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
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
-
Are free votes the best way to change British society?
Today's Big Question On 'conscience issues' like abortion and assisted dying, MPs are being left to make the most consequential social decisions
-
Rabies: is it a danger in the UK?
The Explainer The death of a British woman after a dog bite abroad has sparked widespread concern. What do we all need to know?
-
Quiz of The Week: 14 – 20 June
Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
-
Dehorning rhinos sharply cuts poaching, study finds
Speed Read The painless procedure may be an effective way to reduce the widespread poaching of rhinoceroses
-
Breakthrough gene-editing treatment saves baby
speed read KJ Muldoon was healed from a rare genetic condition
-
Sea lion proves animals can keep a beat
speed read A sea lion named Ronan beat a group of college students in a rhythmic dance-off, says new study
-
Humans heal much slower than other mammals
Speed Read Slower healing may have been an evolutionary trade-off when we shed fur for sweat glands
-
Novel 'bone collector' caterpillar wears its prey
Speed Read Hawaiian scientists discover a carnivorous caterpillar that decorates its shell with the body parts of dead insects
-
Scientists find hint of alien life on distant world
Speed Read NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has detected a possible signature of life on planet K2-18b
-
Katy Perry, Gayle King visit space on Bezos rocket
Speed Read Six well-known women went into lower orbit for 11 minutes
-
Scientists map miles of wiring in mouse brain
Speed Read Researchers have created the 'largest and most detailed wiring diagram of a mammalian brain to date,' said Nature