2023-04-26 15:43:03
The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) stopped the takeoffs of the program Starship Super Heavy of SpaceX while investigating the explosion that occurred on April 20 in Texas, following the debris from the accident traveled further than expected.
Although no damage to public property or injuries have been confirmed, it was reported that said debris fell on houses in Port Isabel and Boca Chica beaches, and even South Padre Island, also fearing other environmental damage such as ash fall on the habitats of endangered species, as verified by the chain CNBC.
The debris reached up to 10 kilometers from the takeoff platform – which in turn was reduced to a crater – the first inquiries discovered, much further than the almost 3 kilometers that SpaceX anticipated in its pre-launch report. Likewise, given its power, it would be one of the noisiest takeoffs in history, and might also have harmful effects on the local fauna.
In that area, they indicated from the Center for Biological Diversity, flute plovers, reddish sandpipers, jaguarundis, ocelots, and populations of critically endangered sea turtles live, some of them in the middle of the nesting season.
As indicated by the local director of the environmental group Sierra Club, Dave Cortez, “he blew concrete into the ocean, and risked hitting the fuel storage tanks next to the launch pad,” also stressing that in Port Isabel Broken windows and particulate matter falling on houses and schools were reported.
Both Cortez and the leaders of other organizations indicated that it is still unknown if the particulate matter would be harmful to health, or if it will affect the land in any way.
For his part, following takeoff, the owner of SpaceX, Elon Musk, anticipated that a next takeoff would be possible in one or two more months.
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