Uplift Weekly: Explosive 4/20 SpaceX Starship Launch: Testing Success, Heralding Interplanetary Human Future Despite Media's Misguided Narrative
Starship's First Integrated Test Launch: A Critical Milestone in Affordable Space Exploration, Earth-to-Earth Transportation, and Universal High-Speed Internet Access Despite Engine Failures and Media
Elon Musk's SpaceX launched the first-ever integrated Starship rocket on April 20, 2023, from the Starbase facility at Boca Chica Beach in South Texas.
Boca Chica Village, a remote Texas outpost, lies at the confluence of the Rio Grande and the Gulf of Mexico, where the Earths glory coexists with the awe-inspiring silhouettes of SpaceX's Starship rockets, symbolizing the union of natures beauty and human ambition.
Boca Chica has fewer than 50 residents and before SpaceX arrived the site didn’t have electricity, water, or sewer. 5 years ago some of the smartest engineers from all over the world converged on the small desert strip motivated by a singular gargantuan mission: Make humanity a multi planetary species. These engineers moved to the middle of nowhere and many of them lived in trailers because they were so motivated by their mission.
The 394-foot-tall Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, lifted off successfully and flew for about 4 minutes. For comparison, Lansing's tallest building, the Boji Tower, reaches a height of 297 feet. In contrast, the complete Starship system, including the Super Heavy booster, stands approximately 394 feet tall, making it around 100 feet taller than Lansing's highest structure.
Starship Passed Max Q.
Passing Max Q is a very important milestone. Max Q, short for maximum dynamic pressure, is the point during a rocket's ascent when it experiences the greatest aerodynamic stress. It occurs when the combination of the rocket's velocity and the density of the Earth's atmosphere results in the highest pressure on the rocket's structure. This is a critical moment in the flight, as the rocket has to be designed to withstand the structural load it experiences at Max Q. Once the rocket passes through Max Q, the air pressure decreases as it climbs higher, reducing the stress on the vehicle.
However, the Starship upper stage failed to separate from the Super Heavy first stage about three minutes after liftoff, resulting in an explosion just under four minutes into the launch. This destruction was intentional, as the vehicle experienced multiple engine failures during the flight test and lost altitude. Despite the explosion, SpaceX celebrated the progress made during the test, as the rocket reached a maximum altitude of about 24 miles and passed Max Q.
An Aside: What is “Rocket Stage?” Why does it separate?
Imagine you want to launch a rocket into space. The rocket is made up of different parts, and each part has a special job to do to help the rocket reach its destination.
The different parts of a rocket are called "stages." Each stage is like a piece of the rocket that is designed to work at a different time during the launch.
When the rocket takes off, it needs a lot of power to overcome the force of gravity and lift off the ground. The first stage of the rocket is usually the largest and has the most powerful engines. These engines use a lot of fuel to provide the initial thrust needed to lift the rocket off the ground.
As the rocket climbs higher into the sky, it starts to move faster and faster. At a certain point, the first stage of the rocket has used up all its fuel and can no longer provide enough power to lift the rocket any higher. That's when the first stage separates from the rest of the rocket.
After the first stage separates, the second stage takes over. The second stage has its own engines and fuel supply. It's designed to work at higher altitudes and with less air resistance than the first stage. The second stage continues to push the rocket higher and higher until it reaches its destination.
The reason why the stages separate is to make the rocket lighter and more efficient. Once a stage has used up all its fuel, it becomes dead weight that the rest of the rocket has to carry. By separating the used-up stage, the rest of the rocket becomes lighter and can move more efficiently through space.
What may have caused the failure?
During the launch, 'car-sized' chunks of concrete from the launchpad were thrown around as a result of the intense force generated by the rocket's 31 engines. It is speculated that these flying concrete debris may have impacted and damaged some of the engines, leading to the failure of six engines. This damage could have affected the engine gimbaling and control, ultimately causing the Starship to spiral out of control and fail the scheduled stage separation.
Here are some important points about Starship:
When perfected, Starship will be the world's largest rocket, capable of carrying passengers to the Moon and Mars, as well as taking 100 people on long-duration, interplanetary flights. The cargo area in Starship is so huge, the entire international space station can fit inside the interior of Starship!
Starship is designed to be cost-effective, potentially delivering 100 tons of cargo to any planet in the solar system for as little as $50 million.
The SpaceX Starship is expected to significantly reduce the cost of delivering cargo to orbit compared to current methods. With the ability to deliver 100 metric tons of cargo to orbit for a variable cost of only $2 million, Starship is expected to offer an improvement of approximately 44 times (or 1.64 orders of magnitude) in cost per metric ton when compared to the current cost of about $15 million for 17 metric tons. This breakthrough in cost efficiency will greatly impact the accessibility and affordability of space missions and payloads in the future.
Unlike the Space Shuttle, Starship will be reusable, leading to rapid turnaround and relaunch cycles. This could significantly reduce launch costs and enable daily launches.
With reduced costs and the ability to carry heavy loads, Starship will make space exploration and colonization more financially sustainable and accessible. It could lead to space tourism and more opportunities for scientific experiments.
The ability to launch tens of thousands of satellites into space at minimal cost will revolutionize communications and Earth observation, leading to improved weather prediction, crop monitoring, earthquake prediction, air traffic control, and navigation aids.
While many of these ambitions are still years away, the development and testing of Starship will contribute to significant scientific advances and change the paradigm for NASA science and human exploration of space.
Many people may not realize that today's explosion is not a failure, but rather an essential step in the rocket development process. The event provides valuable data that can be used to enhance the rocket's performance. Designing a rocket like Starship involves an iterative process where each iteration is built upon the lessons learned from the previous one.
For example, the 31 engines utilized in Starship were produced in just 1 year. They have already undergone over 1,000 individual improvements within just a year. With the data from this liftoff, they will be able to make further improvements to improve the reliability and lower the cost of each rocket. This is the beauty of the iterative approach to building rockets.
1,000 Flowers Will Bloom
The advancements by SpaceX will lead to inventions and industries that we could never have anticipated. Let's remember all the inventions from the space race.
The space race between the United States and the Soviet Union during the mid-20th century spurred a wealth of unforeseen technological advancements that have since transformed everyday life. Satellite communication systems revolutionized global communications, paving the way for technologies like GPS and satellite TV. Innovations in digital imaging, such as the charge-coupled device (CCD), accelerated the development of digital cameras, which have become ubiquitous in consumer devices. Memory foam, initially created for aircraft seat safety, now provides comfort in mattresses and pillows, while cordless tools, born from a collaboration between NASA and Black & Decker, have become essential in households and industries. Scratch-resistant lenses, derived from astronaut helmet visor coatings, have improved eyewear durability, and water filtration systems, designed for space missions, have enhanced drinking water quality and filtration efficiency. Lastly, the space race fueled advancements in solar cell technology, driving greater efficiency and affordability that underpin the growing adoption of solar power in various applications.
What Are the Near Term Possibilities for This Technology?
While Starship is primarily designed for space travel, its potential applications could have a significant impact on human travel on Earth. One such concept proposed by SpaceX is Earth-to-Earth transportation using Starship, which could revolutionize long-distance flights. For example, a flight from New York to Shanghai, which currently takes around 15-16 hours on a traditional commercial airplane, could be completed in under an hour using Starship.
This dramatic reduction in travel time could transform global travel, making it easier and more efficient for people to conduct business, visit family, or explore new places. By utilizing point-to-point rocket travel, Starship has the potential to revolutionize the aviation industry and redefine the way we think about long-distance transportation.
Starlink: Fast Satellite Internet Everywhere
Currently SpaceX can release about 60 satellites per space flight. But with Starship, they could be able to launch 600+ satellites at a time. The FCC has already cleared them to release 12,000 satellites. This means that they could release all the satellites in a few dozen space missions and give everyone on the planet access to high speed internet. Right now high speed internet is primarily only available in densely populated areas. This could dramatically increase access to the internet around the world.
I think 4/20/2023 will be looked back upon in history as an important date for humans and space travel. It could be the date that we look back and credit with the start of our species becoming multi-planetary. It’s an incredible accomplishment for America. It’s an incredible accomplishment for humanity.
Another Sad Day For the Media
But sadly, you wouldn’t know how amazing this accomplishment was if you were paying attention to many news sources. I’m on a news diet as a part of my Year Of The Opposite, but The All In Podcast and my buddy Drew mentioned that the vast majority of major news outlets talked about the space launch as a failure. So I had to check for myself. I was disappointed with what I found. Many in the news used the explosion as a chance to dunk on Elon and SpaceX. It was sad, but unfortunately, not unexpected anymore.
The issue I found disheartening was the number of people who relied on the news for information. Many individuals, particularly children, believed that they were being educated by consuming news content. However, they were unwittingly being misled. The media's portrayal of this event as a failure deprived an entire generation of the pride and enthusiasm that this truly remarkable achievement deserved. It was, indeed, a monumental accomplishment for America and a day for every American to feel immense pride.
The launch of Starship serves as a Rorschach test. If one based their understanding on the news stories surrounding the event, they would perceive it as an utter failure and a colossal waste of time. Conversely, if one actually witnessed the launch, they would be filled with a sense of American pride, as well as an intense excitement and optimism for the future.
It often seems as though our nation is more divided and polarized than it has been in the past. While it is unclear whether this perception is accurate, the sentiment is undoubtedly pervasive. The SpaceX launch represented an opportunity for unity, a moment for us to come together and celebrate a truly remarkable achievement for humankind and America.
I’m reminded of one of my favorite quotes from Denzel Washington: “If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed. If you do read it, you’re misinformed.”
Choose your information sources wisely. It could be the most important factor in your wellbeing.
In my next post I plan to talk about what I call my “News Diet” that I started about a year ago. It was one of my first challenges in the Year Of The Opposite. I had the realization that I had become a news and politics addict. I vowed to try my best to avoid the news and politics. Everyday I rate myself on the metric: “Avoid Politics & News: Focus on what I can control.” Next week I will talk about how I did it and how successful I was. (Spoiler alert: it’s SUPER hard to avoid news and politics.)