On its third try, Starship rocket flies through space but fails during re-entry

An hour after sunrise this morning, a roaring steel titan more than 120 meters tall ascended from South Texas over the Gulf of Mexico: SpaceX’s Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built. This launch, the rocket’s third full test flight, wasn’t perfect and ended with Starship’s upper stage breaking apart during re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. However, it far exceeded the milestones set by the vehicle’s last flight in November 2023. In a post on the social media platform X , NASA Administrator Bill Nelson called the launch a “successful test flight” and declared that “Starship has soared into the heavens”: a sign the U.S. space agency sees the vehicle as progressing toward what would be a revolution in access to orbit and the surfaces of the Moon and Mars. Scientists are also waiting expectantly, hoping Starship can enable entirely new kinds of research throughout the Solar System. Less than 3 minutes into flight, Starship’s upper stage fired up its six engines to separate from the still-attached and working 33-engine booster, the second such “hot staging” that SpaceX has attempted. As the upper stage accelerated into space, the booster turned away and splashed into the waters below. During its final descent, the booster’s engines did not fully relight, leading to an unexpectedly hard landing. Over the next 45 minutes, the second stage flew partway around the world, reaching speeds of more than ...
Source: Science of Aging Knowledge Environment - Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research