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SpaceX Starship lost over Indian Ocean | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

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SpaceX Starship lost over Indian Ocean | Arkansas Democrat Gazette


SpaceX came close to completing an hourlong test flight of its mega rocket on its third try Thursday, but the spacecraft was lost as it descended back to Earth.

The company said it lost contact with Starship as it neared its goal, a splashdown in the Indian Ocean. The first-stage booster also ended up in pieces, breaking apart much earlier in the flight over the Gulf of Mexico after launching from the southern tip of Texas near the Mexican border.

“The ship has been lost. So no splashdown today,” said SpaceX’s Dan Huot. “But again, it’s incredible to see how much further we got this time around.”

Two test flights last year both ended in explosions minutes after liftoff. By surviving for close to 50 minutes this time, Thursday’s effort was considered a win by not only SpaceX’s Elon Musk, but NASA as well as Starship soared higher and farther than ever before. The space agency is counting on Starship to land its astronauts on the moon in another few years.

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The nearly 400-foot Starship, the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built, headed out over the Gulf of Mexico after liftoff Thursday morning, flying east. Spectators crowded the nearby beaches in South Padre Island and Mexico.

A few minutes later, the booster separated seamlessly from the spaceship, but broke apart 1,500 feet above the Gulf, instead of plummeting into the water intact. By then, the spacecraft was well to the east and continuing upward, with no people or satellites on board.

Starship reached an altitude of about 145 miles as it coasted across the Atlantic and South Africa, before approaching the Indian Ocean. But 49 minutes into the flight — with just 15 minutes remaining — all contact was lost and the spacecraft presumably broke apart.

At that point, it was 40 miles high and traveling about 16,000 mph.

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Musk had just congratulated his team a little earlier. “SpaceX has come a long way,” he said via X, formerly called Twitter. The rocket company was founded exactly 22 years ago Thursday.

NASA watched with keen interest: The space agency needs Starship to succeed in order to land astronauts on the moon in the next two or so years. This new crop of moonwalkers — the first since last century’s Apollo program — will descend to the lunar surface in a Starship after transferring from NASA’s Orion capsule in lunar orbit.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson quickly congratulated SpaceX on what he called a successful test flight as part of the space agency’s moon-landing program.

The stainless steel, bullet-shaped spacecraft launched atop a first-stage booster known as the Super Heavy. Both the booster and the spacecraft are designed to be reusable, although they were never meant to be salvaged Thursday.

On Starship’s inaugural launch last April, several of the booster’s 33 methane-fueled engines failed and the booster did not separate from the spacecraft, causing the entire vehicle to explode and crash into the gulf four minutes after liftoff.

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SpaceX managed to double the length of the flight during November’s trial run. While all 33 engines fired and the booster peeled away as planned, the flight ended in a pair of explosions, first the booster and then the spacecraft.

The Federal Aviation Administration reviewed all the corrections made to Starship before signing off on Thursday’s launch. The FAA said after the flight that it would again investigate what happened. As during the second flight, all 33 booster engines performed well during ascent, according to SpaceX.

Initially, SpaceX plans to use the mammoth rockets to launch the company’s Starlink internet satellites, as well as other spacecraft. Test pilots would follow to orbit, before the company flies wealthy clients around the moon and back. Musk considers the moon a steppingstone to Mars, his ultimate quest.

NASA is insisting that an empty Starship land successfully on the moon before future moonwalkers climb aboard. The space agency is targeting the end of 2026 for the first moon landing crew under the Artemis program, named after the mythological twin sister of Apollo.



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Arkansas

Arkansas' 4 Republican US House members face challenges from Democratic rivals

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Arkansas' 4 Republican US House members face challenges from Democratic rivals


LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas’ four Republican U.S. House members face challenges in this year’s election from Democratic rivals who are mounting uphill battles to break the GOP’s hold on the state’s federal delegation.

Republican U.S. Reps. Rick Crawford, French Hill, Steve Womack and Bruce Westerman are seeking reelection in the heavily GOP state. Republicans have held all of the state’s U.S. House and Senate seats since 2013.

Crawford, who has represented the 1st Congressional District since 2011, faces a challenge from Democratic nominee Rodney Govens. The 1st District covers eastern Arkansas and includes the cities of Jonesboro, West Memphis and Helena-West Helena. Libertarian Steve Parsons is also running for the seat.

Crawford is a senior member of the House Agriculture Committee and has said he will seek the top Republican spot on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in the next Congress.

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Govens, a Cabot resident who has worked in the telecommunications industry, has called for improving the Veterans Administration system and foster care across the country. Crawford has said he wants to address the nation’s debt by enacting permanent spending controls.

Hill, who was first elected to the 2nd District in 2014 and is vice chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, is running against Democratic nominee Marcus Jones. The 2nd District seat covers central Arkansas, and it includes Little Rock.

Democrats have tried unsuccessfully in recent years to try to reclaim the district, hoping to rely heavily on turnout in Little Rock despite the state’s further lurch to the right. The majority-GOP Legislature in 2021 redrew the redistrict lines, moving thousands of predominantly Black voters out of the 2nd District.

Hill has focused heavily on immigration in his reelection, calling for more border security, and on measures he says will help tackle inflation. Jones is a retired Army colonel who served as senior Army adviser to the Arkansas Army National Guard at Camp Robinson. Jones has called for expanding the child tax credit and legislation to increase rural health care access.

Womack, a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, was first elected to the 3rd District in 2010 and is running against Democrat Caitlin Draper, a clinical social worker from Fayetteville.

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The 3rd District covers northwest Arkansas and includes the cities of Fayetteville, Springdale and Fort Smith.

Womack, the former chairman of the House Budget Committee, was the only one of the state’s House members to face a primary challenge in March, defeating state Sen. Clint Penzo. Womack had the backing of the state’s top Republicans in that contest, including GOP Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Womack has cited border security as a priority and has said he believes he has the experience to find bipartisan solutions in a closely divided Congress.

Draper, like other Democrats running for House seats in Arkansas, has said she supports legislation at the federal level protecting access to abortion following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision striking down Roe v. Wade. She has also said cited climate change and health care as top issues.

Libertarian Bobby Wilson is also running for the seat.

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Westerman, who chairs the House Natural Resources Committee, was first elected to the 4th District in 2014. He is running against Risie Howard, an attorney from Pine Bluff.

The 4th district covers southern Arkansas and includes Pine Bluff, Hot Springs and Texarkana.

Westerman, a former state legislator and the only forester in the House, has touted his work on forestry legislation and said his priorities in the next Congress also include energy and mining issues. Howard has said she wants to strengthen the Affordable Care Act and protect Social Security.



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Arkansas wins 53rd cross country conference championship | Whole Hog Sports

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Arkansas wins 53rd cross country conference championship | Whole Hog Sports





Arkansas wins 53rd cross country conference championship | Whole Hog Sports







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Why Ole Miss Should Beat the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday | Locked On Ole Miss Podcast

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Why Ole Miss Should Beat the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday | Locked On Ole Miss Podcast


Today’s Locked On Ole Miss Podcast discusses why Lane Kiffin and the Ole Miss Rebels will beat the Arkansas Razorbacks in Saturday’s matchup. This will be the next opportunity to play clean football, and I think they will put it together against the Hogs and Sam Pittman and cut down on the penalties that have been allowing teams to stay in the game.

This matchup is absolutely massive for the Rebels because of what it means in the season as a whole, and Taylen Green against the Ole Miss defense will draw everyone’s eye. People look at the Arkansas stats and assume this is a typical Bobby Petrino team, and that isn’t quite right. John Nabors of Locked On Razorbacks said that if Ole Miss goes up by 14, it is over because this team is not a play-from-behind team.

In our final segment of the day, we give our final thoughts on Ole Miss vs. Arkansas and talk about expectations for Saturday and why everything points to an Ole Miss win, but Ole Miss fans before a trip to Fayetteville have seen this movie before.

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