Yesterday, Elon Musk’s SpaceX performed an breathtaking feat of engineering when it vertically landed, for the first time, a prototype of the 2nd stage Super Heavy Lift Starship SN10 spacecraft which will eventually be used to get humanity to Mars in this decade.

But that was definitely not the end of the story as, minutes after the touchdown, the rocket exploded on the launch pad.  Everything was caught on amazing videos:

Here is a closer angle:

And an incredible closeup:

Though the test flight should be considered a success given that it did accomplish all of the monumental engineering feats required to perform a vertical landing, it is still very important to note that that space craft exploded afterward and more engineering is yet to be done:

“These test flights are all about improving our understanding and development of a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo on long-duration, interplanetary flights and help humanity return to the Moon, and travel to Mars and beyond,” SpaceX said.

Musk has said that he plans to be shipping people off to Mars as early as 2024.

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