Two recent events – Second attempt with an intuitive machine The moon and SpaceX Starship's 8th Test – Proves the old saying: Rocket science is really difficult.
Both of these examples were held on the same day, March 6th.
First, a Texas company called the Intuitive Machines tried to land Athena spacecraft in the Montmouton area of the lunar Antarctica. However, searchers for the vehicle's laser range failed, placing them in the middle of a tilted crater 250 meters away from the intended landing site. Like the first attempt at an intuitive machine, Odysseus, This lander fell on that side. Athena returned some data and images, but lost in a short period of time as it was unable to charge the battery.
Later that day, SpaceX has begun its 8th test That spaceship's super rocket. Initially, the flight went smoothly, with the extremely heavy first stage separated from the second stage of the spacecraft, and caught in the ground by the “chopsticks” of the mechadilla. Then things went in a horrible direction. The spacecraft suffered from “rapid unplanned demolition.” What seemed like a repeat of previous test flights, giant rocket fragments striped across the sky in Florida and Bahamas.
Space.com NotesSome of the spacecraft's Raptor engines failed, sending the vehicle overturned before it exploded.
NPR has analysisThe principle is that disability is optional for private companies such as intuitive machines and SpaceX. The phrase is a film's word play from the Apollo 13 film, when the NASA flight director states, “Failure is not an option” and “Failure is not an option,” referring to an effort to get that standout moon mission home crew.
NASA tries to run a project that must work for the first time. This approach involves endless reviews and ground testing before anything unfolds in the universe. The downside of this method is that it is often time consuming and expensive.
The space agency built it International Space Station and James Webbspace Telescope It's over billions of dollars beyond the budget, but it's giving back a huge amount of value. Space Activation SystemHowever, it has proven to be a barrier to returning to the moon, despite the fact that it is scheduled to fly at least twice again.
The commercial sector, where NASA has contracted projects such as spacecraft and other projects to travel back and forth between the International Space Station and the lunar lander, and ultimately to crew and take cargo, is taking a different approach. Failure is definitely an option. Certainly, that is necessary. Only through failure can we learn lessons that lead to success.
SpaceX Crew Dragon and Firefly Blue Ghost Lunar Lander It is a success that proves the effectiveness of a commercial approach.
So the intuitive machine will learn from the second “imperfect success” and hopefully land on the third attempt, and will take place in the second half of 2025 in the early 2026.
SpaceX has a big problem. The spacecraft is on an important path to return to the moon and go to Mars for all practical purposes. For all the stories of last minute builds of small lunar lands with no spaceships, astronauts will not immediately walk the moon or Mars.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has a public relations issue that has also been raised in part by opposing his Doge operation to reduce the size of the government. Is that an MSNBC personality?LOL the latest spaceship failureOr Michael Myers is running out live on Saturday nightPlay him as the reboot of the evil doctorMusk has been on the receiver of Snark from a certain quarter. Snark is on top of Tesla dealer fire bombs and X's recent cyberattacks.
Even President Trump is attracting attention.He began to wobbleAbout Mask's most enthusiastic desires, about his desire to send humans to Mars.
Fortunately, Musk can help himself and SpaceX by learning from past mistakes and achieving some successes. SpaceX has already pulled out the “chopsticks” of the Mechajira from the thin air to catch super heavy objects. Now it needs to fly the spaceship to its intended location and not explode. Spacecraft must be operated to transport humanity to the moon, Mars, etc.
Musk has faced failure before and overcome it. No one can wager money against him.
Mark R. Whittington is the author of “.Why is it so difficult to get back to the moon?” Similarly”Moon, Mars, etc.and recently,Why is America returning to the moon?“He blogsCurmudgeons corner.
