NASA's plans to return humans to the moon within the next two years have been thrown into jeopardy after a rocket from Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin company exploded during a test in Florida. No injuries were reported.
Explosion Details
A massive fireball engulfed and destroyed the launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center following the start of the 'hotfire' test at 11am AEST. The orange sky was visible as far south as Fort Pierce, approximately 185 kilometres away.
On Tuesday, NASA announced that Blue Origin had secured the contract to launch the first of three planned missions this year to begin construction of its $20 billion moon base.
Bezos's Response
Jeff Bezos commented: 'It's too early to know the root cause but we're already working to find it. Very rough day, but we'll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It's worth it.'
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In Video
Beat Street Drummers create energetic videos of their plastic bucket percussion performances. Five New Zealand teenagers have notched more than 100 million video views and garnered a huge following for their slick and energetic drumming on $10 plastic buckets from a hardware store.
What They Said
Shannon O'Connor during a 2021 court appearance. 'This isn't some fun parent giving sips of wine spritzers to kids. She facilitated dangerous and drunken sex acts with these children,' said Santa Clara district attorney Jeff Rosen. Rosen gave that statement to a court in California in the case of 52-year-old Shannon O'Connor, who was sentenced to 35 years in prison for hosting drunken sex parties for teenagers.
The Republicans Turning on Trump
Reged Ahmad and Jonathan Yerushalmy look at whether the Iran war, a new $1.8 billion 'anti-weaponisation' fund and Donald Trump's intervention in Republican primaries is turning his own party against him. Listen to the episode here.
Before Bed Read
Marilyn Monroe with photographer Milton Green in 1955. A few days before what would have been her 100th birthday, Hollywood legends look back on their friendships with Marilyn Monroe, a woman who, underneath the studio sheen, was warm, supportive and empathetic.
Daily Word Game
Today's starter word is: PARE. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
