Featured Image Source: Tesmanian.com / Evelyn J. Arevalo @JaneidyEve via Twitter
SpaceX founder Elon Musk shared on Sunday (August 29) that Twitter founder Jack Dorsey and American record producer Rick Rubin visited SpaceX's Starbase facility in South Texas. The aerospace company is actively developing the Starship launch system at the small Boca Chica beach village. The sandy region used to be under the radar, the zone now attracts tourists excited about Starship’s development. A drive down Boca Chica Blvd (Highway 4) is like entering a portal into the future, seeing twin Starships standing side-by-side in the horizon make you believe that making life multi-planetary is within humanity’s reach.
Dorsey shared a close-up photo of the gigantic Starship spacecraft in a Twitter post –“Grateful for Elon & SpaceX,” he wrote alongside a heart emoji. “Good to see you & Rick Rubin at Starbase,” Musk wrote in response. In the photograph Dorsey shared, shown below, we can see the black heat shield tiles that are covering only one side of the 160-foot-tall stainless-steel test vehicle, identified as Starship SN20. The heat tiles are designed to withstand extremely hot temperatures of over 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit as the vehicle reenters Earth’s atmosphere.
Starship SN20 is currently undergoing preparations for SpaceX’s orbital debut flight test, during which Super Heavy Booster 4 will propel SN20 to orbit from Starbase, Texas. The 230-foot-high rocket will be equipped with 29 methane-fueled Raptor engines, it will be the first time SpaceX ignites over three engines simultaneously. Starship has 6 Raptor engines, three vacuum-optimized for propulsion in space. Soon after Starship SN20 reaches orbit, the ceramic heat shield tiles will be put to the test as the vehicle reenters our atmosphere for a landing attempt in the ocean off the northwest coast of Kauai, Hawaii. It is unclear when the orbital flight test will take place, the company is still pending regulatory approval.
Good to see you & @RickRubin at Starbase
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 30, 2021
Featured Image Source: Tesmanian.com / Evelyn J. Arevalo @JaneidyEve via Twitter
About the Author
Evelyn Arevalo
Evelyn J. Arevalo joined Tesmanian in 2019 to cover news as a Space Journalist and SpaceX Starbase Texas Correspondent. Evelyn is specialized in rocketry and space exploration. The main topics she covers are SpaceX and NASA.
