SpaceX CEO Elon Musk finally broke the silence about the Starship SN9 explosion on February 2. Responding to a Twitter user, Musk admitted that they were “too dumb” to light just two engines to land. Elaborating further, he said that next time, they would try the “pull up” method.
The second full test flight of the Space X spacecraft launched on February 2 and saw the SN9 traveling a few kilometers in the air. The vehicle hovered for a moment and then conducted a belly-down maneuver downhill before making an explosive landing back on the lock pad. Subsequent reports stated that one of its two Raptor engines did not rekindle before returning to the ground, which made the SN9 travel too fast to make a safe landing.
The question was asked by a Twitter user by the name of ‘Madoverlord’. In a tweet to Musk, he asked why only two engines were lit during the landing. “Why not light all 3, turn around, choose the best two and turn off the other?” he added. In response to this, Musk wrote: “we were all too stupid”.
Read: SpaceX spacecraft rocket prototype explodes on landing, FAA to oversee the investigation
Read: SpaceX’s second spacecraft test flight ends with another Kaboom
FAA to launch investigation
As SpaceX’s second full test flight of its futuristic bullet-shaped starship ended in another forced landing on February 2, the Federal Aviation Administration said it would oversee an investigation into the incident. Elon Musk’s company launched its latest prototype starship from the southeastern tip of Texas, two months after the previous test ended in an equally explosive disaster. The destroyed vehicle, the SpaceX SN9 spacecraft, was one of the first prototypes of a rocket that the company hopes will take the first humans to the Red planet.
On Tuesday, the rocket was launched on a high-altitude test flight and had traveled a few kilometers in the air. The vehicle hovered for a moment and then conducted a belly-down maneuver downhill before making an explosive landing back on the lock pad. After the failed launch, the FAA said its main priority in regulating commercial space transport is to ensure that operations are safe, even if there is an anomaly.
Read: Starship SN9 Scrubbed By FAA; Elon Musk brings SN10 instead; Read the details
Read: SpaceX’s second spacecraft test flight ends with another Kaboom