4 . On April 20, SpaceX’s Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket ever, exploded during its first test flight only minutes after it took off from Texas, US.
Even though the two-stage rocket ship made it less than halfway to the edge of space, climbing to just under 25 miles, the flight achieved its primary objective of getting the new vehicle off the ground despite some of its engines failing at liftoff. The plan was for Starship to soar into space at least 90 miles above Earth.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk congratulated team members on “an exciting test launch” in a post-launch tweet and said they “learned a lot for the next test launch in a few months.”
Back in September 2017, Musk came up with the idea of developing a rocket that would be able to send astronauts to Mars, build a base on the moon, and allow commercial travel to anywhere on Earth in under an hour, according to The Guardian (卫报).
The most important aspect in Musk’s view, however, would be the rocket’s ability to be reused for multiple flights. This would allow for massive savings as it would reduce the number of spacecraft that would otherwise simply crash. Also, the rocket relies on low-cost fuel, methane (甲烷), making the cost of spaceflight drop dramatically.
The results of Starship’s first launch are not too far off from what Musk and SpaceX’s engineers had predicted. Musk himself gave 50-50 odds that Starship would reach orbit, but also stressed that “clearing the launch tower and not blowing up the pad (发射台) would be a win”.
In all, “it fell somewhere between a small step and their hoped-for giant leap, but it still represents significant progress toward a reusable super-heavy lift rocket,” said Jordan Bimm, a space historian at the university of Chicago, US.
Prepared for the likely outcome, SpaceX already has more boosters and spacecraft ready for more test flights, with the next full set “almost ready to go”. The plan is to fire off similar rockets in quick succession (连续) to gather data and start using Starships to launch satellites into low Earth orbit then put people on board. Each launch will take SpaceX a step closer to its ultimate goal of making commercial space flight a reality.
1. What happened minutes after Starship took off?
| A．It crashed into the sea. | B．It flew off the course. |
| C．It blew up in the sky. | D．Its engines all failed. |
2. What are paragraphs 4 and 5 about?
| A．The problems with the launch. | B．The risks of test flights. |
| C．The advantages of the rocket. | D．Musk’s idea of Starship. |
3. How did people involved find the results of the first launch?
| A．Disastrous. | B．Record-breaking. | C．Acceptable. | D．Unexpected. |
4. What is the most suitable title for the report?
| A．A Big Successful Failure | B．A Giant Leap in Space Exploration |
| C．Good Prospects for travel | D．Incredible Progress in Space Flight |
