SpaceX releases new photo comparing the space age to the skyscraper age
From skyscraper age to…the space age?
SpaceX recently released a black and white picture of its Starship spacecraft being fitted to its Super Heavy Booster.
What makes this photo particularly fascinating is the similarities to Charles Ebbets’ famous picture ‘Lunch Atop a Skyscraper’ from 1932, staged by workers who were constructing the RCA Building at Rockefeller Center.
The similarities would suggest that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is comparing the heyday of the skyscraper age 90 years ago to a bold new step in the space age!
And as of this photo, the Starship is – at 395 feet – the tallest rocket in the world, over 30 feet taller than the famous Saturn V moon rocket.
The reusable, stainless steel-hulled Starship spacecraft is being designed by SpaceX for a wide range of missions. Originally conceived as a vehicle for getting humans to Mars, it was also recently selected by NASA as the lunar lander for the Artemis missions, which hope to land humans on the Moon by the middle of our current decade.
The Super Heavy Booster, which will provide the thrust to send the Starship on its way, will provide more than three times the lift of those Saturn V moon rockets.
While the Starship has flown in various test configurations, the Super Heavy Booster has yet to fly. Many steps remain before the first flight, but SpaceX does hopes to send the Starship into Earth orbit by late 2021 or early 2022.
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