Elon Musk tweets 'Starship' hopper pics

TITUSVILLE, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - It looks like something from an old-school sci-fi movie, but it’s real life and people are buzzing about Space X’s new rocket.

Elon Musk knows how to create publicity and excitement and he’s done it again by tweeting pictures of the vehicle in Texas, a Starship hopper. One of the controversial aspects of the Starship is that’s coated in stainless steel. Other rockets are coated in carbon fiber, aluminum and titanium. Musk says stainless steel holds up better in extreme temperature, so thats why he picked it.

“Its a hopper, it’s not actually going to launch into orbit, it’s just been completed, it's composed of three sections, and it looks like what you saw in the 1950s --  a pointy nose, silvery body, and the landing legs,” said Dr. Ken Kremer, space journalist and editor of SpaceUpClose.com.

Kremer has a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry and over 25 years of experience in research, development and manufacturing. He talked to the News Station about some of the latest Musk tweets.

Space enthusiasts on the Space Coast, and all over the world, are buzzing. This a test rocket that will be used for suborbital flights, but this design is intended for a mission to Mars.

“It is very exciting, because it’s real.  It’s not a rendering, it’s not a mock up; it’s an actual ship! There’s some engines on the bottom of it right now -- those engines are placeholders, development engines --  but they’re going to install three Raptor engines in a month or two and hopefully do some tests, some actual takeoffs and landings perhaps as early as June,” Kremer said.