SpaceX again loses its Starship rocket on test flight after explosion during previous attempt
After Megarock from Spacex exploded during a test trip in January, the company was hoping to get a better result when it tried to launch the supporter again on Thursday.
But again, the task was reduced after the consoles were lost to contact the car in the upper stage.
The 400 -foot tournament system on the launch panel at Starbase at Spacex near Bronzville, Texas, at 6:30 pm on the eighth test trip.
But after a little more than 8 minutes of the trip-almost the same timing of accidents in January-it started that many engines have been cut like a vehicle vehicle in the upper stage are still accelerating into space. Direct video showed that the letter spinning before losing all communication.
“I think it is quite clear that we will not continue in the rest of the task today,” said Dan Howout, online Internet manager on the Internet on the Internet.
It is not yet clear whether the upper stage has separated or has reinforced the atmosphere of the Earth. Hoot said during the network broadcast that Spacex had measures to track potential debris and that it works “closely with air traffic control.”
It is not completely uncommon for incidents in developing new missiles and space ships, but the setback on Thursday is the second in a row for the vehicle.
During the seventh test mission of the system on January 16, SpaceX likelds the same communication with the upper phase of the car about 8 minutes. So he blew up on the Caribbean Sea, sending dust and small pieces of The wreck falls on parts of the Turks and cakes. The local authorities said that there were no injuries or severe damage to the property.
The debris of the last Spacex launch chain across the sky over the Long Bay Beach, Turks and Caicos, on January 16.
After this incident, the Federal Aviation Administration launched an investigation. Although he then cleared the spacecraft for a test trip on Thursday, the investigation continues.
The Federal Aviation Administration is one of the many federal agencies that the Trump administration Tired of lowering the budget and employees. However, it is unclear, whether workers in the Ministry of Governmental efficiency, led by the CEO of Spacex Elusk, have a presence in the FAA Commercial Space section, which oversees private companies such as Spacex.
Spacex said its internal investigation Among the explosion, it was found that the most likely cause is the leakage of the motivation that sparked “sustainable fires” in an empty mouth known as “attic”, between the lower part of the liquid oxygen tank and the rear heat shield.
The company said it had made several upgrades to the upper stage before the launch of Thursday to prevent similar fires, including adding more ventilation in the unbroken attic.
Although the test trip was short -term, it hit one milestone. The super heavy supporter successfully returned to his launch site and settled on the arms of the robotic tower. This was the third time that Spacex’s impressive “Catch” maneuvering, which is a major part of its goal to make the vehicle a jacket a system that is fully reusable.
Starship consists of the most powerful missile ever developed, of two parts: the first stage enhanced as a very spacecraft and a spacecraft.
The stars test journey on Thursday was not like others before that. Spacex officials said they would likely complete hundreds of test tasks before Megarock carried any people.
The next generation Megarock is expected to play an important role in NASA’s efforts to return to the moon. NASA has chosen to transport astronauts to the moon during its planned ARTEMIS III mission, which is scheduled to be launched in 2027. Musk also said vehicles can be used in the future clients of Mars.
This article was originally published on NBCNEWS.com
