRocket #Jupiter #Europa #Moon #Ocean #Astrobiology #Biosignatures #Habitability #Radiation #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #JHUAPL #MSFC #GSFC #JPL #KSC #Spaceport #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

The Gum 39 Nebula: Fireworks of Newborn Stars | ESO VLT Survey Telescope

The Gum 39 Nebula: Fireworks of Newborn Stars | ESO VLT Survey Telescope

This image shows a big nebulous cloud called GUM 39 at the center, taking up most of the frame. The nebula is very opaque and bright pink at the top and more translucent towards the bottom. One very bright blue star is visible in the middle of the nebula as well as three smaller blue ones to the left of it. Three bright blue stars are also visible at the bottom of the image. The dark background is full of small stars in different colors.

Even though it looks stunning by itself, this image is actually only a tiny part of a 1.5-billion-pixel image of the Running Chicken Nebula. It forms the comb on the running chicken’s head, however, everyone seems to see a different chicken! The data for this gigantic image was captured by the VLT Survey Telescope (VST), a facility of the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics hosted and operated by the European Southern Observatory (ESO). 

In the sky, you will find the Gum 39 Nebula in the Centaurus constellation, about 6,500 light-years from Earth. All around the nebula, orange, white and blue stars are dotting the sky like fireworks. The pink glow that you see are fumes of hydrogen gas, illuminated by the intense radiation from newborn stars. The nebula is also crossed by dark lanes of cosmic dust that block the light behind them.

Nebulae like this are also called stellar nurseries, because as these dense clouds of molecular gas gravitationally collapse they give birth to plenty of new stars. With telescopes like the VST and ALMA, scientists observe these nebulae to get a better understanding of the complex process of how stars are born.

Credit: ESO/VPHAS+ survey

Release Date: Oct. 14, 2024

#NASA #ESO #Space #Astronomy #Science #Nebulae #Nebula #Gum39 #RunningChickenNebula #StellarNursery #Centaur #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #VLTSurveyTelescope #ParanalObservatory #Chile #SouthAmerica #Europe #STEM #Education

SpaceX Starship Fifth Flight Test Liftoff & Landing at Starbase Texas (New Angle)

SpaceX Starship Fifth Flight Test Liftoff & Landing at Starbase Texas (New Angle)

SpaceX Starship's fifth flight test mission was successfully launched on Sunday, October 13, 2024, at 7:25am Central Time. History was made as Mechazilla later caught Starship's super heavy booster at the Starbase launchpad in Boca Chica, Texas, on the first attempt. Mechazilla is a launch tower with arms that can catch and move a Starship super heavy booster after they return to Earth. This will speed up rocket reuse, reduce launch costs, and help SpaceX achieve its goal of a city on Mars by 2050.

Watch the full fifth flight test and find the mission summary here:

https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=starship-flight-5

"Starship is essential to both SpaceX’s plans to deploy its next-generation Starship system as well as for NASA, which will use a lunar lander version of Starship for landing astronauts on the Moon during the Artemis III mission through the Human Landing System (HLS) program."

Key Starship Parameters:

Height: 121m/397ft

Diameter: 9m/29.5ft

Payload to LEO: 100 – 150t (fully reusable)

Satellites: "Starship is designed to deliver satellites further and at a lower marginal cost per launch than our current Falcon vehicles. With a payload compartment larger than any fairing currently in operation or development, Starship creates possibilities for new missions, including space telescopes even larger than the James Webb."

Super Heavy is the first stage, or booster, of the Starship launch system. Powered by 33 Raptor engines using sub-cooled liquid methane (CH4) and liquid oxygen (LOX), Super Heavy is fully reusable and will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere to land back at the launch site.

Starship's Engines: Raptors

"The Raptor engine is a reusable methalox staged-combustion engine that powers the Starship launch system. Raptor engines began flight testing on the Starship prototype rockets in July 2019, becoming the first full-flow staged combustion rocket engine ever flown."

Raptor Engine Parameters:

Diameter: 1.3m/4ft

Height: 3.1m/10.2ft

Thrust: 230tf/500 klbf

Learn more:

https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship/

Download the Free Starship User Guide (PDF):

https://www.spacex.com/media/starship_users_guide_v1.pdf

Video Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)

Duration: 41 seconds

Capture Date: Oct. 13, 2024

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #Starship #Starship5 #TestFlight5 #HeavyBooster #Spacecraft #SuperHeavyRocket #ElonMusk #SpaceTechnology #Engineering #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #Starbase #Mechazilla #BocaChica #Texas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

SpaceX Starship Fifth Flight Test Liftoff at Starbase Texas

SpaceX Starship Fifth Flight Test Liftoff at Starbase Texas

Mechazilla Holding Starship's Super Heavy Booster at Starbase Launchpad

SpaceX Starship's fifth flight test successfully launched on Sunday, October 13, 2024, at 7:25am Central Time. History was made as Mechazilla later caught Starship's super heavy booster at the Starbase launchpad in Boca Chica, Texas, on the first attempt. Mechazilla is a launch tower with arms that can catch and move a Starship super heavy booster after they return to Earth. This will speed up rocket reuse, reduce launch costs, and help SpaceX achieve its goal of a city on Mars by 2050.

Watch the full fifth flight test and find the mission summary here:

https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=starship-flight-5

"Starship is essential to both SpaceX’s plans to deploy its next-generation Starship system as well as for NASA, which will use a lunar lander version of Starship for landing astronauts on the Moon during the Artemis III mission through the Human Landing System (HLS) program."

Key Starship Parameters:

Height: 121m/397ft

Diameter: 9m/29.5ft

Payload to LEO: 100 – 150t (fully reusable)

Satellites: "Starship is designed to deliver satellites further and at a lower marginal cost per launch than our current Falcon vehicles. With a payload compartment larger than any fairing currently in operation or development, Starship creates possibilities for new missions, including space telescopes even larger than the James Webb."

Super Heavy is the first stage, or booster, of the Starship launch system. Powered by 33 Raptor engines using sub-cooled liquid methane (CH4) and liquid oxygen (LOX), Super Heavy is fully reusable and will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere to land back at the launch site.

Starship's Engines: Raptors

"The Raptor engine is a reusable methalox staged-combustion engine that powers the Starship launch system. Raptor engines began flight testing on the Starship prototype rockets in July 2019, becoming the first full-flow staged combustion rocket engine ever flown."

Raptor Engine Parameters:

Diameter: 1.3m/4ft

Height: 3.1m/10.2ft

Thrust: 230tf/500 klbf

Learn more:

https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship/

Download the Free Starship User Guide (PDF):

https://www.spacex.com/media/starship_users_guide_v1.pdf

Image Credit: Steve Jurvetson

Capture Date: Oct. 13, 2024

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #Starship #Starship5 #TestFlight5 #HeavyBooster #Spacecraft #SuperHeavyRocket #ElonMusk #SpaceTechnology #Engineering #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #Starbase #Mechazilla #BocaChica #Texas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

NASA Europa Clipper Science Media Teleconference: Oct. 13, 2024

NASA Europa Clipper Science Media Teleconference: Oct. 13, 2024

NASA hosted a media teleconference on October 13, 2024, to discuss the scientific objectives of the Europa Clipper mission. [Event starts at 2 minute, 37 second mark]

Launch is slated for no earlier than 12:06 p.m. EDT on Monday, October 14, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. 

Meteorologists are currently predicting a 95% chance of favorable weather conditions. 

Watch here: http://go.nasa.gov/europaclipperlive

Teleconference participants include:

• Gina DiBraccio, acting director, Planetary Science Division, NASA Headquarters

• Robert Pappalardo, project scientist, Europa Clipper, NASA JPL

• Haje Korth, deputy project scientist, Europa Clipper, Applied Physics Laboratory 

• Cynthia Phillips, project staff scientist, Europa Clipper, NASA JPL

Beyond Earth, Jupiter’s moon Europa is considered one of the solar system’s most promising potentially habitable environments. After an approximately 1.8-billion-mile journey, Europa Clipper will enter orbit around Jupiter in April 2030, where the spacecraft will conduct a detailed survey of Europa to determine whether the icy world could have conditions suitable for life. Europa Clipper is the largest spacecraft NASA has ever developed for a planetary mission. It carries a suite of nine instruments along with a gravity experiment that will investigate an ocean beneath Europa’s surface, which scientists believe contains twice as much liquid water as Earth’s oceans.

Europa Clipper's science instruments include cameras, spectrometers, a magnetometer, and an ice-penetrating radar. These instruments will study Europa’s icy shell, the ocean beneath, and the composition of the gases in the moon’s atmosphere and surface geology, and provide insights into the moon’s potential habitability. The spacecraft also will carry a thermal instrument to pinpoint locations of warmer ice and any possible eruptions of water vapor. Strong evidence shows the ocean beneath Europa’s crust is twice the volume of all the Earth’s oceans combined.

For more information on the mission, visit: https://europa.nasa.gov/

'Dreaming of Europa' Posters and Wallpaper (phone and desktop)

Full-size downloads: https://go.nasa.gov/3ZIDxgu

Video Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Duration: 39 minutes

Release Date: Oct. 13, 2024

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #EuropaClipper #EuropaClipperSpacecraft #SpaceX #FalconHeavyRocket #Jupiter #Europa #Moon #Ocean #Astrobiology #Biosignatures #Habitability #Radiation #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #JHUAPL #MSFC #GSFC #JPL #KSC #Spaceport #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

SpaceX Starship Fifth Flight Test Liftoff & Landing at Starbase Texas

SpaceX Starship Fifth Flight Test Liftoff & Landing at Starbase Texas

Starship Super Heavy Booster Returns to Starbase Launchpad 

SpaceX Starship's fifth flight test successfully launched on Sunday, October 13, 2024, at 7:25am Central Time. History was made as Mechazilla later caught Starship's super heavy booster at the Starbase launchpad in Boca Chica, Texas, on the first attempt. Mechazilla is a launch tower with arms that can catch and move a Starship super heavy booster after they return to Earth. This will speed up rocket reuse, reduce launch costs, and help SpaceX achieve its goal of a city on Mars by 2050.

Watch the full fifth flight test and find the mission summary here:

https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=starship-flight-5

"Starship is essential to both SpaceX’s plans to deploy its next-generation Starship system as well as for NASA, which will use a lunar lander version of Starship for landing astronauts on the Moon during the Artemis III mission through the Human Landing System (HLS) program."

Key Starship Parameters:

Height: 121m/397ft

Diameter: 9m/29.5ft

Payload to LEO: 100 – 150t (fully reusable)

Satellites: "Starship is designed to deliver satellites further and at a lower marginal cost per launch than our current Falcon vehicles. With a payload compartment larger than any fairing currently in operation or development, Starship creates possibilities for new missions, including space telescopes even larger than the James Webb."

Super Heavy is the first stage, or booster, of the Starship launch system. Powered by 33 Raptor engines using sub-cooled liquid methane (CH4) and liquid oxygen (LOX), Super Heavy is fully reusable and will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere to land back at the launch site.

Starship's Engines: Raptors

"The Raptor engine is a reusable methalox staged-combustion engine that powers the Starship launch system. Raptor engines began flight testing on the Starship prototype rockets in July 2019, becoming the first full-flow staged combustion rocket engine ever flown."

Raptor Engine Parameters:

Diameter: 1.3m/4ft

Height: 3.1m/10.2ft

Thrust: 230tf/500 klbf

Learn more:

https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship/

Download the Free Starship User Guide (PDF):

https://www.spacex.com/media/starship_users_guide_v1.pdf

Image Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)

Capture Date: Oct. 13, 2024

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #Starship #Starship5 #TestFlight5 #HeavyBooster #Spacecraft #SuperHeavyRocket #ElonMusk #SpaceTechnology #Engineering #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #Starbase #Mechazilla #BocaChica #Texas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

SpaceX Starship Fifth Flight Test Booster Landing: Powered by Raptor Engines

SpaceX Starship Fifth Flight Test Booster Landing: Powered by Raptor Engines

Starship was successfully launched on Sunday, October 13, 2024, at 7:25am Central Time on its fifth flight test. History was made as Mechazilla caught Starship's super heavy booster at the Starbase launchpad in Boca Chica, Texas, on the first attempt. Mechazilla is a launch tower with arms that can catch and move a Starship super heavy booster after they return to Earth. This will speed up rocket reuse, reduce launch costs, and help SpaceX achieve its goal of a city on Mars by 2050.

Watch the full fifth flight test and find the mission summary here:

https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=starship-flight-5

"Starship is essential to both SpaceX’s plans to deploy its next-generation Starship system as well as for NASA, which will use a lunar lander version of Starship for landing astronauts on the Moon during the Artemis III mission through the Human Landing System (HLS) program."

Key Starship Parameters:

Height: 121m/397ft

Diameter: 9m/29.5ft

Payload to LEO: 100 – 150t (fully reusable)

Satellites: "Starship is designed to deliver satellites further and at a lower marginal cost per launch than our current Falcon vehicles. With a payload compartment larger than any fairing currently in operation or development, Starship creates possibilities for new missions, including space telescopes even larger than the James Webb."

Super Heavy is the first stage, or booster, of the Starship launch system. Powered by 33 Raptor engines using sub-cooled liquid methane (CH4) and liquid oxygen (LOX), Super Heavy is fully reusable and will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere to land back at the launch site.

Starship's Engines: Raptors

"The Raptor engine is a reusable methalox staged-combustion engine that powers the Starship launch system. Raptor engines began flight testing on the Starship prototype rockets in July 2019, becoming the first full-flow staged combustion rocket engine ever flown."

Raptor Engine Parameters:

Diameter: 1.3m/4ft

Height: 3.1m/10.2ft

Thrust: 230tf/500 klbf

Learn more:

https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship/

Download the Free Starship User Guide (PDF):

https://www.spacex.com/media/starship_users_guide_v1.pdf

Image Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)

Capture Date: Oct. 13, 2024

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #Starship #Starship5 #TestFlight5 #HeavyBooster #Spacecraft #SuperHeavyRocket #ElonMusk #SpaceTechnology #Engineering #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #Starbase #Mechazilla #BocaChica #Texas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

In Slow Motion: Watch SpaceX's Mechazilla Catch Starship Super Heavy Booster

In Slow Motion: Watch SpaceX's Mechazilla Catch Starship Super Heavy Booster

Following a successful liftoff, ascent, stage separation, boostback burn, and coast, the Super Heavy booster performed its landing burn and was caught by the chopstick arms (Mechazilla) of the launch and catch tower at Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, on October 13, 2024. "Thousands of distinct vehicle and pad criteria had to be met prior to the catch attempt, and thanks to the tireless work of SpaceX engineers, we succeeded with catch on our first attempt."

"Prior to catch, Starship executed another successful hot-staging separation, igniting its six Raptor engines and completing ascent into outer space. It coasted along its planned trajectory to the other side of the planet before executing a controlled reentry, passing through the phases of peak heating and maximum aerodynamic pressure, before executing a flip, landing burn, and splashdown at its target area in the Indian Ocean. The flight test concluded at splashdown 1 hour, 5 minutes and 40 seconds after launch."

"The entire SpaceX team should take pride in the engineering feat they just accomplished. The world witnessed what the future will look like when Starship starts carrying crew and cargo to destinations on Earth, the Moon, Mars and beyond."

"Congratulations to the SpaceX team for taking this leap in our quest to make life multiplanetary. And thank you to our customers, Cameron County, spaceflight fans, and the wider community for the continued support and encouragement."

Watch the full fifth flight test and review the mission summary here:

https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=starship-flight-5

"Starship is essential to both SpaceX’s plans to deploy its next-generation Starship system as well as for NASA, which will use a lunar lander version of Starship for landing astronauts on the Moon during the Artemis III mission through the Human Landing System (HLS) program."

Key Starship Parameters:

Height: 121m/397ft

Diameter: 9m/29.5ft

Payload to LEO: 100 – 150t (fully reusable)

Download the Free Starship User Guide (PDF):

https://www.spacex.com/media/starship_users_guide_v1.pdf

Video Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)

Duration: 1 minute, 48 seconds

Capture Date: Oct. 13, 2024

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #Starship #Starship5 #TestFlight5 #HeavyBooster #Spacecraft #SuperHeavyRocket #ElonMusk #Engineering #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #Starbase #Mechazilla #BocaChica #Texas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #SlowMotion #HD #Video

SpaceX Fifth Flight Test Booster Landing: The Mechazilla Launchpad Catch

SpaceX Fifth Flight Test Booster Landing: The Mechazilla Launchpad Catch

Elon Musk commented: "Good morning"

Starship was successfully launched on Sunday, October 13, 2024, at 7:25am Central Time. History was made as Mechazilla caught Starship's super heavy booster at the Starbase launchpad in Boca Chica, Texas, on the first attempt. Mechazilla is a launch tower with arms that can catch and move a Starship super heavy booster after they return to Earth. This will speed up rocket reuse, reduce launch costs, and help SpaceX achieve its goal of a city on Mars by 2050.

Watch the full fifth flight test and find mission summaries here:

https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=starship-flight-5

"Starship is essential to both SpaceX’s plans to deploy its next-generation Starship system as well as for NASA, which will use a lunar lander version of Starship for landing astronauts on the Moon during the Artemis III mission through the Human Landing System (HLS) program."

Key Starship Parameters:

Height: 121m/397ft

Diameter: 9m/29.5ft

Payload to LEO: 100 – 150t (fully reusable)

Satellites: "Starship is designed to deliver satellites further and at a lower marginal cost per launch than our current Falcon vehicles. With a payload compartment larger than any fairing currently in operation or development, Starship creates possibilities for new missions, including space telescopes even larger than the James Webb."

Super Heavy is the first stage, or booster, of the Starship launch system. Powered by 33 Raptor engines using sub-cooled liquid methane (CH4) and liquid oxygen (LOX), Super Heavy is fully reusable and will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere to land back at the launch site.

Starship's Engines: Raptors

"The Raptor engine is a reusable methalox staged-combustion engine that powers the Starship launch system. Raptor engines began flight testing on the Starship prototype rockets in July 2019, becoming the first full-flow staged combustion rocket engine ever flown."

Raptor Engine Parameters:

Diameter: 1.3m/4ft

Height: 3.1m/10.2ft

Thrust: 230tf/500 klbf

Learn more:

https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship/

Download the Free Starship User Guide (PDF):

https://www.spacex.com/media/starship_users_guide_v1.pdf

Image Credits: Steve Jurvetson/Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)

Capture Date: Oct. 13, 2024

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #Starship #Starship5 #TestFlight5 #HeavyBooster #Spacecraft #SuperHeavyRocket #ElonMusk #SpaceTechnology #Engineering #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #Starbase #Mechazilla #BocaChica #Texas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

SpaceX Starship Fifth Flight Test: Earth Splashdown Views by Starlink Cameras

SpaceX Starship Fifth Flight Test: Earth Splashdown Views by Starlink Cameras

This short clip shows the controlled splashdown of Starship into a designated area of the Indian Ocean during the fifth flight test. Starship was launched on Sunday, October 13, 2024, at 7:25am Central Time. History was made as Mechazilla caught Starship's super heavy booster at the Starbase launchpad in Boca Chica, Texas, on the first attempt. Mechazilla is a launch tower with arms that can catch and move a Starship super heavy booster after they return to Earth. This will speed up rocket reuse, reduce launch costs, and help SpaceX achieve its goal of a city on Mars by 2050.

Watch the full fifth flight test and find mission summaries here:

https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=starship-flight-5

"Starship is essential to both SpaceX’s plans to deploy its next-generation Starship system as well as for NASA, which will use a lunar lander version of Starship for landing astronauts on the Moon during the Artemis III mission through the Human Landing System (HLS) program."

Key Starship Parameters:

Height: 121m/397ft

Diameter: 9m/29.5ft

Payload to LEO: 100 – 150t (fully reusable)

Satellites: "Starship is designed to deliver satellites further and at a lower marginal cost per launch than our current Falcon vehicles. With a payload compartment larger than any fairing currently in operation or development, Starship creates possibilities for new missions, including space telescopes even larger than the James Webb."

Super Heavy is the first stage, or booster, of the Starship launch system. Powered by 33 Raptor engines using sub-cooled liquid methane (CH4) and liquid oxygen (LOX), Super Heavy is fully reusable and will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere to land back at the launch site.

Starship's Engines: Raptors

"The Raptor engine is a reusable methalox staged-combustion engine that powers the Starship launch system. Raptor engines began flight testing on the Starship prototype rockets in July 2019, becoming the first full-flow staged combustion rocket engine ever flown."

Raptor Engine Parameters:

Diameter: 1.3m/4ft

Height: 3.1m/10.2ft

Thrust: 230tf/500 klbf

Learn more:

https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship/

Download the Free Starship User Guide (PDF):

https://www.spacex.com/media/starship_users_guide_v1.pdf

Video Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)

Duration: 38 seconds

Capture Date: Oct. 13, 2024

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SpaceX Starship Fifth Flight Test: Earth Re-entry Views by Starlink Cameras

SpaceX Starship Fifth Flight Test: Earth Re-entry Views by Starlink Cameras

This short clip shows the re-entry of Starship into the Earth's atmosphere during the fifth flight test. Starship was launched on Sunday, October 13, 2024, at 7:25am Central Time. History was made as Mechazilla caught Starship's super heavy booster at the Starbase launchpad in Boca Chica, Texas, on the first attempt. Mechazilla is a launch tower with arms that can catch and move a Starship super heavy booster after they return to Earth. This will speed up rocket reuse, reduce launch costs, and help SpaceX achieve its goal of a city on Mars by 2050.

Watch the full fifth flight test and find mission summaries here:

https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=starship-flight-5

"Starship is essential to both SpaceX’s plans to deploy its next-generation Starship system as well as for NASA, which will use a lunar lander version of Starship for landing astronauts on the Moon during the Artemis III mission through the Human Landing System (HLS) program."

Key Starship Parameters:

Height: 121m/397ft

Diameter: 9m/29.5ft

Payload to LEO: 100 – 150t (fully reusable)

Satellites: "Starship is designed to deliver satellites further and at a lower marginal cost per launch than our current Falcon vehicles. With a payload compartment larger than any fairing currently in operation or development, Starship creates possibilities for new missions, including space telescopes even larger than the James Webb."

Super Heavy is the first stage, or booster, of the Starship launch system. Powered by 33 Raptor engines using sub-cooled liquid methane (CH4) and liquid oxygen (LOX), Super Heavy is fully reusable and will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere to land back at the launch site.

Starship's Engines: Raptors

"The Raptor engine is a reusable methalox staged-combustion engine that powers the Starship launch system. Raptor engines began flight testing on the Starship prototype rockets in July 2019, becoming the first full-flow staged combustion rocket engine ever flown."

Raptor Engine Parameters:

Diameter: 1.3m/4ft

Height: 3.1m/10.2ft

Thrust: 230tf/500 klbf

Learn more:

https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship/

Download the Free Starship User Guide (PDF):

https://www.spacex.com/media/starship_users_guide_v1.pdf

Video Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)

Duration: 38 seconds

Capture Date: Oct. 13, 2024

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #Starship #Starship5 #TestFlight5 #HeavyBooster #Spacecraft #SuperHeavyRocket #ElonMusk #SpaceTechnology #Engineering #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #Starbase #Mechazilla #BocaChica #Texas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video