Talk about a rough start! 😱 Jeff Bezos' space venture, Blue Origin, hit a major bump in the road this past Thursday when its uncrewed New Glenn rocket erupted into a massive fireball right on the launchpad.
For those watching the livestream, it was a heart-stopping moment. At around 9:00 PM ET, the rocket ignited, but instead of a smooth lift-off, it transformed into a towering plume of flames and smoke that lit up the Florida sky. 🌌🔥
Wait, what exactly happened? Blue Origin called it an "anomaly" during a hotfire test. For the non-rocket scientists out there, a hotfire test is when the engines are fired up while the rocket is still anchored to the ground to make sure everything is working perfectly before the actual launch. In this case, things did not go perfectly. 😅
The company quickly took to X to reassure everyone: "We experienced an anomaly during today's hotfire test. All personnel have been accounted for. We will provide updates as we learn more."
The good news? No one was hurt. Florida congressman Mike Haridopolos mentioned he has been in touch with NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman and gave a big shout-out to the first responders and launch crews who jumped into action immediately. 👏
This is definitely a setback for Blue Origin as they try to close the gap with Elon Musk's SpaceX. Space travel is incredibly hard, and as we've seen many times, these kinds of explosions are sometimes part of the journey to the stars. ✨🚀
Reference(s):
Blue Origin rocket erupts in fireball on launchpad during test
cgtn.com
