Elon Musk's wands take us to the future

Sunday was the perfect day that Space X had long dreamed of. On Saturday 12 October, the Federal Aviation Administration had finally given the go-ahead for the launch that SpaceX had been waiting for (somewhat impatiently) since August. The reason for the delay had been concerns about launch damage to the nature reserve surrounding the base. Ornithologists had pointed out that the cloud of dust and gravel, raised by the 33 engines, together with the sonic boom of the launch had negative effects on the nests of migratory birds that breed in the reserve. Elon Musk had responded in his somewhat swaggering way by saying that to atone for his sin he would not eat eggs for a week. However, the FAA had stated that the request to be more attentive to the welfare of the park's animals was non-negotiable and SpaceX had complied, agreeing to measure the size of the dust and gravel plume to propose methods to protect the nests during launches.

With Starship already ready on its giant launch pad, Space X decided to launch on Sunday morning. This was Starship's fifth test launch and, this time, SpaceX wanted to test the launch tower's two huge 'arms', jokingly called chopsticks, which are designed to support and move the launcher as it is assembled and to catch the first stage on the fly as it returns to the ground after launch ready for re-use. Last time in June, thebooster had performed the ground return manoeuvre but had been dropped into the Gulf of Mexico. Sunday, however, was to be the christening of the sticks. The manoeuvre for the re-entry of the first stage was spectacular with a first ignition of the engines followed by a free fall and a second ignition to brake the 70 m long and 9 m wide tube, which, flaming, rested gracefully on the sticks that welcomed it. A perfect first attempt at a flying catch, to say the least. In the meantime, Starship had entered orbit and was following its trajectory, which included re-entry into the atmosphere and a landing manoeuvre in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Australia. SpaceX had equipped the probe with a large number of cameras and it was possible to follow the descent as the friction of the atmosphere reddened the materials and a beautiful pink plasma cloud formed, probably due to ionised oxygen. Particularly photogenic were the steel fins that became iridescent when overheated by friction.

It was a spectacle offered in real time thanks to the Starship spacecraft's continuous connection with the Starlink satellites, which allowed high-resolution footage that will be vital for assessing the behaviour of every part of the spacecraft, especially the heat shield tiles. Then everything plunged into darkness because it was night at the site chosen for the mock-up. However, this did not prevent us from seeing the conclusion of the mission. In fact, at the place planned for Starship's ditching there was some craft, certainly self-driving, waiting for her and filmed the scene illuminated by the engines switched on for the final braking. After the ditching the capsule was seen floating with commentators wondering if it could be salvaged. Certainly the recovery and reuse of the Starship capsule is another step on the road to the almost totally reusable launcher and I'm sure we will see it in one of the next launches because it is through the reuse of all parts of the launcher and shuttle that SpaceX plans to cut launch costs.

The success of Starship's fifth launch is evidenced by the great precision we saw in both the first stage take-off re-entry manoeuvre and the ditching, which took place exactly where it was planned. To manage the most powerful launcher ever with such accuracy has something of an astonishing quality.

An extraordinary success that, once again, disproves the pessimists (or, if we prefer, the conservatives) who said that chopsticks would never work.