SpaceX blames rocket loss on bad timing - Space.com- msnbc.comJust a couple of seconds... and it would have continued. Maybe failed from some other cause - but at least they know about THIS failure point.Based in Hawthorne, Calif., SpaceX — short for Space Exploration Technologies — launched its third Falcon 1 rocket late Saturday ET from the U.S. Army's Reagan Missile Test Site on Omelek Island in Kwajalein Atoll, which sits about 2,500 miles (4,023 kilometers) southwest of Hawaii in the central Pacific Ocean.
Musk said SpaceX would be releasing video of the staging event that clearly shows the first and second stages separating as planned about 2 minutes and 20 seconds into the flight. The video also shows that unanticipated residual thrust from the redesigned Merlin engine caused the first stage to bump the second stage just as it began to fire, he said.
J.
Comments (1)
Ever since Robert Goddard made the first attempts back in the 30's to establish its basic rules and principles rocket science has been the hallmark of one of the most difficult of scientific endeavors.
Unfortunately, rocket engineering is even worse.
Just ask Murphy.
otpu
Posted by otpu | August 7, 2008 8:23 PM
Posted on August 7, 2008 20:23