( Image Credit: SpaceX)
In the three months since the previous Mars Gazette update, a grievous amount of time which the publisher will endeavor to reduce, there has been the typical and astonishing level of progress made by the other-worldly teams at SpaceX. Excitement has been building for weeks, leading up to the next step in the development of Starship, the craft that will soon begin taking supplies and then brave explorers to Mars and beyond. The planned 50,000 ft high altitude test was slated for today but got scrubbed at the last t-1 second mark due to a Raptor engine auto-abort. This conveniently provided enough time to report on this exciting and historic upcoming event! The test has been rescheduled for Wednesday, 12/9/2020 though of course that is subject to change.
Consider what any one of us has gotten accomplished in the past three months. I’ve read a couple of books, I’ve tried not to watch too much news, I’ve written some code that does moderately useful things. These men and women have created the prototype of a ship that will almost certainly take us to Mars in under 6 years. If you have been paying attention, it has almost become a truism to not bet against the God King of Mars. Elon says this is going to work, and I for one believe him!
Be sure to check the SpaceX webcast page tomorrow for updates, and a livestream that will be posted and activated shortly before the next launch attempt.