Elon Musk summoned "alien ships" and "dragons": the tests did not go as planned, as shown in the video.

While it was night in Moscow, the United States finally conducted another test flight of the Starship interplanetary spacecraft from Elon Musk's company. Although some aspects of the tests were successful, Americans still lack a means to travel to the Moon and even more so to Mars.

The seventh test flight of the interplanetary spacecraft faced multiple delays. The minimum program: when the first stage of the rocket separates, it must not only land on Earth "on its tail" but also land exactly where it took off. To achieve this, a giant mechanical arm (nicknamed Mechazilla, a nod to Godzilla, of course) was constructed at the launch pad. This had not been accomplished before. Next, the second stage (the interplanetary spacecraft itself) was supposed to make just over half an orbit around our planet, deploy mock satellites, and enter the atmosphere near Australia.

The spacecraft underwent significant modifications for the tests. It became larger, featured more modern thermal protection, increased fuel capacity (due to fuel system optimization), and different electronic components. In summary, Starship is evolving, the process is ongoing, and there seems to be no reason to criticize Elon Musk's engineers.

A very slow and colorful array of "dragons" descended to Earth

Photo: REUTERS.

Initially, everything went exceptionally well. At 1:37 AM Moscow time, the spacecraft launched, and at an altitude of 65 kilometers, the first stage detached. It smoothly approached the launch pad, spewing plumes of fire, and was effortlessly captured by Mechazilla and lowered to the ground. Fantastic! In the previous test, Mechazilla underperformed. But in the fifth test, it successfully caught the stage. So yes, it was a success, but a success that had already been achieved.

However, the second stage, the actual interplanetary spacecraft, flew for exactly one minute after separating from the first stage. What happened next?

This resembles the landing of a swarm of alien spacecraft

Photo: REUTERS.

Elon Musk's company referred to this as a "rapid unplanned disassembly." From the ground, it looked like this: it was flying, then suddenly an explosion, and everything flew apart like fireworks. In short, it blew up, and the situation was so tense that commentators following the live broadcast worried about potential injuries on the ground. Are there any airplanes in the air? – they asked each other. Someone reported: yes, there are, and they had to urgently change course to avoid debris.

Meanwhile, residents of the Caribbean islands, including Cuba, witnessed a truly surreal spectacle. A very slow and colorful array of "dragons" descended to Earth. This resembles the landing of a swarm of alien spacecraft. Among the many space object crashes the author has witnessed, this was the most vivid.

Thus, from a PR and visual perspective, everything looks fantastic. From an engineering standpoint – unfortunately, not so much. The first stage was caught, but this isn't the first time; the spacecraft was lost (also, unfortunately, not for the first time).

It is clear that creating a super-heavy rocket is a very challenging task. Currently, no one in the world has such a rocket. There are developments. There are blueprints, but a reliable rocket that can safely carry humans does not exist.

The gap between plans to colonize Mars and the Moon and the reality is widening. Recently, Elon Musk made a statement: the Moon – and the idea of a habitable base – is not such a great project. To create jobs. It’s not really needed. Our goal is Mars. It's still unclear how the expert community will react to this, but the question lingers: maybe we should first learn to detach from Earth. Then we can decide whether it’s Mars or the Moon. Or perhaps even the Andromeda Nebula.