• casualSTEM
  • Posts
  • Mechazilla's Chopsticks Catch 23-Story SpaceX Booster

Mechazilla's Chopsticks Catch 23-Story SpaceX Booster

STEM Snacks

tilted Erlenmeyer flask logo, then "casualSTEM"

casualSTEM delivers brief and informative summaries of the latest science news every Saturday. Full of jokes, silly polls, and a cartoon!

Get the weekly email that explains science in sweatpants. Stay smart for free.

line divider
rocket sushi

created by Steve Burgess w/ chatGPT 4o

ChopstiX

SpaceX used “chopsticks” to perform magic. “Mechazilla“ caught their 23-story tall Super Heavy booster from a near free fall.

  • Mechazilla = launch tower w/ mechanical arms

  • Starship + booster = 397’ tall (Statue of Liberty = 305’)

  • Over 2x more powerful than Saturn V (Apollo missions)

This was the first attempt to catch the ~600k lbs. booster as part of a plan to reuse larger rockets for lunar and Martian missions. Next up: catching Starship, too, as early as next year. Meanwhile, I drop everything with chopsticks.

Catch-up on science in sweatpants

Reply

or to participate.