Today is the second class of your new four class set.. We will begin class with a casual conversation. We will go over the grammar together. We will finish class with a reading exercise. Your homework is to listen to the audio and follow the transcript. Please listen one time.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
NASA wants to return people to the moon by as early as 2025. Now, in order to make that happen, SpaceX's Starship rocket is needed because it's the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built. Yesterday, the rocket successfully launched into the sky on its first test flight - I mean, it did get off the ground technically - only to explode into a large fireball minutes later. Still, SpaceX employees erupted in cheers.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
KATE TICE: And there, as you saw, as we promised, an exciting end to the Starship inaugural integrated test flight.
MARTÍNEZ: Cheering an explosion. Space industry analyst Carissa Christensen is here to explain. So Carissa, fire, flame, smoke, boom, then yay - what gives?
CARISSA CHRISTENSEN: Good morning. So this was not the flight of a mature operational vehicle. The Starship launch that we saw yesterday was a planned step in an ongoing multiyear development and test program for, as you said, arguably the most powerful launch vehicle ever. So, in fact, that launch met its objectives. It provided data needed to advance the development of the vehicle. And it's interesting - the loss of that test article is quite consistent with SpaceX's approach to developing the Starship system. In designing and developing and testing complex hardware, you can use analysis and computer simulations to figure out what will work and what won't. And you can use physical tests in the real world. And SpaceX has been very hardware intensive in its development program, conducting many physical tests, as we very dramatically have seen.
MARTÍNEZ: So, Carissa, would it be fair to say that once it got off the ground and flew a little bit, that if the cameras had shut off, I mean, that would have been ideal in a weird way?
CHRISTENSEN: I actually think that SpaceX's visibility and transparency in its test process is a very positive thing. SpaceX does a good job at signaling and communicating where it is in the process.
MARTÍNEZ: So I mentioned earlier NASA aims to use this rocket for its return to the moon and maybe, maybe, maybe Mars. So how does this test affect those plans?
CHRISTENSEN: This test is consistent with the planned test program. Now, it's always great in a test if everything works flawlessly. That's an unrealistic expectation with a vehicle this complex.
MARTÍNEZ: But Mars - I mean, just thinking about it, right?
CHRISTENSEN: Well, so SpaceX talks about this rocket in the context of aspiring to change what humanity does in space. And SpaceX has already dominated launches of existing space activities with its Falcon 9 reusable launch vehicle, and reusability there was a big achievement. So you're not throwing the rocket away each launch. You're reusing it. And so SpaceX's Falcon 9 vehicle contributed to lower prices, a faster launch cadence, and has helped attract investment in space ventures that use satellites and serve other existing space markets.
MARTÍNEZ: Carissa, for the next launch, do you think right now SpaceX is going to try to avoid this, what happened this last time for the next launch? Is that the next step?
CHRISTENSEN: I would anticipate that we would see a next step of vehicle performance and functionality, but I certainly would not say that we won't see another test article dramatically and excitingly disassemble.
MARTÍNEZ: Space industry analyst and BryceTech CEO and founder Carissa Christensen. Carissa, thanks.
CHRISTENSEN: Thank you so much.