Disappointment Felt After Falcon 1 rocket Launch Fails
August 3rd, 2008 | by admin |
The third launch of the SpaceX’s Falcon 1 rocket has ended in disappointment as the craft blew up shortly after blast off.
According to Elon Musk, SpaceX CEO, the problem appeared to be when the rocket separated from the craft, but engineers will not know exactly what happened until they can examine the wreckage.
“The most important message I’d like to send right now is that SpaceX will not skip a beat in execution going forward,” said Musk.
The rocket was launched from the Kwajalein Atoll in the central Pacific at 11:34 p.m., and about 2 minutes later contact with it was lost.
The Falcon was carrying 3 small satellites onboard, all of which were to be deployed in space.
Two previous launches have also failed. Back in March of 2006, the rocket failed just a minute after takeoff due to a fuel line problem, and then again in March of 2007, the rocket made it to space but was also lost.
