Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, finally broke his silence over the explosion of Starship SN9 on February 2nd. Musk responded to a user on Twitter, acknowledging that they were “too stupid” to light only two engines for landing. He further elaborated and said that they will try the ‘pull up’ method next time.
Space X’s second full test flight of its spacecraft was launched on February 2 and SN9 took off a few kilometers into the air. The vehicle hovered for a moment and then performed a belly-flop-like maneuver on the descent before landing in the latch again. Later reports claimed that one of his two Raptor engines could not unleash again until he returned to the ground, causing SN9 to drive too fast to make a safe landing.
The question was posed by a Twitter user named ‘Madoverlord’. In a tweet to Musk, he asked why only two engines were lit during landing. “Why not light all 3, turn it around, then pick the best two and eliminate the others?” he added. Musk replied, “We were all too dumb.”
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FAA to investigate
While SpaceX’s second full test flight of its futuristic, bullet-shaped Starship landed in another fiery landing on February 2, the Federal Aviation Administration said it would oversee an investigation into the incident. Elon Musk’s company unveiled its latest Starship prototype from the southeastern tip of Texas two months after the previous test ended on an equally explosive belly flop. The destroyed vehicle, SpaceX’s Starship SN9, was an early prototype for a rocket that the company said would transport the first humans to the Red Planet.
On Tuesday, the rocket was launched in a test flight at high altitude and it traveled several kilometers in the air. The vehicle hovered for a moment and then performed a belly-flop-like maneuver on the descent before landing in the latch again. Following the failed launch, the FAA said the top priority in regulating commercial space transportation is to ensure operations are safe, even if there is a deviation.
Read: Starship SN9 scrubbed by FAA; Elon Musk rather brings SN10; Read details
Read: SpaceX’s 2nd Starship Test Flight Ends with Another Kaboom