Elon Musk Tweets the Pic of '42' on SpaceX's Starship Prototype! What Is the Meaning of 42? Life, the Universe and Everything, Know More

Trending Stories

Arijit Singh

Bangladesh Protest

NZ vs PAK

Kerala High Court

Amit Shah

Virat Kohli

China

Elon Musk tweeted a pic of "42" on SpaceX's starship prototype and as one may wonder its connection with "Life, the Universe and Everything", here's what you must know of. A SpaceX prototype ship, Serial Number 8, or SN8 blasted as it returned to the earth, exploding during its test launch on Wednesday. While Elon Musk is extremely positive and explained how it is a WIN for them by saying "Mars Here We Come" despite catastrophic end, he also just tweeted a picture of "42" on the SpaceX's Starship prototype and wrote "Life, the Universe and Everything". This pic along with the tweet holds a deeper meaning.

SpaceX also live-streamed the launch of its Starship spacecraft which had completed two low-altitude flights of the Starship prior to Wednesday’s launch. Musk congratulated the SpaceX team for collecting the necessary data and also tweeted out the pic of the number 42.  Musk tweeted: "Fuel header tank pressure was low during landing burn, causing touchdown velocity to be high & RUD, but we got all the data we needed! Congrats SpaceX team hell yeah!!"

SpaceX's website noted that the high-velocity touchdown resulted in a "hard (and exciting!) landing." The spaceship still "successfully ascended, transitioned propellant and performed its landing flip maneuver" prior to the explosion. However, many are wondering what exactly the "42" on the spaceship meant.

What is the Meaning of 42?

Many wonder how is 42 related to Life, the Universe, and Everything? 42 is the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything it is said. The number 42 is, in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams is said to be the "Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything", calculated by an enormous supercomputer named Deep Thought over a period of 7.5 million years. However, no one knows what the question is. The number 42 holds importance to fans of science fiction novelist Douglas Adams' "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy".

SpaceX prototype ship, Serial Number 8, or SN8 Launch Video:

According to the company’s website, The SpaceX prototype is designed to deliver satellites into orbit at a lower cost than its already existing Falcon models. The page dedicated to Starship on the company’s website said that the product would mean a good step for "a fully reusable transportation system," but seemed to mitigate expectations for the launch. SpaceX had a successful launch of its Crew Dragon capsule in May.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 10, 2020 11:45 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).

Show full article