STARSHIP TO GET TO THE MOON. >> WHOA! >> Reporter: IN THE SKIES OVER SOUTH TEXAS OVERNIGHT, A MASSIVE FIRE BALL AFTER A SPACEX ROCKET EXPLODED DURING A STATIC ROCKET UPCOMING LAUNCH. >> SHIP 36 JUST BLEW UP. >> Reporter: SPACEX, LED BY ELON MUSK, SAID THE STARSHIP ROCKET EXPERIENCED A MAJOR ANOMALY WHILE PREPARING FOR ITS TENTH FLIGHT TEST, ADDING THAT ALL PERSONNEL ARE SAFE AND THERE ARE NO HAZARDS TO RESIDENTS IN SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES.
THE EXPLOSION RATTLED NEARBY RESIDENTS WHO POSTED VIDEOS ON SOCIAL MEDIA. ONE TELLING SAN ANTONIO NEWS, OUR WHOLE NEIGHBORHOOD FELT IT. IT SHOOK ALL OF OUR HOUSES.
STARSHIP IS CRITICAL TO MUSK’S MISSION TO SEND HUMANS TO THE MOON AND ONE DAY MARS. >> EXTENDING LIFE TO MARS, THE IDEA THERE IS TO ENSURE THE LONG-TERM SURVIVAL OF LIFE AND CONSCIOUSNESS.
>> Reporter: BUT STARSHIP HAS FACED A NUMBER OF SETBACKS THIS YEAR INCLUDING THREE EXPLOSIONS. LAST MONTH, DURING STARSHIP’S NINTH UNCREWED TEST FLIGHT, THE VESSEL BROKE APART OVER THE INDIAN OCEAN AFTER LOSING CONTROL UPON RE-ENTERING THE EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE.
>> IS IT A METEOR SHOWER? >> Reporter: AND IN JANUARY AND MARCH, JUST MINUTES INTO TEST FLIGHTS SEVEN AND EIGHT, ANOTHER DISASTER. >> THERE IT IS.
BOOM. OH, MY GOD. >> Reporter: THE ROCKET SPUN OUT OF CONTROL, BREAKING INTO PIECES AND RAINING DEBRIS ACROSS THE SKY OVER THE CARIBBEAN OCEAN. DISRUPTING COMMERCIAL AIR TRAVEL FOR NEARLY AN OUR. HOUR.
BUT MUSK VIEWS THE INCIDENTS WITH OPTIMISM. >> WITH EACH LAUNCH, ESPECIALLY IN THE EARLY DAYS OF STARSHIP, EACH LAUNCH IS ABOUT LEARNING MORE AND MORE ABOUT WHAT’S NEEDED TO MAKE LIFE MULTIPLANETARY AND TO IMPROVE STARSHIP TO THE POINT WHERE IT CAN BE TAKING ULTIMATELY HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS IF NOT MILLIONS OF PEOPLE TO MARS. >> Reporter: YEAH, MUSK REALLY BELIEVES ALL OF US WILL EVENTUALLY NEED MARS AS ANOTHER PLANET TO LIVE ON. STARSHIP IS A MASSIVE PROJECT, HIGH STAKES.
NASA BANKING ON IT TO GET TO THE MOON AND, OF COURSE MARS.
THESE HIGH-PROFILE SETBACKS COME IN A BAD YEAR FOR THE WORLD’S RICHEST MAN, A VERY PUBLIC FALLING OUT WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP AFTER MUSK WAS PUT IN CHARGE OF EFFORTS TO SLASH GOVERNMENT SPENDING AND JOBS, AND THEN TESLA SALES WORLDWIDE HAVE FALLEN, PARTICULARLY IN EUROPE, AS MUSK HAS BECOME SO POLARIZING..
