SpaceX Starship test flight ends in a fiery crash
SpaceX's Starship rocket had a successful launch from Texas on Wednesday afternoon, but exploded after a crash landing.
Still, SpaceX founder Elon Musk tweeted that the test flight was a success, and the company was able to get all the data it needed. "Mars, here we come!" he added. Musk has said he wants the rocket to be used to take passengers to the moon and ultimately Mars, and hopes to launch an unmanned mission to the Red Planet by 2024.
No one was on board the ship during Wednesday's test flight, which lasted nearly seven minutes. Prior to the launch, SpaceX said the goal of the test flight was to get Starship up to an altitude of 41,000 feet, while also seeing how the rocket's three engines performed and the overall aerodynamic entry capabilities, ABC News reports. Catherine Garcia
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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