{"id":794135,"date":"2025-03-06T20:42:03","date_gmt":"2025-03-07T01:42:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=794135"},"modified":"2025-03-06T20:42:03","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T01:42:03","slug":"spacex-loses-contact-with-spacecraft-during-starship-test-flight-npr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=794135","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX loses contact with spacecraft during Starship test flight : NPR"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n SpaceX’s mega rocket Starship makes a test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, on Thursday. \n <\/p>\n
Nearly two months after an explosion sent flaming debris raining down on the Turks and Caicos, SpaceX launched another mammoth Starship rocket on Thursday, but lost contact minutes into the test flight as the spacecraft came tumbling down and broke apart.<\/p>\n
This time, wreckage from the latest explosion was seen streaming from the skies over Florida. It was not immediately known whether the spacecraft’s self-destruct system had kicked in to blow it up.<\/p>\n
The 403-foot rocket blasted off from Texas. SpaceX caught the first-stage booster back at the pad with giant mechanical arms, but engines on the spacecraft on top started shutting down as it streaked eastward for what was supposed to be a controlled entry over the Indian Ocean, half a world away. Contact was lost as the spacecraft went into an out-of-control spin.<\/p>\n