Full-scale prototype of the space ship Starship Mk1 developed by the company SpaceX Elon musk, exploded during tests at the site of Boca Chica, Texas. This is the website NASASpaceFlight. The failure occurred late on Wednesday evening, during the test fuel tanks of the vehicle.
a Few weeks ago, the star ship Mk1, which was presented to the world in September during the presentation of SpaceX and Elon Musk to changes in the design system Starship, had to make the first 20-kilometer test flight of the program in the coming weeks.
the Main event today, the first test of the cryogenic load on the ship Mk1, was filling the tanks of methane and oxygen in a cryogenic liquid.
"During the test, the upper bulkhead of the vehicle exploded and was thrown outside the yard, followed by a big cloud of vapor and the cryogenic liquid from the tank", - stated in the message.
according to the portal, while testing the rocket Mk1 was not fully assembled. Its upper fairing is still in the Assembly shop. Mounted on the launch pad section consisted of fuel tanks, aft fins and engines. "The engines of the Raptor, probably has not been attached to the rocket, since no motor settings was not observed", — said the portal.
create a prototype ship missiles under the open sky took four months. Maximum height Starship Mk1 during the "bounce" was not supposed to exceed 20 kilometers.
System Starship is a two-stage reusable rocket, designed to fly on the celestial bodies of the Solar system. The second stage of the United Starship spacecraft — gosupravleniem ship or gas tanker. And the first stage Super Heavy able to return to the starting place.
the Main structural material and the first and second stages have a Starship was not carbon fiber as in the previous embodiments, and suddenly — stainless steel AISI 301. The transition to this material is Elon Musk announced in December 2018 on Twitter, but until now details about the decision we didn't know.
the Rejection of carbon fiber, he explained that he maintains a high performance only in a narrow range of temperatures: carbon fibers always remain strong, but the polymer matrix (that fills the space between the fibers) at low temperatures becomes very brittle, and when heated above 150°C on the contrary — greatly softens and "flows". So when going beyond the optimal temperature, the composite loses strength.
steel, on the contrary, good mechanical properties at both high and low temperatures. Not to mention the fact that she is almost 50 times cheaper than carbon fiber. Fill both stages was planned liquid methane (fuel) and liquid oxygen (oxidizer) in the ratio of 1 to 3.
