SpaceX launched its huge Starship rocket on the program's eighth test flight Thursday, but a malfunction of some sort triggered multiple upper stage engine shutdowns and the vehicle failed to reach its planned sub-orbital altitude, breaking apart in a spectacular shower of debris.
It was the second failure in a row for a Starship upper stage, a vehicle critical to NASA's plans to return astronauts to the moon in the next few years.
"During Starship's ascent burn, the vehicle experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly and contact was lost. Our team immediately began coordination with safety officials to implement pre-planned contingency responses," SpaceX said in a statement.
"We will review the data from today's flight test to better understand root cause. As always, success comes from what we learn, and today's flight will offer additional lessons to improve Starship's reliability."
A Chinese scientist was arrested while arriving in the US at the Detroit airport, the second...
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists predict Hawaii's Kilauea volcano to erupt in the near future after an...
Johann Strauss II's popular orchestral piece "By the Beautiful Blue Danube" has been inextricably linked to...
