The American company SpaceX hopes to be able to take off the Starship on October 13, in order to complete the fifth test flight as quickly as possible. While waiting for the green light from the FAA, a mini-game was released to keep the public waiting. The goal? Catch the first stage when it returns to Earth. This is exactly the maneuver the company hopes to do during the 5th flight.
Will leave, will not leave? SpaceX remains suspended from the green light from the Federal Aviation Administration, which must approve the next Starship test flight. The American company says it is ready to launch its giant rocket on October 13. All that’s missing is the “go” from the FAA.
To kill time while waiting for authorization from the authorities, SpaceX has just upload a mini-game to a browser which consists of sending a rocket – the Starship – into space and then bringing the first stage back safely. Precisely, it is a question of bringing it back to the right speed and to the right place, at the level of the launch tower.
Does this remind you of anything? This is normal: SpaceX’s mini-game is in fact based on the new maneuver that the company wants to experiment with from October 13. Beyond a flight which aims to confirm recent progress in the development of the launcher, the October 13 test offers the opportunity to “catch up” with the first stage in mid-flight.
On its return to Earth, the craft must return to its starting point and decelerate sufficiently so that two immense mechanical arms can grasp it. The Super Heavy – the name of the first stage – must therefore keep fuel to slow down in the home stretch and maintain a semblance of hovering, long enough to be recovered.
Starship – The Game
The mini-game, called “Starship – The Game”, is available in four difficulty levels (easy, medium, difficult, grotesque). You launch the rocket with the space bar, you use the directional arrows to shift the rocket on a horizontal axis (left and right arrows) or to turn on the booster to decelerate (top arrow).
Two gauges are available on the sides: on the left, the current altitude of the rocket, on the right, the fuel reserve. At takeoff, a third gauge is present: depending on its filling level, when you trigger the ignition, you will go to a higher or lower altitude. So you have to press the space bar at the right time.
Once in the sky, you will see floating items: overall, everything is bad (a collision makes you lose a little fuel), except the stars (this allows you to regain some). But to win, you have to slow down enough and keep the vehicle hovering at its top, so that uk is aligned with the arms of the tower.
Of course, you also have the possibility to do anything and hold down the space bar to zoom through the cosmos. There is, however, a “ceiling” that cannot be surpassed, but which will allow you to encounter the International Space Station (ISS), the Moon, a few stars and a spaceship that we have not really been able to identify.
SpaceX is not at its first attempt: in 2021, the company released another mini-game, this time consisting of playing an astronaut who must dock a Crew Dragon capsule to the ISS.
Source: www.numerama.com
