Tick, Tick, Boom: SpaceX launches Starship
The Intelligence from The Economist
The Economist
4.5 • 3.7K Ratings
🗓️ 21 April 2023
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In a historic first, the largest rocket ever assembled managed to get off the ground. But then it exploded midair. We ask if this launch can still be called a success. Alexei Navalny is still holed up in tortuous conditions in Russia and could be facing even more charges. And, a tribute to a trendsetting fashion designer.
For a full examination of Alexei Navalny’s story so far — told by the people who know him -- search for our Russia podcast "Next Year in Moscow". Or find it here economist.com/moscowpod
To explore the Starship rocket's potential impact on space travel —and find out why exploding is an important part of SpaceX’s model—listen to a previous episode of our "Babbage" podcast. Find that at economist.com/starship-pod or wherever you listen
And, to access the print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, try a free 30-day digital subscription by going to www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the Intelligence from the Economist. I'm your host, Orre Bougain-B. |
| 0:10.4 | Every weekday we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world. |
| 0:19.7 | Alexi Navalny has spent the last two years locked up in a Russian penal colony in what |
| 0:25.2 | could only be described as horrendous conditions. Now, faced with the prospect of new charges, |
| 0:32.7 | he could be jailed for much longer. |
| 0:37.8 | And we pay tribute to the mother of the mini skirt. |
| 0:55.2 | But first... |
| 1:00.9 | We should be able to resume the launch countdown any moment now. |
| 1:05.0 | The launch of SpaceX's Starship was one of the most highly anticipated space events for years. |
| 1:12.6 | Don't walk away, that's for sure. |
| 1:15.4 | It had been scheduled originally for Monday, but quite late in the countdown there'd been |
| 1:19.8 | what they call a scrub because of something frozen in the fuel tank. |
| 1:24.8 | Oliver Morton writes about science for the economist, and is the author of The Moon, a history of the future. |
| 1:32.6 | Then yesterday things seemed to be going very well, but again, there was actually another brief pause yesterday |
| 1:39.2 | where everyone's all like held their breath. |
| 1:41.2 | We're holding a T-minus 40 seconds. What we've heard so far is we have a couple of issues we're working. |
| 1:47.6 | One is the booster tank pressurization. |
| 1:50.8 | One imagines the flight controllers were cackling evenly as they toyed with the emotions of millions, |
| 1:56.4 | thousands actually down at the site, and then we got the go ahead for launch. |
| 2:00.8 | And folks... |
| 2:02.8 | If I can interrupt, it looks like they're clearing all the flags, and we're going to release at T-minus 40 seconds. |
| 2:09.8 | It really was nail-biting edge of your seat staff as it passed those final seconds to launch, Oli. |
... |
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