Speaking of Elon

 

We'll hate to see him go, won't we?  (Note: a question ends with a question mark.)

Is he so embarrassed by his failings at Tesla and DOGE that he's willing to risk exploding in midair?

But, when will the next manned space flight on Starship happen?  

March 7, 2025] A SpaceX Starship spacecraft, the upper portion of the most powerful launch system ever built, exploded during its eighth test flight Thursday, disrupting air traffic and marking the second consecutive failure for the vehicle this year.

The uncrewed Starship mission lifted off at 5:30 p.m. CT (6:30 p.m. ET) from SpaceX’s Starbase facility in South Texas.

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Several of the vehicle’s engines visibly cut out during the livestream, and the ship began to tumble before SpaceX lost contact with it.

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The loss of signal occurred at roughly the same point during this mission as with Flight 7 in January, when Starship exploded over populated islands in Turks and Caicos, littering the islands with debris.

It has not been confirmed where exactly the vehicle exploded during Thursday’s mission. But the explosion was visible from parts of Florida and over the Caribbean, according to reports from residents of those locations that were shared with CNN.

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The FAA also temporarily kept flights from departing from Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport and Miami International Airport. Flights leaving those airports were still delayed on average by 30 and 45 minutes, respectively, as of Thursday night.

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SpaceX has long embraced an engineering and development philosophy it calls “rapid iterative development.” The goal has been to rapidly build Starship prototypes and put them on the launchpad with a willingness to blow them up.

What’s different about the last Starship mission in January and Thursday’s flight is where and how the debris fell.

While the first test flight of Starship and Super Heavy blew up a launchpad at SpaceX’s Starbase facilities in 2023, January’s Flight 7 and Thursday’s Flight 8 both allowed Starship to travel out over the Atlantic and Caribbean before exploding near populated islands.

Thursday’s mishap raises questions about why the FAA allowed Starship to launch before the agency’s investigation into the Flight 7 mishap was completed — and whether experimental rockets should be allowed to fly over populated areas.

  CNN

Gee, I wonder why the FAA would do that now?