SpaceX's Starbase Installation Is Seen By An ISS Astronaut From Orbit

From the International Space Station (ISS), an astronaut was able to make view SpaceX's Starbase spaceflight facility in Boca Chica, Texas, about 250 miles away. Earlier this week, while the ISS sailed over Texas, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata took pictures of the scene from the space station. Wakata tweeted the picture and enquired of his followers if they could make out SpaceX's factory down below. You won't be able to see Starbase unless you live nearby or have been closely following SpaceX's construction at the site. So allow us to assist you. The Starbase Launch Control Center and Starbase Tracking Station buildings are visible in the red circle in the image above. It's also where SpaceX displays a number of Starship spacecraft, many of which have older designs that were never launched, in its so-called Rocket Garden. The launch site for SpaceX's forthcoming Super Heavy first test flight is indicated by the green circle. [caption id="attachment_71851" align="aligncenter" width="719"] NASA/JAXA[/caption] In a quick test flight, the Super Heavy will try to launch the Starship spaceship into orbit. NASA plans to employ both rockets for upcoming crewed moon and Mars missions. The maiden launch of the Super Heavy has not yet been scheduled by SpaceX, but it is anticipated to happen soon. With a thrust of 17 million pounds when it ultimately takes off, it will be the most powerful rocket to have ever flown. That is a lot more than NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, which launched for the first time in November to begin the Artemis I lunar mission and produced a record 8.8 million pounds of thrust. It is also more than twice as powerful as the Saturn V rocket, which transported astronauts to the moon for the Apollo missions fifty years ago.