Jeff Brumfield
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
SpaceX was conducting pre-launch testing of the latest version of a super-heavy booster rocket when something went terribly wrong.
The booster is designed to lift the company's Starship spacecraft into orbit, but in this test on the ground, it ruptured, causing a huge explosion.
In a statement, SpaceX said the booster failed during structural testing and that no one was injured.
The Starship program has had a mix of successful and failed launches this year.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk hopes it will one day carry people to Mars.
The National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees the nation's nuclear weapons, says it's furloughing approximately 1,400 employees.
The agency is responsible for overseeing thousands of warheads that are not currently deployed on bombers, missiles, and submarines.
According to an Energy Department spokesperson, the furloughs are due to the, quote, "...Democrat shutdown."
Around 400 employees remain on the job to provide security and safety oversight, and the office responsible for moving nuclear weapons around the country remains funded until next week.
An amateur satellite observer in Canada named Scott Tilley discovered the signal accidentally.
When all of a sudden, up popped a signal from space.
It came from Starshield, a network of classified satellites built by SpaceX for the U.S.
Starshield is broadcasting on radio frequencies normally reserved to send commands from Earth to satellites in orbit.
Tilly worries it might disrupt communications with other scientific and commercial satellites.
It's unclear what the signal is for.