A2难度（KET）

SpaceX Starship Test Flight Ends in Explosion but Teaches Valuable Lessons

SpaceX's Starship rocket had a big explosion on Thursday. It happened a few minutes after leaving the ground in South Texas. The rocket did not go into space, but the company learned a lot from this experience.

The rocket started going up at 9:33 a.m. Eastern time. After about a minute, it had a lot of pressure on it. Then, it started to fall and exploded high in the sky above the Gulf of Mexico.

Even though it exploded, Bill Nelson from NASA was happy with the company. He said on Twitter that taking risks can lead to big rewards. NASA is planning to use a version of Starship to take astronauts to the moon.

Before the launch, Elon Musk, who started the company, said it might take a few tries to succeed. The launch did have some good things happen, like flying for four minutes and getting far away from the ground. Engineers got a lot of information to help understand how the rocket works.

Daniel Dumbacher, a former NASA official, said, "It's not a failure, it's a learning experience." The rocket was supposed to go higher and land in the ocean near Hawaii, but it didn't. It is not clear how this will affect NASA's plans for the future.

生词学习

Explosion (noun) /ɪkˈsploʊ.ʒən/ 

- a sudden, loud noise caused by a release of energy; 

爆炸 

Example sentence: There was a loud explosion, and we saw a fireball in the sky.

Valuable (adjective) /ˈvæl.ju.ə.bəl/ 

- very useful or important; 

有价值的 

Example sentence: This experience was valuable because it helped us learn a lot.

Pressure (noun) /ˈprɛʃ.ər/ 

- the force that is produced when something pushes against something else; 

压力 

Example sentence: There was a lot of pressure on the rocket as it went up.

Reward (noun) /rɪˈwɔrd/ 

- something good that you get because you have done something good; 

奖励 

Example sentence: The reward for taking risks can be great achievements.

Astronaut (noun) /ˈæs.trə.nɔt/ 

- a person who travels in space; 

宇航员 

Example sentence: The astronaut will go to the moon in a SpaceX rocket.

读后思考

What do you think are the most important lessons SpaceX can learn from this explosion?