Elon Musk celebrated his 50th birthday on Monday (6/28). At the age of five, Musk wanted a pretty weird present, what was it?
Last weekend, one of Musk's followers on Twitter asked what gift the SpaceX and Tesla CEO wanted for his birthday.
As one of the richest people in the world, Musk can surely get any gift he wants. But his answer was still surprising because he answered Starship Super Heavy, the rocket that will take astronauts to the Moon and Mars.
Super Heavy Starship
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 25, 2021
It seems Musk doesn't just want a Starship rocket parked in front of his house. He wanted the giant rocket to fly into orbit as soon as it went through some flight tests.
But Musk doesn't look like he'll have to wait long to see the Starship in orbit. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell says orbital flight of the Starship rocket will likely happen in the next few weeks.
Speaking at the International Space Development Conference a few days ago, Shotwell aimed for Starship's first orbital flight to take place in July.
"I hope we can do it, but we all know that it's difficult," said Shotwell, as quoted by Digital Trends, Monday (6/28/2021).
"We are one step away from flying the system, or at least attempting the first orbital flight of the system, in the near future."
The Starship rocket system itself consists of two parts, namely the Super Heavy booster and the second stage which is also called the Starship. The second stage is planned to be a spacecraft that delivers cargo and astronauts to the Moon and Mars.
After several explosions during testing, SpaceX finally successfully launched and landed the Starship in May. The Super Heavy rocket has yet to be flown, and will likely make its debut on Starship's first orbital flight.
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