Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

Beijing, April 28 (Xinhua) NASA Director Bill Nelson (Bill Nelson) said on Thursday that SpaceX believes it can repair the launch pad damaged during the first test flight of the starship and is preparing to launch a second starship in early summer.

The starship blew a hole in the launch pad last week, "NASA Director Nelson told lawmakers at a hearing on the House Science Committee on Thursday." to this day, SpaceX still insists that it will take at least two months to rebuild the launch pad and about two months to prepare a second starship. "

So far, SpaceX, local officials, regulators and environmental agencies have been reviewing flight data to assess the damage caused by the maiden flight of what SpaceX calls the most powerful rocket in history. SpaceX has not commented.

A large hole was blown out under the launch pad on April 20 this year, and the first flight of the starship ended about four minutes later. At that time, the starship was out of control and rolling in the air. So SpaceX activated the flight termination system and detonated the starship. Although the aerial explosion of the starship received the most attention, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk (Elon Musk) said before the test flight that damage to the launch pad was one of his top concerns.

The launch of the starship spread debris over the 385-acre SpaceX base and state parks, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said on Wednesday. It also started a 3.5-acre fire, the agency said. The SpaceX base is located on Gulf of Mexico Beach east of Brownsville, Texas.

If SpaceX can repair the launch pad and prepare another rocket for a second flight attempt in about two months, the company will still need permission from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to launch again. A spokesman for FAA, which manages commercial space launches, declined to comment on when the ship might make a second flight attempt.

"the launch time will depend on whether it is safe or not." He said. Some accident investigations may be completed within weeks, but more complex investigations may take months, the spokesman said.

The damaged launch pad came shortly after the first flight of the ship on April 20, and Mr Musk said he expected to try again within a few months, but later said the company might be ready within a month or two.

According to FAA's environmental assessment of the starship program, SpaceX has considered adding additional ground infrastructure at the Texas base to handle the launch. Musk said recently that the company had begun to add a large water-cooled steel plate under the base of the starship on the launch pad. He said the company did not complete the work before the first launch and mistakenly believed that the concrete material of the launch pad could withstand the test of the launch.

"the power of the engine during acceleration may have destroyed the concrete, rather than simply eroding it." He said in a tweet about the first flight of the starship.

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