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NASA Artemis Mission Progresses with SpaceX Starship Test Flight · Elon Musk Podcast

• 0:01
  Hey everybody, welcome back to the Elon Musk podcast this.
• 0:05
  Is a show where we discuss the critical crossroads, the shape
• 0:09
  SpaceX. Tesla X, The Boring Company, and
• 0:12
  Neuralink and I'm. Your host.
• 0:14
  Will Walden if you want uninterrupted episodes of the
• 0:18
  Elon Musk podcast. Please go to club Elon dot.
• 0:21
  Supercast.com to find out how, there's a link in the show
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  notes. As part of NASA's Artemis
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  campaign to return humans to the moon for the benefit of all,
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  NASA is working with SpaceX to develop the company's large,
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  gigantic Starship human landing system, the HLS, which will land
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  astronauts near the moon's South Pole during the Artemis 3 and
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  Artemis 4 missions. And on March 14th, SpaceX
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  launched the third integrated flight test of its Super Heavy
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  booster and Starship upper stage.
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  This is an important milestone toward providing NASA with a
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  Starship HLS for its Artemis missions.
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  A complement of 33 Raptor engines fueled by super cooled
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  liquid methane and liquid oxygen powered this Super Heavy booster
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  with Starship stacked atop from the company's Starbase Orbital
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  launchpad at 8:25 AM CDT. Now Starship using 6 Raptor
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  engines separated from the Super Heavy booster, employing a hot
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  staging technique to fire the engines before separation and
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  approximately 3 minutes into the flight in accordance with the
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  flight plan. Now this was the 3rd flight test
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  of the integrated Super Heavy Starship system.
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  Now, with each flight test, SpaceX attempts increasingly
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  ambitious objectives for Starship to learn as much as
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  possible for future mission systems development.
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  The ability to test key systems and processes and flight
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  scenarios like these integrated tests allows both NASA and
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  SpaceX to gather crucial data needed for the continued
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  development of Starship HLS. The test accomplished several
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  important firsts that will contribute to the development of
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  Starship. For Artemis lunar landing
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  missions, the spacecraft reaches expected orbit and Starship
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  completed the full duration ascent burn.
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  An objective closely tied to future Artemis missions is a
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  transfer of thousands of pounds of cryogenic propellant between
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  internal tanks during the spacecraft's coast phase as part
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  of NASA's Space Technology Missions Directorate 2020
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  Tipping Point Awards. Now the propellant transfer
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  Demonstration operations were completed and the NASA SpaceX
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  team is currently reviewing the flight data that was received
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  during those tests. This Tipping point technology
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  demonstration is one of more than 20 development activities
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  that NASA is undertaking to solve the challenges of using
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  cryogenic fluids during the future missions.
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  NASA A key step forward understanding how super cool
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  propellant slosh is within these tanks when the engines are shut
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  down, and how that movement effects Starship stability while
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  in orbit. Engineers will study flight test
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  data to assess the performance of thrusters that control
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  starship's orientation in space. We're also interested to learn
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  more about how the fluids movement within the tanks can be
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  settled to maximize propellant transfer efficiency and ensure
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  Raptor engines receive needed propellant conditions to support
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  restart in orbit. Now, storing and transferring
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  cryogenic propellant in orbit has never been attempted on this
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  scale before, but this is a game changing technology that must be
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  developed and matured for science and exploration missions
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  at the Moon, Mars, and those that will venture even deeper
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  into the solar system. Now NASA's Artemis program, the
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  agency will land the first woman, the first person of color
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  and its first international partner astronaut on the lunar
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  surface and prepare for human expeditions to Mars.
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  And commercial human launch systems and landing system are
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  critical to deep space exploration along with the SLS
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  rocket, Orion spacecraft, advanced space suits, Rovers,
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  exploration ground systems and also the Gateway space station.
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  Now for the second time during this flight, all 33 Raptor
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  engines on the Super Heavy booster started up successfully
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  and completed a full duration burn during ascent and Starship
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  executed its second successful hot stage separation, powering
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  down all but three of Super Heavy's Raptor engines and
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  successfully igniting the six second stage Raptor engines
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  before separating the vehicles. Now following separation, the
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  Super Heavy booster successfully completed its flip move and
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  completed a full boost back burn to send it towards its
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  splashdown point in the Gulf of Mexico.
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  Super Heavy successfully lit several engines for its first
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  ever landing burn before the vehicle experienced a Rudd,
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  which is a rapid unscheduled disassembly.
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  Now. The boosters flight concluded at
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  approximately 462 meters in altitude and just under 7
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  minutes into the mission. Starship's six second stage
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  Raptor engines all started successfully and powered the
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  vehicle to its expected orbit, becoming the first Starship to
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  complete its full duration ascent burn and while coasting,
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  Starship accomplished several of the flight tests additional
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  objectives clearly the opening and closing of its payload door
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  or the Pez dispenser if you will, and initiated A propellant
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  transfer demonstration. Starship did not attempt its
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  planned on orbit relight of a single Raptor engine due to
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  vehicle roll rates during coast. Our results from this
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  demonstration will come after post flight data review is
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  complete. Starship went on to experience
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  its first ever entry from space, providing valuable data on
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  heating and vehicle control during hypersonic RE entry.
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  Now live views of this were made possible due to Starlink
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  terminals operating on the Starterm.
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  They're absolutely brilliant views, you have to check them
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  out on Space XS X page now. The flight test conclusion came
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  during entry with the last telemetry signals received via
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  Starlink from Starship. At approximately 49 minutes into
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  the mission, and while the team receives and reviews the data
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  collected from the flight, Starship and Super Heavy
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  Vehicles are preparing for upcoming flights.
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  As they seek to increase launch cadence throughout the year,
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  they want to do up to 9 launches this year.
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  Now, this is a rapid, iterative development approach.
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  You build it, you fly it, something happens, you figure
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  something out, you learn from that, then you fly the next one.
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  It's the basis for all of Spacex's major innovative
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  advancements, including Falcon, Dragon, and Starlink.
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  It's called recursive improvement, and it's essential
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  in the way that SpaceX builds spacecraft.
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  They want to get Starship into Earth orbit, they want to
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  transport humans, they want it completely reusable, and they
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  want to help humanity return to the moon and ultimately travel
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  to the Red Planet on Mars. Hey, thank you so much for
• 6:53
  listening today. I really do appreciate your
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  Stage 0. And please take care of
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  yourselves and each other and I'll see you tomorrow.