Video Shows Large Crane Collapsing at Safety-Plagued SpaceX Rocket Facility
As eagle-eyed Starbase watchers flagged in a livestream from earlier this week, one of the cranes at the site of the explosion — which was, according to CBS News 4, powerful enough to be picked up by weather radar — collapsed in a heap in the middle of the day.
"This has always been one of my biggest fears in every industry I've worked in," tweeted Zack Golden, the SpaceX fan who noticed the collapse on a livestream from LabPadre, a fancam site that records the Boca Chica, Texas facility. "I hope everything is alright."
Though there's some speculation online suggesting that the crane had been lifting the carcass of the exploded Starship when it collapsed, it's not clear that's been established for certain. We've reached out to SpaceX and LabPadre to ask if there's any additional information or video to be shared about what happened there — and, more importantly, whether anyone was hurt in the process.
Last week's Starship explosion didn't just release a massive fireball and impact local weather radar in South Texas, but also, as the Associated Press reports, resulted in large pieces of debris landing in the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas.
In its aftermath, the AP notes, Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum is investigating what international laws the Musk-owned company might have broken when the wreckage breached international borders.
"There is indeed contamination," Sheinbaum claimed during a daily news briefing that also saw her threatening to file "the necessary lawsuits" once her country's probe is complete.
The facility that lives on a beach near the newly-incorporated company town of Starbase has long been plagued by safety issues ranging from debris showers from prior Starship failures and is the leading site of hundreds of recorded injuries at the company, per a Reuters investigation from 2023.
While there have been no reported injuries in this most recent Starship explosion, we won't be sure that the cleanup effort has continued that record unless SpaceX gets back to us — and we'll be sure to update if that occurs.
More on Starbase: Latest Starship Explosion Drastically Decreases SpaceX's Chances of Reaching Mars Without Having to Wait Years
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Show more Get it now $57 at Amazon $57 at Walmart Sarah Tew/CNET Photo Gallery 1/1 Sarah Tew/CNET Trayvax's Armored Summit Wallet Trayvax's Armored Summit Wallet delivers an appealing combination of ruggedness and extra features at a reasonable price. It can hold up to seven cards and five bills, and like the Dango, it's built from sturdy materials — steel and melonite in this case — in the US. Also like the Dango, it has an integrated bottle opener. Still, Trayvax's buckling strap is a deal killer for me. It's nylon, not elastic, and I found it quite difficult to adjust when I needed to remove a few cards or make more room for additional money. ... Show more Get it now $45 at Amazon Sarah Tew/CNET Photo Gallery 1/1 Sarah Tew/CNET Thread Wallets Elastic The Thread Wallets Elastic resembles a fancy Ace bandage or compression sleeve. It's made of a stretchy material, and can easily hold 10 cards and some money. It also has a small key ring. Although it's billed as specifically "for women" — and it was my 10-year-old daughter's favorite of the bunch — that seems a bit reductive. This would be an excellent wallet for anyone. The only drawback to this simple, stylish wallet is that the excess material on the interior bunches up into a lump, a minor but considerable design blemish. ... Show more Get it now $16 at Amazon Factors to consider when buying a minimalist wallet There are many factors to consider when buying the right minimalist wallet. I've tried to boil it down to a few key ones but remember, we are all different, so your mileage may vary. The top things to consider are: How many cards do you really need? Are you worried about RFID blocking? Are you taking cash along with you? What material do you want it to be? The most important factor in this list is the first one and will often dictate what your minimalist wallet looks like. Do you only need two to five cards? then a no-folding wallet, or possibly a mechanical opening wallet could be a good choice. If you need more than that then a bifold or even trifold wallet may be your only option. Most minimalist wallets these days come with RFID blocking as standard, so it's more than likely you will have that. Double check on the listing to make sure, if it's important to you, but know most do come with it. That's also true for some kind of money clip or elastic strap to hold a small amount of cash. If you are looking to take a large amount of paper money with you, a minimalist wallet may not be for you. The size of the wallet will also dictate the materials used. A mechanical wallet will be made of a metal of some kind, while other minimalist wallets will be made of leather or a vegan leather substitute. Deciding on the material and the number of cards you want to carry will likely give you the best indication of the type of wallet you'll want to buy. How we test minimalist wallets Testing wallets is, as you might imagine, a fairly subjective process. These wallets come in many sizes, shapes and materials so it's important to test on those merits. Trying to jam 10 cards into a wallet designed to hold three is pointless and not a true test. All wallets are subjected to a vigorous shake test where we try to dislodge the cards from the inside, and if they have a money clip/strap on the outside, I try to get that to fall out too. Then it's time for my least favorite test: sitting on the wallet in my back pocket for an entire workday. Mostly, I am making sure the wallet doesn't bend, or otherwise damage the cards inside, but I am also checking how uncomfortable it is to sit on for eight hours a day. Any of the wallets that claim to be RFID blockers are subjected to a test using an Android Pixel phone and an RFID card that has my Twitter link on it. 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They come in a variety of colors, have RFID blocking technology and look incredible. They're leading the market when it comes to hard, minimalist wallets. Which RFID blocking wallets actually work? Several of the wallets we mention in this list have RFID blocking technology, which means your cards won't get scanned by thieves. Out of the ones we've listed, the Ridge Wallet, Hammer Anvil Minimalist wallet and Groove Life have been reliable on the RFID blocking front. We tested this feature out by attempting to use an Android phone to scan an RFID card with our X link on it; these wallets prevented that from happening. Do RFID-blocking wallets mess up my cards? No, RFID blocking wallets will not mess up your cards. They're designed to prevent unauthorized reading of the RFID chips, but won't have an affect on the magnetic strip or chip on your cards.
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13 minutes ago
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Teens increasingly turning to AI for friendship as national loneliness crisis deepens
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