No, your eyes do not deceive you. That was a SpaceX space shuttle that quite literally blew up on on your Twitter timeline.
But no, it’s not the one that you think it is.
SpaceX was conducting a rocket engine test on one of their starships Friday and then, all of a sudden, it just randomly exploded. Some people on Twitter panicked and thought the ship was the same one SpaceX and NASA are set to launch on Saturday.
Thankfully, though, it’s not. What people saw blowing up on their timelines was actually the Starship SN4 prototype. It was going through an engine test that, obviously, it has failed.
It’s unclear if anyone actually got hurt in this explosion. SpaceX hasn’t released any information just yet. We only have this jarring video to go off of.
Elon, your rocket just blew up. pic.twitter.com/EZAVN4cVCd
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) May 29, 2020
Goodness, man. That is extremely terrifying. Hopefully, everyone is alright and no one got hurt.
They were conducting a “static fire” test, which is basically like doing a car engine test except for, well, it’s a space ship. They ignite the main Raptor engine on the ship while holding it down and in place. Then this happened.
The SN4 blowing up stinks. SpaceX is developing this rocket with intentions of sending people to deep space destinations like the Moon and Mars. Basically, it’d be like a cruise ship but into space instead of, say, Jamaica or something.
Pretty cool, right? We’re one step closer to The Expanse becoming our actual lives. I’m definitely starting a new life in the Belt when the time comes — if you know, you know.
Here’s the thing, though. This is the fourth time they’ve lost this starship prototype. And, though this one got a bit further than the rest, there probably isn’t going to be much left from this wreck that is salvageable.
The ship was set to fly soon in a low-altitude flight test if it remained in tact. Obviously, that isn’t happening now. And that’s a big setback.
This stinks. Hopefully, this rocket gets completed at some point. But if there’s still a silver lining here it’s that we’re still scheduled for a lunch tomorrow.
Well, if the weather allows it, anyway.