Over the last week, shocking videos posted online showed Elon Musk's Starship rocket spraying debris all over the southern Texas coast as it powered off the launchpad. The massive 395-foot rocket powered into the air from sunny Boca Chica, but burst into flames just four minutes after takeoff.
The explosion sent debris flying at thousands of miles an hour, damaging a car parked miles away and sending a dust cloud over the Gulf of Mexico on an otherwise sunny day. Footage from thousands of feet away shows the dust cloud slowly engulfing the area, sending debris flying and sending palm trees swaying in the heavy winds before it ultimately starts to dissipate. Pictures also showed the colossal crater and wrecked launch pad left in the rocket's wake.
The failed flight also sparked a 3.5-acre fire in Boca Chica state park. In addition to the fire, large concrete chunks and sheets of stainless steel were among the objects found thousands of feet away. Officials also found that a plume of pulverized concrete deposited material 6.5 miles northwest of the launchpad.
The Federal Aviation Administration has now grounded all of SpaceX's Starship rockets as it investigates the disastrous project. The explosion has left some elected officials questioning whether there is a need for more commercial spaceflight regulation.
House Transportation Aviation Subcommittee Chair Garrett Graves, a Republican from Louisiana, has said he does not want to do 'anything that impedes the progress of innovation for commercial space.
"But obviously, you've got to balance that with safety," he told Politico-- adding, "And so we're going to continue working with the National Transportation Safety Board."
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