SpaceX's mega-rocket test flight almost succeeded, yet lose spacecraft near end? What went wrong?
SpaceX nearly completed an hour-long test flight of its massive rocket, but the spacecraft was lost during its descent back to Earth on Thursday. As reported by AP, the company reported that contact was lost with the Starship as it approached its intended destination, a splashdown in the Indian Ocean. Additionally, the first-stage booster broke apart earlier in the flight over the Gulf of Mexico, following its launch from the southern tip of Texas near the Mexican border.
“The ship has been lost. So no splashdown today," said SpaceX’s Dan Huot. “But again, it’s incredible to see how much further we got this time around." Two test flights last year both ended in explosions minutes after liftoff.
By surviving for close to 50 minutes this time, Thursday's effort was considered a win by not only SpaceX's Elon Musk, but NASA as well as Starship soared higher and farther than ever before. The space agency is counting on Starship to land its astronauts on the moon in another few years, AP reported. Also Read: SpaceX Dragon with Crew-8 members docks to space station The nearly 400-foot (121-meter) Starship, the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built, headed out over the Gulf of Mexico after liftoff Thursday morning, flying east.
Spectators crowded the nearby beaches in South Padre Island and Mexico. A few minutes later, the booster separated seamlessly from the spaceship, but broke apart 1,500 feet (462 meters) above the gulf, instead of plummeting into the water intact. By then, the spacecraft was well to the east and continuing upward, with no people or satellites on board.
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