By the time the news reached home, it was already noon on December 31st.
At that moment, Lin Ju was at the Capital's ground control center, where the first group of three expert members was checking supplies on the U-Tu space station in preparation for landing on the Moon.
He was trying to convince Academician She of the significance of deep-space exploration, but then he saw a Twitter notification. Numerous Twitter users were mentioning him, hoping he could comment on Starship's fourth launch.
Both of their attentions shifted to the Starship, quickly reading the reports following the SS-4 launch.
"The first stage separated successfully, but the second stage exploded during the second ignition... huh, at least this time it flew past the Kármán line, so it made it into space.
Their old problem still hasn't been resolved. The fuel slosh causing local pressure changes remains too troubling."