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'Don't panic': SpaceX pens familiar message on Starship ahead of historic double-catch test flight
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SpaceX has a message for itself, and for the spacecraft set to make history today (Nov. 13): Don't panic.
The company's Starship megarocket will conduct its 15th test flight this afternoon, a landmark liftoff that will feature the first-ever attempt to catch both of its stages with its launch tower's "chopstick" arms.
On Thursday (Nov. 12), SpaceX rolled the Flight 15 upper stage, a vehicle known as Ship 42, out to the launch pad at its Starbase site in South Texas to prep. The company shared photos of the move on X, and in two of those shots we can see some intriguing words inked on the spacecraft: "Don't panic."
The phrase is familiar to fans of Douglas Adams' sci-fi classic "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy": In the novel, the electronic guidebook that helps travelers find their way across the cosmos has "Don't panic!" on its cover.
And Ship 42 itself is connected to the beloved book, by virtue of its serial number. In "The Hitchhiker's Guide," a supercomputer named Deep Mind is asked to come up with "the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything." It thinks for 7.5 million years and comes up with "42."
SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk has voiced his affection for "The Hitchhiker's Guide" in the past — and he has already paid tribute to it with a well-placed "Don't panic."
The debut launch of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket back in February 2018 sent Musk's red Tesla Roadster into orbit around the sun, with a spacesuit-clad mannequin named Starman at the wheel and its entertainment display programmed to read "Don't panic!"
Starship Flight 15 is scheduled to launch today during a 75-minute window that opens at 5:45 p.m. EST (2245 GMT; 4:45 p.m. local Texas time). You can watch it here at Space.com.
If all goes according to plan, Starship's Super Heavy first stage will come back to Starbase for a chopsticks catch about 6.5 minutes after liftoff.