SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, TEXASSpaceX’s massive Starship roared into the sky this morning, but the spacecraft and its booster failed to separate, tumbling in the sky before breaking up and falling into the Gulf of Mexico.
It was a historic moment, nonetheless, the successful launch of the largest and most powerful rocket ever to fly. The crowds of thousands heard—and felt—from five miles away, the titanic thunder of dozens of the 394-foot-tall rocket’s 33 engines firing at once.
No one seemed disappointed, even SpaceX, which lauded the fact it took off at all and cleared the launchpad, the only piece of hardware that isn’t considered expendable. The cheers from the crowds gathered on beaches east of Brownsville were responding to a promise from SpaceX founder Elon
