The story behind this black and white photo of SpaceX's spacecraft

SpaceX's next Starship prototype gets a black-and-white treatment in a stunning new photo shared by the company's billionaire founder Elon Musk.

The image appears to show the prototype Starship SN20 ("Serial No. 20") during testing on August 4 with the first-stage Super Heavy rocket , when the rocket stacked up to become the tallest spacecraft. world .

The photo provides a close-up look at the collaboration between Starship and Super Heavy, with the engineers sitting below. The photo is reminiscent of the famous black and white photograph "Lunch on the Skyscraper" taken by Charles Clyde Ebbets on September 20, 1932, during the construction of Rockefeller Center in Manhattan.

Black and white photo of billionaire Elon Musk's Starship spacecraft is in the process of being tested to fly into orbit.

Billionaire Elon Musk did not post any comments on the photo on August 6, although he did say a lot on his Twitter account about checking the fit. In several tweets, Musk wrote that it was "an honor to work with such a great team" and added that it was a "Dream come true" , seeing them stack up.

The Super Heavy alone has grown to 70m high, and the Starship has an additional height of 50m. Taken together, they are 120m tall, taller than any other rocket, including NASA's famous Saturn V moon rocket, which is 110m tall.

But when the duo will ascend to orbit is still unknown. The spacecraft and its rocket had to undergo multiple technical checks before being cleared to take off from the launch pad near the village of Boca Chica, Texas.

Both the Super Heavy rocket and the Starship SN20 spacecraft are expected to undergo separate static fire tests. SpaceX is also awaiting an environmental assessment of the Starship launch from the Federal Aviation Administration, whose completion date is unclear.

On Twitter, Musk also wrote that Starship and its Super Heavy booster needed at least "4 critical items" before they were ready to fly. Those items are the ultimate heat shields for the Starship, thermal protection for the Super Heavy's engines, multiple ground-launched propellant tanks, and a quick disconnect arm for the Starship, which will likely be attached to the truss tower of the mattress.

SpaceX has tested several prototypes in flight, but this will be the first orbital test for the Starship program.

Orbital flight plans submitted to the FAA show that the Supper Heavy Booster 4 rocket, after lifting the first Starship prototype into orbit, would crash down about 20 miles off the Gulf of Mexico. The Starship spacecraft will orbit itself, circle Earth once, and return to the Pacific Ocean, near the Hawaiian island of Kauai, about 90 minutes after launch.