From a remote Texas base, SpaceX's launch shows Louisiana what to expect. 'See the future.'
By ALEX LUBBEN
Staff writer nola.com
STARBASE, Texas — Plumes of vapor burst from the launchpad beneath the rocket, then a flame, pale in the early morning light, visible but silent.
The rocket rose steadily. A seagull screeched. People yelled: “Whoa!” and “Go!”
Then, as the rocket pierced the clouds, the sound arrived, about 30 seconds after ignition — a fast, pulsing rumble, like the thrum of one car window cracked open on the highway, but much stronger, deep enough to feel in your chest and rattle windows.
SpaceX's Starship — a 40-story, two-stage behemoth, the largest and most powerful rocket ever flown — climbed over the Gulf as hundreds watched from the tip of South Padre Island last week. It was the 14th test launch for Starship, and the first time the company would attempt to get the rocket into orbit and deliver working satellites to space.