SpaceX on Sunday successfully tested a device dubbed a “chopstick” or “mechazilla arm” by fans to capture reusable boosters. (Reuters)
SpaceX made engineering history Sunday during a test flight of its giant Starship rocket, catching the return booster with a mechanical arm called a “chopstick” as it descends onto the launch pad.
The nearly 400-foot Starship rocket, designed to be reusable, was launched from the company's Starbase launch site near the village of Boca Chica. South Texas.
As the 233-foot-tall super-heavy booster detached and fell toward Earth, the booster's 33 Raptor engines roared, slowing its return to the launch site. The booster slowly fell into the tower's metal arm and latched into place on the first attempt using a novel catching method.
“The tower captured the rocket!!” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk posted on X.
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The launcher tower is equipped with a mechanical arm that SpaceX's Kate Theis calls a “chopstick,” but fans refer to this feature as a “mechazilla.”
SpaceX's superheavy booster got stuck in a mechanical arm during landing during SpaceX Starship's fifth flight test in Boca Chica, Texas, on Sunday. (Reuters/Kayley Greenlee Beal/Reuters Photo)
As a SpaceX commentator explained during the launch broadcast: feat of engineering Like magic.
SpaceX's Starship launched Sunday during its fifth flight test in Boca Chica, Texas. (Reuters/Kayley Greenlee Beal/Reuters Photo)
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“Even in this day and age, what we just saw is magic,” said SpaceX's Dan Foote. “I'm shaking right now.”
SpaceX's Starship took flight Sunday during its fifth flight test in Boca Chica, Texas. (Reuters/Kayley Greenlee Beal/Reuters Photo)
“Ladies and gentlemen, today is the day the engineering history book is published,” Tice added.
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The test flight marks another step toward Musk's vision of sending people and supplies into space, with the ultimate goal of sending manned spacecraft. Mission to Mars.
