By Mathis Ferrut | TV journalist, people, reality TV
Passionate about the world of media since a young age, television has no secrets for him. Loft Story, Star Academy, Secret Story, les Ch’tis, les Marseillais… He is a veritable encyclopedia of reality TV. He is also a fan of sport (particularly football and Paris Saint-Germain), cinema, series and music.
“Success is uncertain, but fun is guaranteed,” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wrote on X formerly Twitter. He was not mistaken since his Starship rocket exploded, but lit up the sky. The falling debris even forced the planes to change course to avoid the area…
Elon Musk’s new provocation on France 2 news. The billionaire’s rocket explodes and sets the sky on fire. © Video: video extract from France 2 / Photos: Zuma Press/Bestimage
The rest after the ad
Eight minutes and twenty-nine seconds after taking off from southeast Texas, Starship 33, Elon Musk’s rocket, which now faces competition from Jeff Bezos, exploded above the Caribbean Sea, triggering a gigantic shower of debris visible from many islands.
“The ship suffered a rapid and unexpected disassembly during its ascent“, SpaceX explained about the explosion. “Teams will continue to review data from today’s test flight to better understand why. In a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s flight will help us improve Starship’s reliability“added the company in its press release.
A failure following an exploit
This setback contrasts with the perfect landing of the Super Heavy booster, which touched down shortly before the spacecraft exploded on the arms of the Mechazilla Tower.
We will have to wait a few days to find out exactly what happened to the spacecraft. We have no doubt that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will demand a rigorous investigation from SpaceX, which means that Elon Musk’s company will not be able to carry out test flights with the rocket until the investigation is closed.
-However, we can make assumptions. During the first few minutes of the rocket’s ascent, we were able to observe a sort of loose flap on the spacecraft. And in the seconds before the explosion, we saw fire coming out of the hinges of the rear fender.
Telemetry showed a drastic drop in methane levels before the explosion. One of the six engines stopped, then four more followed. It is possible that a methane leak caused a fire that eventually triggered an explosion or the activation of the flight termination system (FTS) by the sudden shutdown of the engines.
>> The brightest comet of the century is about to appear in the sky and could even be visible during the day!
Regardless, the device exploded at 21,317 kilometers per hour over the Caribbean, causing one of the most shocking meteor showers in history. Thousands of pieces of debris burned up in the atmosphere, but fears that some would survive and come dangerously close to Earth forced planes to change course to avoid the area.
“Success is uncertain, but fun is guaranteed“, wrote Elon Musk on X, in the caption of a video of Starship’s re-entry, before adding: “Improved versions of the spacecraft and propellant0 await launch“.
>> “I had to beg him every time…“: Former Tesla employee describes what it’s like to work with Elon Musk on a daily basis
Starship 33 was the first Starship Block 2, a new series of spacecraft that incorporates a whole block of design improvements: smaller front flaps away from the heat shield, next-generation thermal tiles, larger tanks, new fuel lines for the vacuum engines and a new and improved avionics module.
Article written in collaboration with our colleagues from Xataka.
