Later today, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket will take two astronauts to the International Space Station, with a scheduled launch at 3:22PM ET (weather permitting).
However, yesterday (Friday, May 29), NASA released footage showing SpaceX's prototype heavy-lift rocket - named Starship - explode in a ball of flames as it underwent ground tests in Boca Chica, Texas.
You can see the dramatic footage below:
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SpaceX - the aerospace company founded by Elon Musk - had hoped to fly Starship for the very first time, but the schedule has seen a major setback thanks to yesterday's explosion at the south-Texas test site.
The Starship rocket has been designed to transport humans, as well as 100 tonnes of cargo to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
The explosion occurred during a live-stream on the NASA Spaceflight website, and showed the aerospace vehicle exploded into a devastating ball of flames - totally obliterating the rocket.
Neither NASA or SpaceX has reported any injuries as a result of the explosion.
Fortunately, the incident has absolutely no impact on tonight's Falcon 9 launch.
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Falcon 9 is scheduled to take off from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center later today at 3:22PM ET (live-steam posted below).
On Wednesday, Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken - two of NASA's most experienced astronauts - were scheduled to be transported to the International Space Station in Falcon 9. It would have been the first time astronauts have been taken into space from US soil since 2011.
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Sadly, however, the historic launch was scrapped due to weather conditions and has been rescheduled for later today.
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Teams at both SpaceX and NASA have had to wait until the International Space Station is back in the correct orbital position before the launch could once again go ahead.
If tonight's launch is called off, they will try for a third time on Sunday (tomorrow).
In addition to Hurley and Behnken, the rocket - which has been nicknamed the Dragon - will be carrying a series of indestructible custom art pieces by a Los Angeles artist that celebrates humanity, and a mosaic image of Earth made from over 100,000 photos of 2020 graduates from around the world.
I personally have no idea why either of these things are needed in space, but I guess it will brighten up the inside of the International Space Station.