“WASHINGTON, Dec 8 (Reuters) – Elon Musk’s SpaceX was set to launch a prototype of its Mars rocket Starship in its highest-altitude “hop” test from the space company’s Texas facilities on Tuesday, a key trial for a rocket system that Musk hopes will land humans on the moon and eventually Mars. Musk sought to tamp down expectations for Starship’s first suborbital flight using three of its new Raptor rocket engines, predicting a 30% chance of success in reaching an altitude of more than 40,000 feet. That would be vastly higher than the vehicle’s first two tests at altitudes of 500 feet. “With a test such as this, success is not measured by completion of specific objectives but rather how much we can learn,” SpaceX said on its website Monday. Starship, a rocket system standing 394 feet (120.09 m) tall when mated with its super-heavy first-stage booster, is designed to carry humans and 100 tons of cargo to the moon and Mars. It is the space company’s planned next-generation fully reusable launch vehicle, the center of Musk’s ambitions to make human space travel affordable. Loren Elliott via Getty Images Space enthusiasts look at a prototype of SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft at the company’s Texas launch facility on September 28, 2019 in Boca Chica near Brownsville, Texas. (Photo by Loren Elliott/Getty Images) SpaceX has carried out two hop tests this year using rudimentary, single-engine rocket prototypes at its Boca Chica, Texas, launch site. Those prototypes launched about 500 feet into the air and landed on a concrete slab roughly a minute later. Tuesday’s planned flight is a major advance for Starship, putting to the test the rocket’s aerodynamic design at altitudes higher than commercial airliners typically fly. Such heights will test how Starship returns back to its landing pad, carrying out a “landing flip maneuver” mid-air before touching down. SpaceX had originally planned to fly Starship at an altitude of 50,000 feet, but changed the target to 41,000 feet in its launch application with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration last week, according to a person familiar with the filing. SpaceX, which said its launch schedule is likely to change, has launch opportunities all day Wednesday and Thursday should Tuesday’s attempt be delayed, according to filings with the FAA. (Reporting by Joey Roulette in Washington; Editing by Eric M. Johnson and Leslie Adler)
Fox News’ Geraldo Rivera: Trump’s Not Speaking To Me Right Now
112 Views0 Comments0 Likes
["Fox News’ Geraldo Rivera said Tuesday that President Donald Trump isn’t speaking to him because he acknowledges the fact that President-elect Joe Biden won the election. The conservative commentator, who has describ...
Trump Administration Lowballs Unemployment Benefits In New COVID-19 Offer
144 Views0 Comments0 Likes
["The latest stimulus offer from the White House comes with one-time $600 payments for most Americans and a lump of coal for the unemployed. The new proposal offered by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin swapped the $3...
Biden Selects Marcia Fudge As Housing Secretary, Tom Vilsack For Agriculture
88 Views0 Comments0 Likes
["WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden has selected Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge as his housing and urban development secretary and former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to reprise that role in his administration,...
Trump: Millions Of Americans Getting COVID-19 Is ‘Terrific’ And A ‘Powerful Vaccine’
130 Views0 Comments0 Likes
["President Donald Trump on Tuesday spun the high number of Americans who have been infected with COVID-19 as “terrific,” claiming falsely that all those cases serve as a “powerful vaccine.” “I think that the vaccine ...
How To Deal With The Co-worker Who Is Constantly Complaining
124 Views0 Comments0 Likes
[]["fizkes via Getty ImagesComplainers may go to you because they feel like they are not being heard anywhere else. Here's how to treat their grievances with compassion.Everyone encounters a constant complainer at som...
MSNBC Names Rashida Jones President, Making History For Major Cable News Networks
175 Views0 Comments0 Likes
["MSNBC has named Rashida Jones its next president, making her the first Black executive to run a major general news cable network, The Wall Street Journal reported. Jones, who currently serves as the senior vice pres...
Bill Nye Explains Why Masks Keep Viruses In Those Pesky ‘Droplets Of Spit And Snot’ At Bay
151 Views0 Comments0 Likes
["Bill Nye explained the science behind face masks in a TikTok video posted on Friday, stressing that their effectiveness in stopping the spread of the coronavirus “is not that hard to understand.” Nye shared two map...