Starship Launch w/ Richard Easther: 26 April, 2023

The SpaceX Starship rocket launch, which led to a subsequent explosion, can hardly be called a failure. Scientists involved learned a lot about rocket design through the partial launch, and even NASA has lauded the mission as a success. 

Elon Musk has been accused of ignoring advice around the launchpad design that might have led to the failure of the rocket to complete its circumnavigation around the earth, but this remains as conjecture in the astrophysics community. 

Arno spoke to University of Auckland astrophysicist Richard Easther to find out more about the launch: to find out what went wrong, and what went right. Arno started by asking if the launch was expected to fail.