In an unfortunate turn of events for Elon Musk’s SpaceX, their latest rocket to launch was destroyed in a fireball just ten minutes after takeoff.
SpaceX’s latest test flight proved to have more issues than anticipated and Musk has since spoken out on the latest incident.
On Thursday (January 16) its Starship rocket – thankfully holding no passengers – broke up over the Gulf of Mexico, reportedly causing commercial airlines to change routes to avoid falling debris.
The incident occurred just eight and a half minutes into the flight from Texas, after the spacecraft’s six engines began shutting down one by one during ascent.
After the rocket launch, its booster made its planned return to the ground and after momentarily hovering over the launchpad before being caught by two mechanical arms.
However, minutes later, SpaceX confirmed they had lost contact with the rocket.
A host on SpaceX’s livestream said: “At this point in time, we can confirm we did lose the ship. It looks like we lost contact a little under eight and a half minutes into the flight.”
Videos on social media showed burning debris from the rocket streaking across the sky, reportedly over the Turks and Caicos Islands.
SpaceX spokesman Dan Huot admitted the company had hoped for a more successful situation.
The rocket booster successfully returned to the launchpad (Sky News)
He said: “It was great to see a booster come down, but we are obviously bummed out about ship. It’s a flight test. It’s an experimental vehicle.”
After the incident, Musk took to Twitter and made it clear that he didn’t consider this more than a ‘bump in the road’.
He commented: “The booster flight was a success, the ship flight was 1/4 successful, hence cup being ~5/8 full.
“New ship forward flaps, higher thrust engines and tile adherence on ascent were tested.
“Improved heat shield performance was the only major thing that wasn’t tested, along with the “Pez” payload dispenser. Probably solved in next month’s launch.
Elon Musk called the incident nothing more than a ‘bump in the road’ (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
“The 9 meter diameter version of Starship will probably fly ~10,000 times, so this is barely a bump in the road. Doesn’t change the likely date at which Mars becomes self-sufficient.”
On the SpaceX Twitter page, they explained they would be reviewing data from the flight test to better understand what went wrong.
The page reiterated that successes come from learning from the mistakes of the day.
However, the company did face ridicule when they called the destruction of the rocket an ‘rapid unscheduled disassembly’.
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Featured Image Credit: SpaceX/@KingDomRedux/Twitter
Topics: Elon Musk, Space X, Technology, Science, US News, News
Gerrard Kaonga
Elon Musk’s $50,000 Neuralink brain chip explained as third patient has it implanted
Up to 30 more people could be fitted with Neuralink this year
With the news that a third person has been implanted with Elon Musk’s Neuralink brain chip, many have been left with questions over what the device actually is and how it all works.
Neuralink was founded by tech billionaire Elon Musk in 2016, with the first brain implantation made around a year ago. Noland Arbaugh was the first person to trial the product, which left him able to play video games with his mind.
During a Las Vegas interview streamed via his social media network Twitter this week, Musk confirmed: “We’ve got … three humans with Neuralinks and all are working well.”
How does Neuralink work?
Having a chip inserted into your brain might sound like the plot of a wayward sci-fi movie where all hell breaks loose.
But the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allowed Neuralink to test its devices on humans in May 2023.
And so far, Neuralink patients in clinical trials have yielded some pretty incredible results.
Noland Arbaugh, who was paralyzed below his shoulders after a diving accident, demonstrated how he can now independently play chess, video games and learn languages when he wasn’t physically able to before.
Neuralink works by targeting individual neurons – unlike other BCIs – providing crucial data for thought-decoding.
How are Neuralink chips implanted?
To implant a chip, the Neuralink device – smaller than a 50 cent coin – is inserted into the skull with microscopic wires.
These can record and decode neural signals, which are sent back via electrical stimulation to a receiving unit.
This enables users to control devices solely through thought.
The business has also developed a robot to surgically implant the device.
Musk says since the first implant, Neuralink has upgraded its chips with ‘more electrodes, higher bandwidth and longer battery life.’
He also shared hopes of implanting the devices in up to 30 more people this year.
The first Neuralink implantation took place last year (Dilara Irem Sancar/Anadolu via Getty Images)
How much does a Neuralink chip cost?
As per Nasdaq, a Neuralink chip is estimated to cost around $10,500 in ‘exams, parts and labor.’
But it’s the cost to insurers that’s expected to push the BCI up to $50,000.
The actual price could rack up even higher when you factor in rising costs of the chip’s components, the surgical procedure and the hardware that allows the chip to work.
Musk has high hopes for the tech (Klaudia Radecka/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
How might Neuralink chips be used in the future?
Ever-ambitious Musk hopes his BCIs will eventually help enhance user memory and cognitive abilities, as well as restore a user’s motor, sensory, and visual functions.
The chips could also help treat neurological disorders including epilepsy and diseases such as Parkinson’s.
It might be a good while until these sorts of medical trials open up, though.
So, if it’s something you’re eager to try, best get saving…
Conversation1 Comment
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My grandson was born premature and blind. He is now 16 months old. This whole time he has been seeing “specialists” and they don’t seem to know what they are dealing with yet alone how to fix it. My daughter is left thinking that he will never be able to see. The dietician has him on Pediasure alon…
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Featured Image Credit: Marc Piasecki/Getty Images/Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Topics: Elon Musk, Technology, Science, Health
Ellie Kemp
21-year-old footage footage of Elon Musk outlining his plans for SpaceX leaves people mind-blown
The video was taken of the tech mogul at Stanford University in 2003
A 21-year-old video of Elon Musk has emerged online where the tech mogul shared his plans for SpaceX.
Musk founded SpaceX in 2002, and fast forward to today, it has become a leader in the space industry.
It’s said to have a value of around $180 million, while Musk himself has a net worth of almost $355 billion – making him the richest man in the world.
A year after he launched SpaceX, the businessman gave a speech at Stanford University where he outlined his strategic plans for his space company.
While a lot has changed in 20 years, Musk’s plans for SpaceX have not.
In the video that’s been doing the rounds on Twitter (X) of late – which is now owned by the multibillionaire – a youthful-looking Musk says: “Our approach is really to make this a solid, sound business.
“I predicated the strategic plan on a known market, something that we know for a fact exists, which is the need to put small to medium-sized satellites into orbit.”
Elon Musk founded SpaceX in 2002 (Paul Harris/Getty Images)
He continued: “That’s what we’re going after initially. And then, with that as a revenue base, we will move into the human transportation market.
“The long-term aims of the company are definitely human transportation.
“I think the smart strategy is to first go for cargo delivery, essentially satellite delivery.
“And our eventual upgrade path is to build the successor to Saturn V, build a super-heavy lift vehicle that could be used for setting up a moon base or doing a Mars mission.
“That would be the holy grail objective.”
And Musk stood to his plans, recently achieving one of his goals of sending people to space.
21 years ago
Here’s Elon Musk in 2003 outlining the strategic plan SpaceX has been following until today. “Our approach is really to make this a solid, sound business. I predicated the strategic plan on a known market, something that we know for a fact exists, which is the need to put small…
On September 10 of this year, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket was launched into space for a five-day flight.
Billionaire Jared Isaacman went on to become the first person to take part in a private spacewalk, which was documented in ‘gorgeous’ footage.
Isaacman and the rest of the team on board Falcon 9 were sent up to space to test a new series of slimmer spacesuits, all while marking ‘the first time four humans [have been] simultaneously exposed to the vacuum of space’ coming out of a capsule with no safety airlock as well.
Adding to the momentous achievement, all four people were civilians rather than trained astronauts for NASA or the military.
Alongside billionaire Isaacman were retired Air Force Lt Col Scott ‘Kidd’ Poteet, and SpaceX engineers Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis.
Conversation14 Comments
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Big mistake. Space X is worth $350 Billion, NOT $180 million.
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Guys a total belter
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what is mind-blowing about this?
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He looks like one of Putin’s sons and now he has become a Putin puppet.
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Looks more like he’s a royal family member to me. Looks a bit like Prince William.
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Featured Image Credit: Stanford University/Chesnot/Getty
Topics: Space X, Elon Musk, Technology, Business, Science
Niamh Shackleton
Elon Musk’s SpaceX set to make history as rocket launches for first-ever all-civilian space walk
The SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission has set off after delays due to technical issues and bad weather
A flight from SpaceX is set to see the first space walk conducted by a private company.
The very first space walk was achieved on March 18 1965 when Soviet astronaut Aleksey Leonov floated in space for 12 minutes.
Since then, space walks have become a common part of astronauts’ trips up into space.
Crew will go on space walks to conduct research or to carry out maintenance on the International Space Station (ISS).
On February 7 1984 US astronaut Bruce McCandless II became the first person to take a hair-raising space walk without a tether connecting him to the capsule.
A picture shows McCandless II floating out by himself surrounded only by the curvature of the Earth and the inky void of space.
While the crew of the SpaceX ship will be staying firmly tethered to the craft, they will be the first civilians to carry out a space walk.
Previously all space walks have been carried out by people working as part of a government-sponsored programme.
A SpaceX rocket or LoveHoney’s latest release? (CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)
The SpaceX mission, called ‘Polaris Dawn’ blasted off today (September 10) with four private citizens on board.
It is setting off on a five-day-long mission which will take the capsule out into high orbit.
In fact, the aim is to take the capsule into the highest orbital altitude reached by humans since the last Apollo mission to the Moon more than 50 years ago in 1972 – a staggering 870 miles above the surface of the Earth.
The launch had been due to set off in late August, but was pushed back following a helium leak at the launchpad.
It then saw a further setback due to averse weather conditions off the coast of Florida, which is where the capsule would land when it returned to Earth.
The mission’s crew prior to their departure (Jonathan Newton/The Washington)
Now, however, the mission is finally underway with the four-person crew on board.
This includes billionaire Jared Isaacman, retired Air Force Lt Col Scott ‘Kidd’ Poteet, and SpaceX engineers Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis.
Isaacman, who has an estimated net worth of $2 billion, is also funding the mission in partnership with SpaceX.
The billionaire has also previously flown in the first all-civilian mission to orbit in 2021.
He and Gillis will exit the spacecraft on a tether on the third day of the mission.
However, the craft itself does not have a pressurised airlock, meaning that the entire craft will need to be depressurised for the duration of the walk.
The astronauts will be wearing and testing newly designed space suits for the mission.
Featured Image Credit: Getty/CHANDAN KHANNA/SpaceX
Kit Roberts
Elon Musk’s SpaceX wins $843,000,000 contract to destroy the International Space Station
The ISS was never built to last forever
SpaceX has won a contract to help destroy NASA’s International Space Station – and it’s set to take place sooner than you’d think.
Built in 1998, the ISS was created in collaboration with NASA, Roscosmos (Russia), ESA (Europe), JAXA (Japan), and CSA (Canada).
It’s since allowed scientists to conduct experiments that can’t be done anywhere else, orbiting about 250 miles above the Earth.
The US space agency described the ISS as ‘an unprecedented achievement in global human endeavors to build and utilize a research platform in space.’
But it wasn’t built to last forever, with its operational life set to end in 2030.
The ISS’s operational life will end in 2030 (NASA/Space Frontiers/Getty Images)
NASA will let the ISS slowly get closer to Earth 18 months after operations end on board.
Then, a spacecraft will latch on to the ISS and use its thrusters to propel the space station towards Earth. And it’s Elon Musk’s SpaceX which has secured the $843,000,000 contract to do the honors.
A modified version of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, the vehicle will have six times the propellant and four times the thruster power of a standard Dragon.
As the ISS moves through the Earth’s atmosphere, the station will largely break in to pieces and burn up.
SpaceX’s vehicle will be a more powerful version of their Dragon spacecraft, pictured (Tim Peake / ESA/NASA via Getty Images)
But the larger modules of the space station will make it through the atmosphere and land in a final splash spot, the location of which NASA is yet to publicly confirm.
Ken Bowersox, associate administrator for Space Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said: “Selecting a U.S. Deorbit Vehicle for the International Space Station will help NASA and its international partners ensure a safe and responsible transition in low Earth orbit at the end of station operations.
“This decision also supports NASA’s plans for future commercial destinations and allows for the continued use of space near Earth.
“The orbital laboratory remains a blueprint for science, exploration, and partnerships in space for the benefit of all.”
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has secured a number of major NASA contracts (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
Some nine space stations will allow research projects like the ones carried out on the ISS to continue, including China’s Tiangong space station which has been in orbit since 2021.
Elsewhere, SpaceX has secured a number of NASA contracts over the years.
Most recently, the company landed a $256 million deal to launch NASA’s Dragonfly mission to explore Saturn’s largest moon, Titan.
A Falcon Heavy rocket will launch the space agency’s Dragonfly rotorcraft from Kennedy Space Center, Florida between July 5 and July 25 2028.
