专题40 马斯克星舰火箭发射升空-2023年高考英语外刊阅读及模拟强化训练

Space X Starship Rocket Launch Ends in Midair Explosion Minutes after Liftoff 马斯克星舰火箭发射升空后爆炸 文章选自《CBS新闻网》 主题语境：人与社会 子语境：太空探索 原文出处：CBS News 语篇类型：新闻报道 关键词：SpaceX；rocket；explosion；attempt 篇章导读：太空探索技术公司的巨型星舰火箭是有史以来建造的最强大的火箭，于周四进行了无人驾驶的首飞，成功飞行了两分钟多，然后失控，在燃烧的碎片云中爆炸。 原汁原味外刊阅读及模拟强化训练 SpaceX's huge Starship rocket, the most powerful ever built, blasted off on an unpiloted maiden flight Thursday and successfully flew for more than two minutes before tumbling out of control and exploding in a cloud of flaming debris. "Starship just experienced what we call a rapid unscheduled disassembly, or a RUD, during ascent," said SpaceX engineer John Insprucker, serving as a launch commentator on the company's webcast. "Now this was a development test, this was the first test flight of Starship, and the goal is to gather the data and as we said, clear the pad and get ready to go again. So you never know exactly what's going to happen, but as we promised, excitement is guaranteed! Starship gave us a rather spectacular end to what was truly an incredible test." Tweeted SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who monitored launch from the SpaceX control center in Boca Chica, Texas: "Congrats at SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship! Learned a lot for next test launch in a few months." Thursday's launch was the second attempt, after a countdown was scrubbed on Monday due to a frozen valve. Thrilling thousands of area residents, tourists and journalists looking on from nearby South Padre Island, the 33 methane-fueled Raptor engines powering the Super Heavy first stage roared to life at 9:30 a.m. EDT, two minutes later than planned because of minor technical snags. The engines quickly throttled up to 16 million pounds of thrust — twice the power of the current record holder, NASA's SLS moon rocket — and the gargantuan rocket majestically climbed away from SpaceX's "Starbase" launch facility. With its engines gulping some 40,000