The second stage of Starship showed a rust-colored discoloration after the 10th flight, visible in buoy video and drone photos. High-resolution drone images show the heat shield largely intact despite the tint. Elon Musk said the red color came from metallic test tiles that oxidized, and the white patches are exposed insulation where tiles were deliberately removed. The retained tiles indicate recent upgrades are working. Developing a durable, quickly reusable heat shield is critical to enable Starship's rapid turnaround goal, potentially reflying within 24 hours. This capability aims to avoid the extensive refurbishment that limited Shuttle reusability.
One of the more curious aspects of the 10th flight of SpaceX's Starship rocket on Tuesday was the striking orange discoloration of the second stage. This could be observed on video taken from a buoy near the landing site as the vehicle made a soft landing in the Indian Ocean. This color-so different from the silvery skin and black tiles that cover Starship's upper stage-led to all sorts of speculation.
The new images and information from Musk suggest that SpaceX is making progress on developing a heat shield for Starship. This really is the key technology to make an upper stage rapidly reusable-NASA's space shuttle orbiters were reusable but required a standing army to refurbish the vehicle between flights. To unlock Starship's potential, SpaceX wants to be able to refly Starships within 24 hours.
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