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close video SpaceX launches first test flight of world’s most powerful rocket before Starship explodes in midair

SpaceX sent its massive Starship up in a monumental test flight before the world’s most powerful rocket exploded. (SpaceX)

Elon Musk was on hand in Boca Chica, Texas, to watch the successful launch and subsequent explosion of SpaceX's Starship on Thursday.

Musk, the founder and CEO of SpaceX, watched the launch from a command room not far from the rocket launch site in southern Texas.

"Congrats SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship! Learned a lot for next test launch in a few months," Musk tweeted a short time later.

SPACEX SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES GIANT STARSHIP ROCKET, EXPLODES MINUTES LATER

Minutes after a successful launch and awaiting stage separation, it experienced a failure, what SpaceX livestream hosts described as a "rapid unscheduled disassembly." 

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk watched the Starship launch and later explode on Thursday. (SpaceX / Fox News)

SpaceX said on Twitter that its teams would continue to review data and work toward the next flight test.

"With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s test will help us improve Starship’s reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multi-planetary," it said.

Musk also reached out to thank the National Air and Space Museum, which congratulated SpaceX on the launch.

FAA SAYS IT'S LOOKING FOR WAYS TO OPTIMIZE LAUNCHES, REENTRIES AS MORE ROCKETS SOAR TO SPACE

SpaceX’s next-generation Starship spacecraft atop its powerful Super Heavy rocket self-destructs after its launch from the company’s Boca Chica launchpad on an unmanned test flight near Brownsville, Texas, on Thursday. (SpaceX/Handout via REUTERS / Reuters Photos)

"Thank you for your kind words on behalf of the SpaceX team!" he wrote in response to a congratulatory message.

If the flight had gone as planned, the first-stage booster, or the Super Heavy, would have dropped into the Gulf of Mexico. Thursday's launch was the inaugural Super Heavy flight. 

The spacecraft on top would have eventually passed over the Atlantic before coming down near Hawaii. The flight was expected to last for just an hour and a half.

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SpaceX’s next-generation Starship spacecraft atop its powerful Super Heavy rocket lifts off from the company’s Boca Chica launchpad near Brownsville, Texas, on Thursday. (SpaceX/Handout via REUTERS / Reuters Photos)

SpaceX plans to use the Starship — and its 16.7 million pounds of thrust — to send people and cargo to the moon and Mars. 

This test flight was not carrying people or satellites. 

Musk has previously said that the total Starship program could exceed $2 billion but that each launch could one day cost as little as $2 million.

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Former White Sox pitcher, world champ Jenks dies

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Former White Sox pitcher, world champ Jenks dies

Bobby Jenks, a two-time All-Star pitcher for the Chicago White Sox who was on the roster when the franchise won the 2005 World Series, died Friday in Sintra, Portugal, the team announced.

Jenks, 44, who had been diagnosed with adenocarcinoma, a form of stomach cancer, this year, spent six seasons with the White Sox from 2005 to 2010 and also played for the Boston Red Sox in 2011. The reliever finished his major league career with a 16-20 record, 3.53 ERA and 173 saves.

“We have lost an iconic member of the White Sox family today,” White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said in a statement. “None of us will ever forget that ninth inning of Game 4 in Houston, all that Bobby did for the 2005 World Series champions and for the entire Sox organization during his time in Chicago. He and his family knew cancer would be his toughest battle, and he will be missed as a husband, father, friend and teammate. He will forever hold a special place in all our hearts.”

After Jenks moved to Portugal last year, he was diagnosed with a deep vein thrombosis in his right calf. That eventually spread into blood clots in his lungs, prompting further testing. He was later diagnosed with adenocarcinoma and began undergoing radiation.

In February, as Jenks was being treated for the illness, the White Sox posted “We stand with you, Bobby” on Instagram, adding in the post that the club was “thinking of Bobby as he is being treated.”

In 2005, as the White Sox ended an 88-year drought en route to the World Series title, Jenks appeared in six postseason games. Chicago went 11-1 in the playoffs, and he earned saves in series-clinching wins in Game 3 of the ALDS at Boston, and Game 4 of the World Series against the Houston Astros.

In 2006, Jenks saved 41 games, and the following year, he posted 40 saves. He also retired 41 consecutive batters in 2007, matching a record for a reliever.

“You play for the love of the game, the joy of it,” Jenks said in his last interview with SoxTV last year. “It’s what I love to do. I [was] playing to be a world champion, and that’s what I wanted to do from the time I picked up a baseball.”

A native of Mission Hills, California, Jenks appeared in 19 games for the Red Sox and was originally drafted by the then-Anaheim Angels in the fifth round of the 2000 draft.

Jenks is survived by his wife, Eleni Tzitzivacos, their two children, Zeno and Kate, and his four children from a prior marriage, Cuma, Nolan, Rylan and Jackson.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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In search of infield options, Yanks add Candelario

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In search of infield options, Yanks add Candelario

NEW YORK — The New York Yankees, digging for options to bolster their infield, have signed third baseman Jeimer Candelario to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the affiliate announced Saturday.

Candelario, 31, was released by the Cincinnati Reds on June 23, halfway through a three-year, $45 million contract he signed before the start of last season. The decision was made after Candelario posted a .707 OPS in 2024 and batted .113 with a .410 OPS in 22 games for the Reds before going on the injured list in April with a back injury.

The performance was poor enough for Cincinnati to cut him in a move that Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall described as a sunk cost.

For the Yankees, signing Candelario is a low-cost flier on a player who recorded an .807 OPS just two seasons ago as they seek to find a third baseman to move Jazz Chisholm Jr. to second base, his natural position.

Candelario is the second veteran infielder the Yankees have signed to a minor league contract in the past three days; they agreed to terms with Nicky Lopez on Thursday.

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Dodgers’ Snell pitches to hitters, ‘looked good’

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Dodgers' Snell pitches to hitters, 'looked good'

LOS ANGELES — Pitchers Blake Snell and Blake Treinen are progressing toward a return for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Snell and Treinen each faced hitters Saturday, and Snell pitched two innings. Each could begin a rehab assignment after the All-Star break.

The 32-year-old Snell has pitched in two games for the Dodgers following his five-year, $182 million free agent deal after spending last season with the San Francisco Giants and three before that with the San Diego Padres. He is a two-time Cy Young Award winner.

“(Snell) looked good. He looked really good,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I don’t know what the velo was but the ball was coming out really well. He used his entire pitch mix. I thought the delivery was clean, sharp, so really positive day.”

The Dodgers’ starting rotation has been injury-prone this season but is starting to get a boost from Shohei Ohtani, the two-way superstar who is working as an opener in his return from elbow surgery.

Treinen is looking to get back to his role in the back end of the bullpen. He threw one inning Saturday.

“Blake Treinen I thought was really good as well,” Roberts said. “Both those guys should be ready at some point in time shortly after the All-Star break.”

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