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By Eric Lipton
Photographs via Meridith Kohut
Reporting from Boca Chica, Texas
While Elon Musk’s Starship, the largest rocket ever made, effectively took to the skies last month, the launch was hailed as a major step forward for SpaceX and the United States civilian program.
Two hours later, once the situations were deemed safe, a team from SpaceX, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. A U. S. Department of Homeland Security and a conservation organization began examining the fragile migratory bird habitat surrounding the release site.
The effect was obvious.
The release had sparked a massive explosion of burning mud, rocks and debris on public land surrounding M’s $3 billion complex. Chunks of steel sheet and insulation were strewn across stretches of sand on one side of a national park. The fire had broken down, leaving a charred area in the park’s meadows, debris from the liftoff that burned 7. 5 million pounds of fuel.
Most disturbing to one of the members of the entourage was the yellow stain on the ground where a bird’s nest had been the day before. None of the nine nests registered through the nonprofit Coastal Bend Bays program
The egg yolk now stains the ground.
“All the nests have been destroyed or eggs are missing,” Justin LeClaire, a biologist from Coastal Bend, told a fish and an inspector, as a New York Times reporter observed nearby.
The resulting component of a well-documented pattern.
In at least 19 events since 2019, SpaceX’s operations have had fires, leaks, explosions, or other issues similar to the immediate expansion of the M complex. Musk in Boca Chica. These incidents have environmental damage and reflect a broader debate about how to balance technology. and economic progress with the coverage of sensitive ecosystems and local communities.
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