{"id":5979,"date":"2023-04-20T15:02:41","date_gmt":"2023-04-20T15:02:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londonpost.news\/?p=5979"},"modified":"2023-04-20T15:02:41","modified_gmt":"2023-04-20T15:02:41","slug":"the-worlds-largest-rocket-by-spacexs-starship-explodes-in-a-test-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/fr\/magazine\/technology-and-science\/the-worlds-largest-rocket-by-spacexs-starship-explodes-in-a-test-flight\/2023\/04\/20\/admin1\/","title":{"rendered":"The world’s largest rocket by SpaceX’s starship explodes in a test flight"},"content":{"rendered":"

TEXAS<\/span> (AFP)<\/span> –<\/span> SpaceX’s<\/span> giant<\/span> new<\/span> rocket<\/span> exploded<\/span> minutes<\/span> after<\/span> launch<\/span> on<\/span> its<\/span> first<\/span> test<\/span> flight<\/span> on<\/span> Thursday,<\/span> crashing<\/span> into<\/span> the<\/span> Gulf<\/span> of<\/span> Mexico.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Elon<\/span> Musk’s<\/span> company<\/span> wanted<\/span> to<\/span> launch<\/span> a<\/span> 120-meter-long<\/span> Starship<\/span> rocket<\/span> from<\/span> the<\/span> southern<\/span> tip<\/span> of<\/span> Texas<\/span> near<\/span> the<\/span> Mexican<\/span> border<\/span> on<\/span> a<\/span> round-the-world<\/span> trip.<\/span> It<\/span> carried<\/span> neither<\/span> people<\/span> nor<\/span> satellites.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Images<\/span> showed<\/span> several<\/span> engines<\/span> failing<\/span> as<\/span> the<\/span> 33-engine<\/span> rocket<\/span> ascended<\/span> from<\/span> the<\/span> launch<\/span> pad<\/span> and<\/span> reached<\/span> altitudes<\/span> of<\/span> up<\/span> to<\/span> 24<\/span> miles<\/span> (39<\/span> kilometers).<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>The<\/span> flight<\/span> plan<\/span> called<\/span> for<\/span> the<\/span> booster<\/span> rocket<\/span> to<\/span> detach<\/span> from<\/span> the<\/span> spacecraft<\/span> a<\/span> few<\/span> minutes<\/span> after<\/span> launch,<\/span> but<\/span> that<\/span> didn’t<\/span> happen.<\/span> The<\/span> missile<\/span> began<\/span> to<\/span> tip<\/span> over<\/span> and<\/span> he<\/span> exploded<\/span> 4<\/span> minutes<\/span> into<\/span> the<\/span> flight,<\/span> crashing<\/span> into<\/span> the<\/span> Gulf<\/span> of<\/span> Mexico.<\/span> After<\/span> separation,<\/span> the<\/span> spacecraft<\/span> was<\/span> to<\/span> head<\/span> east<\/span> and<\/span> orbit<\/span> the<\/span> world<\/span> before<\/span> crashing<\/span> into<\/span> the<\/span> Pacific<\/span> Ocean<\/span> near<\/span> Hawaii.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Crowds<\/span> watched<\/span> from<\/span> South<\/span> Padre<\/span> Island,<\/span> a<\/span> few<\/span> miles<\/span> away<\/span> from<\/span> the<\/span> closed<\/span> Boca<\/span> Chica<\/span> Beach<\/span> launch<\/span> site.<\/span> As<\/span> we<\/span> took<\/span> off,<\/span> the<\/span> crowd<\/span> shouted:<\/span>
\n<\/span>“Go<\/span> baby,<\/span> go!”<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Musk<\/span> tweeted,<\/span> “Exciting<\/span> test<\/span> launch<\/span> for<\/span> Starship!<\/span> We’ve<\/span> learned<\/span> a<\/span> lot<\/span> for<\/span> the<\/span> next<\/span> test<\/span> launch<\/span> in<\/span> a<\/span> few<\/span> months.”<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>In<\/span> the<\/span> weeks<\/span> leading<\/span> up<\/span> to<\/span> the<\/span> flight,<\/span> Musk<\/span> put<\/span> his<\/span> chances<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> spacecraft<\/span> reaching<\/span> orbit<\/span> at<\/span> 50\/50.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>The<\/span> company<\/span> plans<\/span> to<\/span> use<\/span> his<\/span> Starship<\/span> to<\/span> send<\/span> people<\/span> and<\/span> cargo<\/span> to<\/span> the<\/span> moon<\/span> and<\/span> eventually<\/span> to<\/span> Mars.<\/span> NASA<\/span> is<\/span> booking<\/span> spacecraft<\/span> for<\/span> its<\/span> next<\/span> moonwalking<\/span> team,<\/span> and<\/span> wealthy<\/span> tourists<\/span> are<\/span> already<\/span> booking<\/span> lunar<\/span> flybys.<\/span> It<\/span> was<\/span> my<\/span> second<\/span> start.<\/span> Monday’s<\/span> attempt<\/span> was<\/span> thwarted<\/span> by<\/span> a<\/span> frozen<\/span> booster<\/span> his<\/span> valve.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>At<\/span> 394<\/span> feet<\/span> and<\/span> nearly<\/span> 17<\/span> million<\/span> pounds<\/span> of<\/span> thrust,<\/span> the<\/span> Starship<\/span> will<\/span> easily<\/span> outperform<\/span> her<\/span> NASA<\/span> lunar<\/span> rockets<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> past,<\/span> present<\/span> and<\/span> future.<\/span> Stainless<\/span> steel<\/span> rockets<\/span> are<\/span> designed<\/span> to<\/span> be<\/span> fully<\/span> reusable<\/span> and<\/span> fast<\/span> spinning,<\/span> significantly<\/span> reducing<\/span> costs.<\/span> This<\/span> is<\/span> similar<\/span> to<\/span> SpaceX’s<\/span> small<\/span> Falcon<\/span> rocket<\/span> launched<\/span> from<\/span> Cape<\/span> Canaveral,<\/span> Florida.<\/span> Nothing<\/span> could<\/span> be<\/span> saved<\/span> before<\/span> the<\/span> test<\/span> flight.<\/span> The<\/span> futuristic<\/span> spacecraft<\/span> flew<\/span> several<\/span> kilometers<\/span> above<\/span> during<\/span> tests<\/span> a<\/span> few<\/span> years<\/span> ago<\/span> and<\/span> has<\/span> only<\/span> landed<\/span> successfully<\/span> once.<\/span> However,<\/span> this<\/span> was<\/span> to<\/span> be<\/span> a<\/span> first<\/span> stage<\/span> booster<\/span> launch<\/span> with<\/span> her<\/span> 33<\/span> methane-fueled<\/span> engines.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>SpaceX<\/span> set<\/span> up<\/span> more<\/span> boosters<\/span> and<\/span> spacecraft<\/span> for<\/span> more<\/span> test<\/span> flights.<\/span> Musk<\/span> wants<\/span> to<\/span> use<\/span> spacecraft<\/span> to<\/span> launch<\/span> satellites<\/span> into<\/span> low-Earth<\/span> orbit<\/span> and<\/span> launch<\/span> them<\/span> in<\/span> rapid<\/span> succession<\/span> so<\/span> that<\/span> they<\/span> can<\/span> pick<\/span> people<\/span> up<\/span> from<\/span> there.<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TEXAS (AFP) – SpaceX’s giant new rocket exploded minutes after launch on its first test flight on Thursday, crashing into the Gulf of Mexico. Elon Musk’s company wanted to launch a 120-meter-long Starship rocket from the southern tip of Texas near the Mexican border on a round-the-world trip. It carried neither people nor satellites. Images […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5980,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":""},"categories":[1575,2400,2409],"tags":[4131,4132,4133,3389,4121,4122,4123,4124,4125,4126,4127,4128,4129,4130],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/SPCEX.webp","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5979"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5979"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5981,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5979\/revisions\/5981"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}