A prototype of a SpaceX rocket the company hopes will one day journey to the moon and Mars has exploded in a roaring ball of flames as it tried to land upright after a test flight in Texas.
It was the second such accident afterp met a similar fate in December.
The Starship SN9, a self-guided, 16-story-tall rocket, initially soared into the clear, blue South Texas sky from its Gulf Coast launch pad on Tuesday, reaching its intended altitude of 6.2 miles (10 kilometers), slightly lower than the last one.
Everything seemed to be going well as the spacecraft flipped on its side and began its descent.
It did not manage to straighten itself back up in time for a landing and slammed into the ground with a deafening crash, exploding into bright orange flames and a dust cloud – six minutes and 26 seconds after launch. The fire did not spread.
“We’ve just got to work on that landing a little bit,” said SpaceX launch commentator John Insprucker. “Remind
Everything seemed to be going well as the spacecraft flipped on its side and began its descent.
It did not manage to straighten itself back up in time for a landing and slammed into the ground with a deafening crash, exploding into bright orange flames and a dust cloud – six minutes and 26 seconds after launch. The fire did not spread.
“We’ve just got to work on that landing a little bit,” said SpaceX launch commentator John Insprucker. “Reminder – this is a test flight.”
Everything seemed to be going well as the spacecraft flipped on its side and began its descent.
It did not manage to straighten itself back up in time for a landing and slammed into the ground with a deafening crash, exploding into bright orange flames and a dust cloud – six minutes and 26 seconds after launch. The fire did not spread.
“We’ve just got to work on that landing a little bit,” said SpaceX launch commentator John Insprucker. “Reminder this is a test flight.
Everything seemed to be going well as the spacecraft flipped on its side and began its descent.
It did not manage to straighten itself back up in time for a landing and slammed into the ground with a deafening crash, exploding into bright orange flames and a dust cloud – six minutes and 26 seconds after launch. The fire did not spread.
“We’ve just got to work on that landing a little bit,” said SpaceX launch commentator John Insprucker. “Reminder this is a test flight.