The Next Challenge for Musk ’ s SpaceX? Explaining What Happened to Starship

A beautiful machine came to an ugly end on April 20 when SpaceX’s sleek, silvery, 40-story tall Starship rocket consumed itself in an orange and white fireball just four minutes after launch and 39 km (24 mi.) above the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Texas. As maiden voyages go, it was not pretty. In the days since, much virtual ink has been spilled, both applauding the launch and condemning its failure. “Congrats to @SpaceX on Starship’s first integrated flight test!” tweeted NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “Every great achievement throughout history has demanded some level of calculated risk, because with great risk comes great reward. Looking forward to all that SpaceX learns, to the next flight test—and beyond.” [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] I also chimed in, calling the explosion “no big deal” in my analysis for TIME, pointing to serial crashes and explosions as an unavoidable part of the rocket design business. That fly-and-fail approach, I argued, helps identify problems well before a new rocket carries a payload or crew, making the vehicle more reliable and, much more important, safer. The rest of the twitterverse wasn’t as sanguine. “This wasn’t calculated risk. This was rushed. This was careless,” countered Twitter user @iwriteforme. “Absurdly misplaced ignorant jubilation,” tweeted @clarecastle in response to media outlets in the U.K. echoing Nelson’s pos...
Source: TIME: Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Uncategorized healthscienceclimate Space Source Type: news