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BROWNSVILLE, Texas – With a roaring roar that rattled windows, SpaceX – the rocket company founded by Elon Musk – launched its new Mars rocket prototype for the first time on Wednesday.
The stainless steel rocket rocket about 60 feet in height, called "Starhopper" (formerly "Test Hopper"), is a basic prototype of a much larger vehicle called Starship. Once completed, perhaps in the early 2020s, the two-stage launcher will be able to measure 400 feet tall and be able to land on Mars with its nearly 200-foot-tall spacecraft.
The prototype Starhopper caused a total roar of one second at the throat of his unique Raptor engine at 19:57. CDT on Wednesday, based on the Business Insider eyewitness account.
"Starhopper has finished the jump attached, all systems are green", Musk tweeted shortly after the brief shooting that took place here on the island of Brazos. SpaceX had planned to test the rocket earlier this month, but had problems forming ice crystals in the engine.
A camera located on South Padre Island, located about 8 km from the SpaceX launch site, recorded the first fiery "jump" test through the haze:
The sound of the island of Brazos was deafening – so loud that part of the window blinds of a resident was ejected from its frame.
"I was cooking cabbage leaves and my house was starting to shake, it was like two jet planes were taking off in your living room," said Maria Pointer, a retired bridge officer who lives with her husband, Ray, at about 3 km from the new SpaceX center. launching ramp.
Ms. Pointer said that previous tests performed by SpaceX were strong – comparable to the sound of a jet engine – but "that was magnified to about 10 roars of jet engine," she said.
"It reminds you of the moment when the Blue Angels are flying very low, it's the sound, that shook everything," she said. "It was the complete Raptor with all the juice that was devoted to it – it was the real thing."
The only route to SpaceX
SpaceX is working with the Cameron County Law Enforcement Forces to close access to Highway 4, the only pathway to the secluded seaside community, which is currently shared by some 20 people with SpaceX.
During testing and closure of SpaceX's roads, tenants and long-term residents are allowed to pass a progressive checkpoint about 15 miles east of Boca Chica village. For safety reasons – the Starhopper is an experimental vehicle that can explode – no one is allowed to pass a difficult checkpoint about 2.5 km west of the launch pad.
Boca Chica Beach, popular with residents of Brownsville and other areas, is also closed during testing. Each test day lasted about eight hours.
On Wednesday, several residents said road closures were increasingly problematic, given their frequency, extended opening hours and increased security, meant to drive away the draws.
When Cameron County, the state, and other authorities gave SpaceX permission to use the site in 2014, the company agreed to close the road about once a month. Pointer said the road has been closed more or less every day since last week.
Despite the increased security and inconvenience, Ms. Pointer said it was fun to hear and see a little history unfold.
"That's the good part of it all," she said. "It's exciting."
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