Elon Musk’s SpaceX Mars rocket mocked on Twitter for looking like something from a 1960s cartoon
ELON Musk’s glistening SpaceX Mars rocket has been mocked for looking like it was ripped from the pages of a 1950s comic book after he unveiled the newly assembled spacecraft on social media.
Twitter users quipped the silver Starship hopper, which Musk says will one day embark on return trips to the Red Planet, looked exactly like the rocket Tintin flew to the moon.
Revealing the rocket, Musk tweeted a picture with the caption: “Starship test flight rocket just finished assembly at the SpaceX Texas launch site.”
He added: “This is an actual picture, not a rendering.”
Many were quick to highlight the giant ship’s classic design – a pointy nose cone top standing on three stabilising tail fins – was a throwback to old Sci-Fi concepts of space travel.
One user uploaded a picture of the red and white checked Tintin rocket and told Musk: “I think you only need to find a good body shop”.
Another posted a picture of a cocktail mixer that looks identical to the rocket and joked: “It’s going to be one hell of a party.”
Some sent the tech billionaire pictures of old comics featuring similar spaceships on their front covers.
In a later tweet Musk explained the Spacecraft is for “suborbital VTOL tests”, adding: “Orbital version is taller, has thicker skins (won’t wrinkle) & smoothly curving nose section.”
Starship is the new official name, announced by Musk in November, of the BFR launch system known as the Big F***ing Rocket or Big Falcon Rocket, depending on the audience.
This particular model will be used to test short launches and landings.
Musk has claimed low altitude test flights could begin this year ahead of the first trips to the Red Planet as early as 2024.
Earlier this month, the billionaire said SpaceX was aiming to carry out test flights within four weeks, but admitted it could be as long as eight weeks when unforeseen issues are factored in.
He is planning a colony of a million people living in glass domes to grow their own food.
Responding to questions from space enthusiasts, Mr Musk said that the first orbital prototype should be ready by June.
Musk’s company SpaceX has spent years building the reusable rocket launcher that it hopes will transport colonists 100 at a time.
It will be the largest rocket ever built – taller and heavier than the Saturn rockets that launched the Apollo missions to the Moon.
The Starship is 30 feet wide and will be made from stainless steel as it resists extreme cold and heat better than pricey composite materials, Musk told followers.
Underneath it will be a massive booster rocket called Super Heavy.
The version tweeted out by Musk today was a smaller version of the craft – having the same width but a smaller height.
This week marks a busy period for SpaceX, with the company due to launch another batch of satellites into space on its Falcon 9 rocket later on Friday.
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