SpaceX accused of dumping mercury into Texas waters for years - eviltoast

SpaceX’s Starship launches at the company’s Starbase facility near Boca Chica, Texas, have allegedly been contaminating local bodies of water with mercury for years. The news arrives in an exclusive CNBCreport on August 12, which cites internal documents and communications between local Texas regulators and the Environmental Protection Agency.

SpaceX’s fourth Starship test launch in June was its most successful so far—but the world’s largest and most powerful rocket ever built continues to wreak havoc on nearby Texas communities, wildlife, and ecosystems. But after repeated admonishments, reviews, and ignored requests, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) have had enough.

  • zalgotext@sh.itjust.works
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    3 months ago

    Why would you wait to have something else ready if you think what you have is going to work?

    Because it might not work, and we’re talking about millions of dollars worth of rocketry here, not a bottle rocket launched in your back yard.

    These people are launching and landing rockets at a pace never done before, they know how to model these kind of things.

    Obviously not, or the pad wouldn’t have blown up.

    Now obviously something went very wrong here, but it wasn’t just a willy nilly choice.

    Which is why you implement backup/alternative systems.

    • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Because it might not work

      LOL. Dude, they weren’t even sure that the ROCKET wouldn’t destroy the pad (edit: as in, the WHOLE launch pad including the tower). They’re literally making the largest most advanced rocket ever. There are countless unknowns until you test it.