On Thursday, SpaceX launched its first full version of the “Starship” rocket from a pad on the coast near South Padre Island, Texas. Four minutes into the flight the rocket was deliberately destroyed at an altitude of about 35 km, with debris raining down about a dozen kilometers out into the Gulf.

In many ways, the flight was a triumph. It was the largest rocket ever constructed.

It has been said many times, but it’s important to remember that Jimmy Carter’s most important and impactful years as a leader in the United States came after he left the presidency in 1981.

For months now, the most prominent images put out daily by the Ukrainian military haven’t been scenes from the front, they’ve been images of Ukrainian troops training for the next phase of the war. Not only has Ukraine been getting additional troops ready to go to the front, many of those who had been fighting for weeks or months were pulled back to train on new systems and new tactics.

This year’s highest-profile electoral contest gave Democrats  an undeniable shot in the arm. A liberal judge, running on abortion access and safeguarding democracy, trounced a conservative judge with polar opposite views, flipping a state Supreme Court majority from conservative to progressive.