Starship, formerly known as Big Falcon Rocket, and Big F***ing Rocket is coming together as countless images of the spacecraft assembly have made their way onto social networks.
New images released by Elon Musk, as well as people who traveled near the site where the spacecraft is being assembled, have gone to Twitter and posted a number of images showing the progress Elon Musk’s company is making in putting together the spacecraft of the future.
Starship test vehicle under assembly will look similar to this illustration when finished. Operational Starships would obv have windows, etc. pic.twitter.com/D8AJ01mjyR
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 5, 2019
Musk’s starship could one day be the spacecraft that will take mankind to Mars.
But it won’t just be an Earth-to-Mars transportation vehicle.
Musk has big plans for the Big rocket.
The base section is getting shiny. pic.twitter.com/tlENYL5kMR
— Andrew Goetsch (@Nomadd2029) January 6, 2019
One day, Starship could lead the way in the exploration of our solar system and could be used by future space explorers to travel beyond Mars, into the unknown.
But as they say, Rome wasn’t built in a day.
And neither is Musk’s rocket. Engineers are working around the clock to put together what is going to become the largest rocket ever. And why hurry?
Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.
Recent images have provided us with a better view of the components used in the assembly of Starship.
Burning the midnight oil in South Texas … again. #SpaceX #FlyBocaChica 📷: Art Frischman pic.twitter.com/3z3DFcz7Ah
— Cowboy Dan (@CowboyDanPaasch) January 6, 2019
Musk has posted a number of images showing engineers at work around the nose of the spacecraft.
Other images show different workers building the various components.
In December of 2018, Musk tweeted an image of the spacecraft’s nose captioning it simply as Stainless-Steel Starship.
#ICYMI: #BocaChica sundown yesterday, a few hours after nosecone was mated with the mid-section. #SpaceTeX @ @austinbarnard45 pic.twitter.com/dvQrSfSLq1
— Cowboy Dan (@CowboyDanPaasch) January 5, 2019
And if you are wondering, will the spacecraft really be made out of stainless steel? The answer is yes.
In fact, Musk explained on Twitter the construction plans of the spacecraft.
Musk confirmed that Starship will use stainless steel just like the Atlas Rocket Family.
However, he said that his new spacecraft will have an entirely different mixture of alloys and a brand-new architecture.
Pretty day, after a few not so, in South Texas today. Nosecone getting a lift closer to booster stage. #SpaceX 📷: BocaChicaGal pic.twitter.com/4u3M71gEa7
— Cowboy Dan (@CowboyDanPaasch) January 4, 2019
“Unlike Atlas, Starship is buckling stable on launchpad even when unpressurized,” Musk wrote o Twitter.
“I will do a full technical presentation of Starship after the test vehicle we’re building in Texas flies, so hopefully March/April,” he added.
So, if everything goes to plan, we could expect and see the first tests of Starship taking place in a matter of months.
Day off today, may be weather issues next two. Business & big questions end of BFS. #FlyBocaChica #SpaceTeX 📷: BocaChicaGal pic.twitter.com/hdpt48a09L
— Cowboy Dan (@CowboyDanPaasch) January 2, 2019
Musk’s rocket is planned to be partially reusable, and capable of flying directly from Earth to Mars.
Musk also believes that once built, the rocket could also be used for travel on Earth, claiming that its passengers could travel anywhere on Earth in under an hour.
And if you want to be among the first to travel with Musk’s Rocket to Mars, it will cost you around $200,000 per person.
