WATCH: Space X’s Mars Rocket Explodes In Spectacular Fashion
No human was harmed in the testing for this rocket…phew.
Yesterday, Space X tested a prototype of their rocket that is supposedly going to bring humans to Mars. On a clear Thursday afternoon, somewhere from the company’s facility in Boca Chica, Texas, the Starship SN8 soared up and over the Gulf of Mexico in what looked like a smooth flight.
The real test – and one of the main reasons for the test flight – was to collect data on how the rocket will return to earth, going from space into an atmosphere, and steering safely to land at a chosen point.
Well, as you know from the title of this article, the prototype did not make it as it crashed spectacularly as it reached the ground and exploded into a big ball of flames. Watch the test flight here:
Well, it’s a good thing that there was no human in there. Elon Musk later tweeted that: “Fuel header tank pressure was low during landing burn, causing touchdown velocity to be high & RUD, but we got all the data we needed!” Mission accomplished, after all, despite the fiery end.
Fellow billionaire and friendly rival, Jeff Bezos, who also heads his own space exploration company, Blue Origin, congratulated Musk. In an Instagram post, Bezos acknowledged that the test had been a great success. “Anybody who knows how hard this stuff is is impressed by today’s Starship test,” he wrote in the caption.
Mars, we’re still coming!
