SpaceX Starship's Eh-XPlosion

Well, lo and behold, the SpaceX Starship, the hugest rocket in the Great White North, took its second kick at the can, and wouldn’t you know it, turned into a bit of a kerfuffle up there, eh?

 

They’re callin’ it a “rapid unscheduled disassembly,”

So, off she goes from the Starbase site in South Texas on Saturday (Nov. 18). The plan? To send this lumbering beauty most of the way around the ol’ Earth, with dreams of a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii after about 90 minutes, you know? But, wouldn’t ya know it, things got a little squirrelly just eight minutes in. They’re callin’ it a “rapid unscheduled disassembly,” which is just a fancy way of sayin’ it went kaboom.

 

Now, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is putting on its investigator toque again. They did the same dance after the first test flight on April 20. Back then, the Starship had a few hiccups — engines quitting early, stages not separating as planned, and a big ol’ explosion commanded by SpaceX. But this time, the FAA is on the case right away, making sure SpaceX follows the rules and figures out what the heck happened, eh?

 

No injuries or property damage reported this time, so at least there’s that, eh? The FAA, in their usual official tone, mentioned that fact in a post, just to keep us all in the loop.

 

Now, the first investigation wrapped up on Sept. 8, but there were still some bureaucratic hoops to jump through before Starship could hit the skies again. Finally, on Nov. 15, the FAA gave the thumbs up after checking the safety and environment boxes, eh?

 

All 33 of Super Heavy’s engines lit up like a Christmas tree

This second investigation and the whole licensing process seem like they’re gonna take a while, even though a bunch of stuff actually went right this time. All 33 of Super Heavy’s engines lit up like a Christmas tree, and the booster parted ways with the Starship upper stage just as planned. Starship’s six Raptors burned for a good while, taking the whole shebang to a whopping 91 miles up, according to SpaceX’s launch webcast. That’s way higher than the 24 miles they managed in the first flight back in April.

 

So, even though it’s a bit of a head-scratcher, we’re still here waiting for the Starship’s next big adventure. Buckle up, it’s gonna be a bumpy, explosive ride, eh?

 

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