SpaceX managed to land its prototype Starship rocket at its Texas base without blowing it up on May 5, the first time it has succeeded in doing so in five attempts. The test flight represents a major win for the hard-charging company, which eventually wants to carry crew inside Starship for missions to Mars. "Starship landing nominal!" tweeted founder Elon Musk triumphantly, after the last four tries ended in big explosions. "Nominal" means normal in the context of spaceflight. The execution wasn't quite perfect, with a small fire engulfing the base of the 50 meter- (160 feet) high rocket, dubbed SN15, shortly after landing. SpaceX webcaster John Insprucker explained this was "not unusual with the methane fuel we're using," adding engineers were still working out design issues. The first two flight tests of Starship, SN8 & SN9, both crash landed & exploded when they launched in December & February, respectively. The next, SN10, successfully landed then blew up a few minutes later on March 3. The video feed cut out during the test flight of the fourth, SN11, with Musk later confirming it too had exploded, this time in mid-flight. Watch the video to know more.
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