‘Don’t Look Down’: Vietnam Glass-Bottomed Bridge Targets Thrill-Seekers

People walk on the Bach Long glass bridge during the opening ceremony at Moc Chau district in Son La province, Vietnam, May 28, 2022. Picture taken May 28, 2022. (Reuters)
People walk on the Bach Long glass bridge during the opening ceremony at Moc Chau district in Son La province, Vietnam, May 28, 2022. Picture taken May 28, 2022. (Reuters)
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‘Don’t Look Down’: Vietnam Glass-Bottomed Bridge Targets Thrill-Seekers

People walk on the Bach Long glass bridge during the opening ceremony at Moc Chau district in Son La province, Vietnam, May 28, 2022. Picture taken May 28, 2022. (Reuters)
People walk on the Bach Long glass bridge during the opening ceremony at Moc Chau district in Son La province, Vietnam, May 28, 2022. Picture taken May 28, 2022. (Reuters)

A mountain resort in Vietnam has opened a bridge with a bottom made of glass over a gorge 150 meters (492.13 ft) below to attract thrill-seeking tourists, the third such bridge in the Southeast Asian country.

The Bach Long suspension bridge, which translates as "White Dragon", is in Son La province, northwest of the capital, Hanoi, and bordering Laos.

"I dared not look down as I am afraid of heights," said one visitor, Vi Thi Thu, 22, who ventured onto the bridge after attending Saturday's opening ceremony, which included dragon dancing and ribbon cutting.

The reinforced glass used for the bridge has three layers, each 40mm thick, and can hold up to 450 people at a time, according to a statement from the facility's owner.

The bridge is 290 meters long between two peaks on either side of a gorge, plus a 342-meter pathway on the cliffside.

Guinness World Records lists a 562-meter glass-bottomed bridge in Qingyuan, in China's Guangdong province, as the world's longest.

"The engineering required to build that into the side of a cliff but maintain all the features of nature, the greenery, the rocks, it's been an amazing project," said Glen Pollard, a representative of Guinness World Record, who attended the opening ceremony.

The World Record Association, also a record-certifying body, has listed the two-part Vietnamese bridge as the world's longest at 632 meters.

Another visitor at the opening ceremony said he quickly overcame initial nerves when walking on the bridge.

"At first it makes you panic, but then if you walked over around 10 glass panels, that feeling is gone," said Tran Xuan Tinh, 72.



SpaceX Starship Explodes During Routine Test

Flames rise as a SpaceX rocket explodes in Brownsville, Texas, US, June 18, 2025, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video. TheRocketFuture via X/via REUTERS
Flames rise as a SpaceX rocket explodes in Brownsville, Texas, US, June 18, 2025, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video. TheRocketFuture via X/via REUTERS
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SpaceX Starship Explodes During Routine Test

Flames rise as a SpaceX rocket explodes in Brownsville, Texas, US, June 18, 2025, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video. TheRocketFuture via X/via REUTERS
Flames rise as a SpaceX rocket explodes in Brownsville, Texas, US, June 18, 2025, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video. TheRocketFuture via X/via REUTERS

One of Elon Musk's SpaceX Starships exploded during a routine test late Wednesday in Texas, law enforcement said, in the latest setback to the billionaire's dream of turning humanity into an interplanetary species.

The Starship 36 suffered "catastrophic failure and exploded" at the Starbase launch facility shortly after 11:00 pm (0400 GMT Thursday), a Facebook post by the Cameron County authorities said, according to AFP.

A video shared with the post showed the megarocket attached to the launch arm, and then a flash and a towering, fiery explosion.

Musk's Space X said the rocket was preparing for the tenth flight test when it "experienced a major anomaly while on a test stand at Starbase," without elaborating on the nature of the complication.

"A safety clear area around the site was maintained throughout the operation and all personnel are safe and accounted for," Space X added on social media.

"There are no hazards to residents in surrounding communities, and we ask that individuals do not attempt to approach the area while safing operations continue."

The Starship was not scheduled for launch on Wednesday evening when the explosion occurred during a "routine static fire test," according to the Cameron County authorities.

During a static fire, part of the procedures preceding a launch, the Starship's Super Heavy booster would be anchored to the ground to prevent it from lifting off during the test-firing.

Starbase on the south Texas coast, near the border with Mexico, is the headquarters for Musk's space project.

Standing 403 feet (123 meters) tall, Starship is the world's largest and most powerful rocket and central to Musk's long-term vision of colonizing Mars.

The Starship is billed as a fully reusable rocket with a payload capacity of up to 150 metric tons.

The latest setback follows an explosion of a prototype Starship over the Indian Ocean in late May.

The biggest and most powerful launch vehicle ever built had lifted off on May 27 from the Starbase facility, but the first-stage Super Heavy booster blew up instead of executing its planned splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.

The previous two outings also ended poorly, with the upper stage disintegrating over the Caribbean.

But the failures will likely do little to dent Musk's spacefaring ambitions.

SpaceX has been betting that its "fail fast, learn fast" ethos, which has helped it dominate commercial spaceflight, will eventually pay off.

The company has caught the Super Heavy booster in the launch tower's giant robotic arms three times -- a daring engineering feat it sees as key to rapid reusability and slashing costs.

NASA is also increasingly reliant on SpaceX, whose Dragon spacecraft is vital for ferrying astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in early May approved an increase in annual Starship rocket launches from five to 25, stating that the increased frequency would not adversely impact the environment.

The decision overruled objections from conservation groups who had warned the expansion could endanger sea turtles and shorebirds.