SpaceX Rocket Launch Fails

Fraser · #1 (**permalink**) 25-March-2006, 05:28 AM

SUMMARY: The maiden voyage of SpaceX's Falcon 1 rocket started well, but then went sour moments after launch. Onboard cameras, broadcast live to the Internet showed the rocket rolling almost immediately and then the connection was cut. Company founder, Elon Musk, later commented that Falcon 1 managed about 1 minute of powered flight. The rocket was carrying a small satellite for the US Air Force called FalconSat-2, which would have investigated space weather.

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Fr. Wayne · #2 (**permalink**) 25-March-2006, 03:36 PM

I couldn't read full article, but effort should be commended as a great learning event with all its monitors from which better rockets will follow.

Spacemad · #3 (**permalink**) 26-March-2006, 12:37 AM

I´d been following the progress of this rocket for months & had felt dissapointed every time a launch was put off. I understood that safety is paramount & I was convinced that this time they would make it into space. Imagine my shock & dissapointment of finding out it had crashed after only one minute into flight!

As I was at work at the time of the launch I wasn´t able to see it live on the Internet as I would have liked.

Fr. Wayne · #4 (**permalink**) 26-March-2006, 04:30 AM

May you live long enough to see its success AND, this too is important, laugh at the maiden footage without anybody thinking you lack respect.

astro-orange · #5 (**permalink**) 27-March-2006, 03:34 AM

Let´s hope they don´t run out of money at SpaceX! I would love to see the world of spaceflight enriched by private business!
"Es ist noch nicht aller Tage Abend" ("It is not all over yet", literally "It is not every day´s evening", German saying). What I mean is, they won´t be scared off by one failure!

Good luck, we cross fingers!

starboi911 · #6 (**permalink**) 28-March-2006, 03:59 AM

better luck next time....

anyone else heard about the german astronomer who thinks there is a 6th dimension, and that by bending space, u can travel faster? pretty sweet stuff.

ToSeek · #7 (**permalink**) 19-July-2006, 05:05 PM

Falcon 1 Failure Traced to a Busted Nut

Quote:

A busted nut, not human error, is to blame for the fuel leak that doomed the Falcon 1 rocket on is maiden flight, according to the findings of a government review board chartered to investigate the March 24 launch failure.

The rocket’s manufacturer, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) of El Segundo, Calif., initially suspected that the Falcon 1’s fuel leak was caused by a tiny pipe fitting loosened and accidentally left untightened by technicians doing work on the rocket the day before launch.

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the sponsor of the Falcon 1’s inaugural flight, announced July 18 that the review board concluded a small aluminum nut designed to hold the fuel pipe fitting in place failed due to subsurface corrosion not visible to the naked eye. The resulting kerosene leak caused the main engine to catch fire shortly after the rocket cleared the launch pad, bringing the flight to a premature end.

Joff · #8 (**permalink**) 19-July-2006, 05:13 PM

See? You do need another eye in aluminium.

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