tu ještě vykreslený optimismus, náhodně z redditu
You just watched a 20 story bomb falling out of the sky at Mach 3 and then getting caught by its launch tower. This flying skyscraper is capable of launching 150 tons into orbit, 150 tons of whatever you want that can fit in a 8m diameter. For context, the Europa Clipper payload just launched at a weight of 6 tons, with the Falcon 9 second stage weighing in at just shy of 100
You can fit the ENTIRE SECOND STAGE, AND the largest interplanetary probe ever made, into the payload bay of a Starship, deliver it on orbit, and still have payload weight leftover.
Refueling starship will remove that need for kick stages. Why send one Europa Clipper when you can send 10? 15? What about one or two 20-30 ton probes with multiple landers?
For Near Earth missions, one Starship is the same volume as the ISS. String a few of them together and you have a space station that doesn’t support 7 people, but more like 100, depending on configuration. Wanna build a ring station? You can now use a ship that can carry hundreds of tons of materials for said station instead of the 10-20 that you could on a shuttle. And you can do it for pennies on the dollar compared to that launch system.
Starship isn’t just a new spacecraft. It is a different generation, an entirely new KIND of space travel unlocking plans and missions that 10 years ago would get you laughed out of every aerospace meeting on Earth. Wanna send a few rovers the size of a Chevy Tahoe to Titan? Okay. Wanna send a crew of 20 to the Moon? Send over the launch date. Wanna build an artificial gravity station with room for 1000 people? Okay, it’ll take a while, but okay.
This landing is the culmination of 80 years of rocketry and 2 decades of Space X engineers pushing the absolute boundaries of what is physically possible. It is also the beginning of a new era in human civilization. I hope you’re as excited as I am, because everyone should be.