It was the fourth launch of the world’s biggest and most powerful rocket. Previous flight demos ended in explosions.
SpaceX's mega rocket Starship lifts off in a heavy haze for a test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, Thursday, June 6, 2024.It was the fourth launch of the world’s biggest and most powerful rocket, standing nearly 400 feet tall. The three previous flight demos. This time, the rocket and the spacecraft managed to splash down in a controlled fashion, making the hourlong flight the longest and most successful yet.
Starship was empty as it soared above the Gulf of Mexico and headed east on a flight to the Indian Ocean. Within minutes, the first-stage booster separated from the spacecraft and splashed into the gulf precisely as planned, after firing its engines.The spacecraft reached an altitude of nearly 130 miles , traveling at more 16,000 mph , before beginning its descent.
It was a critical milestone in the company’s plan to eventually reuse the rocket that NASA and Musk are counting on to get humanity to the moon and then Mars. SpaceX came close to avoiding explosions in March, but lost contact with the spacecraft as it careened out of space and blew up short of its goal. The booster also ruptured in flight, a quarter-mile above the gulf.ended in explosions shortly after blasting off from the southern tip of Texas near the Mexican border. The first one cratered the pad at Boca Chica Beach and hurled debris for thousands of feet .
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