New Glenn, a large rocket built and operated by Blue Origin, exploded on its Florida launchpad during a hotfire test, producing a massive fireball and obliterating the rocket while severely damaging the launchpad. All personnel were accounted for and reported safe. Blue Origin stated the event involved an anomaly during the test and said updates would follow as more information becomes available. Debris may wash ashore in the coming days, and the public was advised not to touch it and to report any findings. The failure could disrupt Blue Origin’s NASA-backed plans to launch lunar rovers and support Artemis III and Artemis IV crewed missions. Elon Musk publicly wished Blue Origin a speedy recovery.
"New Glenn, a giant rocket built and operated by Jeff Bezos's aerospace firm Blue Origin, exploded in a massive fireball on its launchpad in Florida on Thursday. The catastrophe risks derailing the company's planned NASA-backed missions to launch lunar rovers and participate in the space agency's Artemis III and Artemis IV crewed flights aimed at putting astronauts back on the moon. All personnel are accounted for and safe, Bezos wrote in a post on X after the explosion. It's too early to know the root cause but we're already working to find it. Very rough day, but we'll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It's worth it."
"In a separate post on X, Blue Origin said, We experienced an anomaly during today's hotfire test. All personnel have been accounted for. We will provide updates as we learn more." The company also warned that debris from the explosion may wash ashore in the coming days and advised the public not to touch it and to report anything they find."
"SpaceX CEO Elon Musk responded to the explosion with an X post of his own. He wished Blue Origin a speedy recovery from the accident, which obliterated the rocket and severely damaged New Glenn's launchpad. Through SpaceX and Blue Origin, Musk and Bezos have been vying for off-world economic dominance, with each pursuing projects to ring Earth with many thousands of communications satellites and orbital artificial intelligence data centers. But the highest-visibility arena for this rivalry is the moon; SpaceX and Blue Origin are both on deck to provide critical support for NASA's Artemis program to return astronauts to the lunar surface and build a moon base."
Read at www.scientificamerican.com
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