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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSpaceX Starship launch aborted on the pad at the last moment
SpaceXs mega Starship rocket came within a second or so from blasting off on a test flight Thursday, but some of the engines failed to ignite, triggering a launch abort amid billowing clouds of smoke and vapor.
Elon Musk, the companys founder and CEO, said two engines will be replaced to be confident of a good flight before sending Starship from Texas on a space-skimming journey halfway around the world. It will be the 13th flight for Starship, which at 407 feet (124 meters) tall with 33 main engines is the worlds biggest and most powerful rocket.
SpaceXs launch webcast showed the start of engine ignition three seconds before the planned liftoff, viewed from a drone high above the pad. Although the company did not elaborate, onscreen data showed four engines not firing, with the remaining 29 engines immediately shutting down and keeping the rocket anchored to the pad. It was the first time a full-scale Starship experienced a last-second abort like this.
The launch team immediately began draining the fuel from the rocket.
https://apnews.com/article/starship-spacex-rocket-musk-nasa-455927b93b0fdc5512a4567a53eb3228
Of, as my husband commented, "Eloon just couldn't get it up today."
Johonny
(26,954 posts)bucolic_frolic
(56,576 posts)Henry203
(982 posts)Elon, why are yu denying this?
The Madcap
(2,303 posts)Unfortunately, Elmo is not any closer to his eventual home on Mars....