Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

CTOnews.com, April 25 (Xinhua)-- Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) made its first test flight last Thursday at the spaceport of Bokaccika, Texas, to test-fly the most powerful rocket to date, the starship (Starship), which is designed for a future manned landing on Mars. During the test flight, however, the rocket exploded in the air shortly after leaving the launch pad and crashed into the Gulf of Mexico.

The explosion left local residents and researchers eager to assess its impact on communities, health, habitats and wildlife, including endangered species, according to CNBC. Most worryingly, the launch produced a large number of sand and ash-like particles and heavier debris that far exceeded the expected debris fall.

As a result of the explosion, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) suspended SpaceX's super heavy (Starship Super Heavy) launch plan and asked it to conduct an "accident investigation." As of Friday, the agency had not received any reports of injuries or damage to public property. SpaceX didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Unplanned accident on April 16, before the test flight, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk admitted in a public speech on Twitter Spaces that a rocket with 33 Raptor engines was like "a box of hand grenades" and that the starship would probably not be able to enter orbit but would explode. However, Musk and SpaceX did not accurately predict that their launch pads would be destroyed, nor did they predict that particles would fall on neighborhoods and habitats in the town of Port Isabel in Porter, about six miles from the launch pad, and South Padre Island Island, a few miles off the coast.

Pictures taken during the test flight showed that SpaceX's launch pad also exploded and pieces of concrete flew out in multiple directions, leaving a huge hole below. "concrete is shot into the ocean and may hit the oil storage tanks, which are silos near the launch pad," said Dave Cortez, director of the Texas Lone Star chapter of the Sierra Club, an American nature conservation organization.

Jared Margolis (Jared Margolis), a senior lawyer at the American Center for Biodiversity (Center for Biological Diversity), said that in an environmental assessment completed to obtain launch permission, SpaceX told FAA and other agencies that they expected the debris to fall within a limited 700acre area around the launch site in the event of "anomalies." Referring to SpaceX's environmental assessment documents, this is equivalent to an one-square-mile area of debris, with debris scattered about 3/4 miles from the launch site, he said.

In fact, however, after the test flights and explosions, people in the town of Isabel in Port reported that the windows of their shops were broken, the windows of their homes were shaking, and dust and particulate matter covered their houses, schools and land. Port Isabel is an inland town near SpaceX Spaceport, opposite the offshore island of South Padre, which also has some particulate matter.

It is not clear whether the particles, such as ash and sand, are harmful, whether they can be touched or inhaled, and what effects they have on soil health. Eric Eric Roesch, an environmental engineer who has long followed the impact of SpaceX facilities and emissions on the environment, wrote on his blog ESGHound that particulate emissions are related to lung and respiratory problems and are considered a high priority pollutant by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The health impact depends on the duration and amount of exposure, as well as the size and composition of particles, he added.

Roche has warned the public for months that FAA and SpaceX were not cautious enough in their environmental analysis to allow such a launch. "during the initial environmental permit and approval process, FAA or SpaceX did not disclose the possibility of widely distributed discharge plumes," he said.

Endangered species threatened Margolis said the biodiversity center is concerned about the impact of noise, particulate matter and heavy debris on local endangered species, including flute plover, red-bellied snipe, jaguar cat, jaguar and sea turtles that inhabit the area, including Kemp's Ridley, which nests on Bokachica Beach and is one of the most endangered sea turtles in the world. February to June is the nesting season for Kemp's sea turtles. Margolis stressed that the national wildlife reserve near the launch pad has been designated as a key habitat for the snipe.

Cortez added that members of the Sierra Club have been particularly concerned about the human health impact and how the consequences of the explosion limit people's ability to do outdoor activities, including fishing, enjoying the beach, hiking in many parks near the Star Base (Starbase) and protected wildlife areas.

Margolis is concerned that there may be evidence that endangered species are harmed before the regulatory assessment.

Returning to Flight on April 21, after the test flight, Musk tweeted: "three months ago, we started building a huge water-cooled steel plate under the launcher. It was too late and we mistakenly believed that, based on static flame data, the Fondag cement launcher could survive one launch. It looks like we can launch again in a month or two."

CNBC asked FAA,SpaceX what he needed to do to re-launch a starship super-heavy rocket from Bokaccika, Texas. Another super-heavy launch of the ship requires FAA to decide that "any system, process or procedure related to the accident will not affect public safety," the agency said in an email. Because they are still gathering information, FAA and the Texas Regional Office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have not been able to answer questions about any environmental impact of Thursday's launch.

SpaceX didn't respond to a request for comment. However, FAA told CNBC via email that the bombing triggered the so-called "abnormal response plan", which is part of the 2022 planned environmental assessment completed by SpaceX in conjunction with state and federal agencies, and that SpaceX must complete additional "environmental mitigation measures" before it can be launched again. FAA noted that after completing the planned task list and mitigation measures, SpaceX will need to apply to FAA for modification of its launch license to obtain permission for another test flight.

Jared Margolis, a lawyer at the Center for Biodiversity, believes that FAA's requirements will be negligible and easily met, and will ultimately not effectively protect the well-being of local residents and endangered species. "We are not opposed to space exploration or this company, but while we look up at the stars, we should not easily sacrifice communities, habitats and species," he explained. "

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