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Biden to deliver remarks ahead of Christmas
President-elect Joe Biden will deliver remarks ahead of Christmas in Wilmington, Delaware, on Tuesday afternoon.
SpaceX's Starship rocket lifts off for inaugural test flight, but explodes midair
Originally Published: 20 APR 23 09:45 ET Updated: 20 APR 23 10:51 ET By Jackie Wattles and Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) -- SpaceX's Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, took off from a launch pad on the coast of South Texas on Thursday at 9:28 a.m. ET, but exploded midair before stage separation. Thursday's launch marked the vehicle's historic first test flight. "As if the flight test was not exciting enough, Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly before stage separation," SpaceX tweeted. The massive Super Heavy rocket booster, which houses 33 engines, lifted off and sent a massive boom across the coastal landscape as it fired to life. The Starship spacecraft, riding atop the booster, soared out over the Gulf of Mexico. About two and a half minutes after takeoff, the Super Heavy rocket booster was scheduled to expend most of its fuel and separate from the Starship spacecraft, leaving the booster to be discarded in the ocean. The Starship was meant to use its own engines, blazing for more than six minutes, to propel itself to nearly orbital speeds. The flight reached its highest point 24.2 miles (39 kilometers) above the ground and the explosion occurred about four minutes after liftoff, according to SpaceX. SpaceX said that "teams will continue to review data and work toward our next flight test." Defining success for Starship Although it ended in an explosion, Thursday's test met several of the company's objectives for the vehicle. Clearing the launch pad was a major milestone for Starship. In the lead-up to Thursday's liftoff, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk sought to temper expectations, saying, "success is not what should be expected...That would be insane." "With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today's test will help us improve Starship's reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multi-planetary," SpaceX tweeted after the explosion. Musk congratulated the team on "an exciting test launch" in a post-launch tweet and said they "learned a lot for next test launch in a few months." SpaceX will need a new launch license from the FAA to make another attempt, but the company does not expect the process to be as laborious as securing the license for Thursday's launch. NASA administrator Bill Nelson took to Twitter to share his congratulations on the flight test. "Every great achievement throughout history has demanded some level of calculated risk, because with great risk comes great reward. Looking forward to all that SpaceX learns, to the next flight test —and beyond." The test flight comes after years of explosive tests, regulatory hurdles and public hyping from Musk. The company has been known to embrace fiery mishaps during the rocket development process. SpaceX maintains that such accidents are the quickest and most efficient way of gathering data, an approach that sets the company apart from its close partner NASA, which prefers slow, methodical testing over dramatic flare-ups. Musk has talked about Starship — making elaborate presentations about its design and purpose — for years, and he frequently harps on its potential for carrying cargo and humans to Mars, though NASA also plans to use the vehicle to put its astronauts on the moon. He's even said that his sole purpose for founding SpaceX was to develop a vehicle like Starship that could establish a human settlement on the Red Planet. Throngs of spectators lined local beaches to catch a glimpse of Starship's takeoff, pouring onto beaches with fold-out chairs, children and dogs in tow. It echoed the turnout on Monday, at the company's first launch attempt, which was ultimately left grounded as engineers worked to troubleshoot an issue with a valve on the Super heavy booster. In the area surrounding Starbase — SpaceX's name for the Starship development site that lies on Texas' southernmost tip — many locals have greeted the rocket with fervid enthusiasm. Throughout the area, there are signs of Starship permeating the local culture: a model Starship in a front yard, a "Rocket Ranch" camping ground filled with diehard enthusiasts, and a billboard advertising Martian beer. What to know about this rocket Development of Starship has been based at SpaceX's privately held spaceport about 40 minutes outside Brownsville, Texas, on the US-Mexico border. Testing began years ago with brief "hop tests" of early spacecraft prototypes. The company started with brief flights that lifted a few dozen feet off the ground before evolving to high-altitude flights, most of which resulted in dramatic explosions as the company attempted to land the prototypes upright. One suborbital flight test in May 2021, however, ended in success. Since then, SpaceX has also been working to get its Super Heavy booster prepared for flight. The gargantuan, 230-foot-tall (69-meter-tall) cylinder is packed with 33 of the company's Raptor engines. Fully stacked, Starship and Super Heavy stand about 400 feet (120 meters) tall.
Eviction moratoriums aren't enough to rescue millions of Americans behind on rent
Shanta Matthews and her family were three months behind on rent last week and were preparing to be booted from their two-bedroom condo in Charleston, South Carolina, when they got a last-minute reprieve from the federal government.
3 children found abandoned in an apartment with another child's remains in Texas, sheriff says
Sheriff's deputies in Houston made a horrifying discovery in an apartment Sunday: three children who they say were abandoned with the decaying body of another child inside.
More Rhan 300 Bodies Recovered From Sierra Leone Mudslide
Rescuers have recovered over 300 bodies following Monday's deadly mudslide on the outskirts of Sierra Leone's capital, the country's tourism minister said Wednesday.
Common antibiotic significantly reduces child deaths across Africa
Giving the antibiotic azithromycin twice a year to young children in sub-Saharan Africa reduced childhood deaths by 13.5%, a new study has shown.
Imraan Christian: Driving Social Change Through Photography
Cameras can be powerful tools used to drive change. In Cape Town, South Africa, a fighting spirit and a positive outlook gave one visual artist the gravitas to represent his country through a different lens.
French Bloom’s favorite non-alcoholic cocktail recipes
Launched in Fall 2022 in the US by Maggie Frerejean-Taittinger and Constance Jablonski, French Bloom has quickly managed to create a new category and position itself as market leader of the super premium 0.0% alcohol sparkling wine category.
2 Girls Shot in Separate Incidents in Chicago
Two young girls are in critical condition, fighting for their lives, after being shot in the head in two separate incidents in Chicago this weekend, police told CNN.
Rachel Zegler, 'West Side Story' star, says she wasn't invited to the Oscars
Rachel Zegler's movie is nominated for a best picture Academy Award, but she says she'll be celebrating like the rest of us.
President Trump has a long history of praise for autocrats, dictators and strongmen
From Vladimir Putin to Saddam Hussein, President Donald Trump has a long history of regularly and openly expressing admiration for a rogues' gallery of foreign dictators and authoritarians.
After winter holidays, respiratory virus activity continues to build across the US
The first look at trends following most of the winter holidays shows that seasonal virus activity remains elevated and continues to rise across the United States, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Arkansas Executes 2 Men In One Night
Arkansas put to death two men Monday night in the first back-to-back executions in the United States since 2000.
5 Things for October 20: John Kelly, Pollution, MH370
Congrats to the L.A. Dodgers! They're headed to the World Series for the first time in almost three decades. Here's what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door.
How an increasingly popular supplement landed a man in the hospital
A British man's overdose on vitamin D is a cautionary tale for people who are considering adding supplements to their lives, according to a paper published Tuesday in the journal BMJ Case Reports.
Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke found guilty of second-degree murder in Laquan McDonald killing
Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke was found guilty Friday of second-degree murder in the 2014 fatal shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald.
The former Wisconsin judge killed in a 'targeted attack' had sentenced the suspect to prison more than 15 years ago, court documents say
Douglas K. Uhde, the man accused of shooting and killing former Juneau County Circuit Court Judge John Roemer, had been sentenced to prison by the judge more than 15 years ago, court documents show.
NASA's Artemis I mega moon rocket prepares for prelaunch test
The Artemis I mega moon rocket is gearing up for another test Wednesday before its next launch attempt to journey around the moon and backThe Artemis I mega moon rocket is gearing up for another test Wednesday before its next launch attempt to journey around the moon and back.
Smoke pours out of Tiffany & Co. flagship 5th Ave. New York store two months after reopening
A fire near Tiffany & Co.’s newly renovated flagship store in New York City sent smoke pouring out of the building on Thursday.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas to host the Global Citizen Festival this fall
Priyanka Chopra Jonas will be this year's host of the Global Citizen Festival. The music festival will take place at the Great Lawn of Central Park in New York City and will feature performances by Metallica, Charlie Puth, Mariah Carey, Rosalia and Maneskin.