DoomsdaysCW2023: #Environmentalists and #NativeAmerican tribe rebuke #SpaceX ahead of historic rocket launch
Opponents of the project say owner #ElonMusk’s space travel aspirations are not worth the risk of a catastrophic explosion.
by Cameron Langford / April 19, 2023
"SpaceX launched a rocket with 33 engines, the most powerful ever built, Thursday morning from its South #Texas port and hailed the test flight as a success, though the rocket and an attached space capsule exploded just four minutes after liftoff.
"The company said in a best-case scenario it would be a 90-minute maiden voyage into space and its first-stage #SuperHeavy rocket would separate from its second-stage #Starship spacecraft about three minutes into the flight, and do a controlled descent into the Gulf of Mexico. And Starship would travel around the globe and land off the coast of Hawaii.
"But with SpaceX livestreaming the event the components failed to separate and the vehicle flipped over before exploding.
"Musk, who also owns Twitter, praised his employees’ work on the project in a Twitter post: 'Congrats @SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship! Learned a lot for next test launch in a few months.'
"Environmental and #CivilRights groups condemned SpaceX’s endeavor in statements Wednesday afternoon, saying they feared an explosion would destroy #EndangeredSpecies’ habitat in a nearby wildlife refuge and that rocket shrapnel could injure area residents.
"But there were no immediate reports of environmental damage or injuries Thursday morning after the explosion.
"Since Elon Musk founded SpaceX in 2002, it has become the world’s premier commercial space business, launching its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets more than 220 times, making history as the first private firm to send astronauts to the International Space Station and delivering cargo to the International Space Station more than 20 times with its Dragon spacecraft.
Aborted launches and explosions are commonplace for the company as it refines its technology, including a 2019 test flight from its '#Spaceport' in #BocaChica — an unincorporated and sparsely populated village in Cameron County outside #BrownsvilleTX — that started a 100-acre brush fire in the Lower #RioGrandeValley #NationalWildlifeRefuge."
#ElonSucks #EnvironmentalRacism #RioGrandeDelta #SacredSites #WildlifeRefuge #ProtectTheSacred #Colonialism #CorporateColonialism
#OccupySpaceX #TwoHeartedPeople #USPol #NativeAmericans #CarrizoComecrudo #AncestralLand #ProtectTheSacred #Pollution #ExplodingRockets
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