SpaceX prototype blasts off, and crashes in fireball

WASHINGTON: A prototype of the future giant SpaceX rocket Starship — which the company hopes will become its go-to for Mars missions — crashed in a fiery explosion during a test launch along the Texas coast. But the company line was upbeat as a livestream of the launch displayed the on-screen message “AWESOME TEST. CONGRATS STARSHIP TEAM!” “Mars, here we come!!” SpaceX founder Tesla’s Elon Musk tweeted just minutes after the flight, explaining that a too-fast landing speed was to blame for the crash. He recounted the successful parts of the rocket’s short late afternoon trip: the take-off, the change of position in flight and its (pre-explosion) precise landing trajectory. “We got all the data we needed! Congrats SpaceX team,” he tweeted. Wednesday’s test launch took off and ascended properly in a seemingly straight line, before one and then another of its engines went out. After 4 minutes and 45 seconds of flight, its third engine extinguished and the rocket began its descent in its expected position. The engines were restarted just seconds before landing in an effort to slow the ship, but it crashed hard into the Earth. —AFP