Cebu_4_2
28th June 2015, 11:28 AM
SpaceX Rocket Explodes After Launching
By KENNETH CHANG (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/kenneth_chang/index.html)JUNE 28, 2015
Continue reading the main story (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/29/science/space/spacex-rocket-explodes-during-launch.html?_r=0#story-continues-1) Video Falcon 9 Rocket Explodes
Shortly after liftoff on Sunday, a SpaceX Falcon 9 blew up. The rocket carried a cargo ship bound for the International Space Station.
By Reuters on Publish Date June 28, 2015.
An unmanned cargo ship destined for the International Space Station blew up minutes after launching from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Sunday morning, NASA (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/n/national_aeronautics_and_space_administration/index.html?inline=nyt-org) said, raising questions about how the agency and its partners will continue keeping the station supplied.
The countdown had proceeded without a hitch or worries about weather, and the 208-foot-tall rocket lifted off at 10:21 a.m. Eastern time.
But 2 minutes, 19 seconds later, just as George Diller, the commentator during a NASA television broadcast said, “Data coming back shows vehicle on course, on track,” a cloud of white smoke emerged from the rocket’s midsection, and then a rain of pieces started falling toward the Atlantic Ocean more than 20 miles below.
“We appear have had a launch vehicle failure,” Mr. Diller said.
Elon Musk, the chief executive of SpaceX, reported on Twitter:
About an hour later, he added some preliminary analysis:
In a statement, Charles Bolden, the NASA administrator, said, “This is a reminder that spaceflight is an incredible challenge, but we learn from each success and each setback. Today’s launch attempt will not deter us from our ambitious human spaceflight program.”
The more than 4,000 pounds of payload included a docking adapter needed for future crew capsules being developed by Boeing and SpaceX, student experiments and a camera to record meteors streaking into the earth’s atmosphere.
It was first failure in 19 launchings of the Falcon 9 rocket built by Space Exploration Technologies of Hawthorne, Calif., better known as SpaceX.
Until now, SpaceX has had a charmed record with the Falcon 9, avoiding the “infant mortality (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/i/infant_mortality/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier)” that usually afflicts new rocket designs.
On this launching, more attention was paid to the company’s attempts to land the first stage on a floating platform in the Atlantic. The company has invested considerable effort toward recovering and ultimately reusing the first stages in hopes of dramatically cutting the cost of rocket launchings.
Now the company will need to regroup.
This episode follows the failures of two other cargo rockets. In October, an Antares rocket (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/29/us/rocket-heading-to-international-space-station-explodes-no-one-is-hurt.html), built by Orbital ATK, exploded on the launching pad in Virginia. In April, a Russian Progress rocket (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/30/world/europe/russian-space-station-resupply-ship-m27m-said-to-be-out-of-control.html) spun out of control, unable to reach the space station.
The next launching of a Progress cargo ship is scheduled for July 3. Orbital is aiming to resume its cargo missions in November. A Japanese cargo spaceship is scheduled for August.
A news conference at which NASA and SpaceX officials are expected to talk about Sunday’s failure and its ramifications is scheduled for no earlier than 12:50 p.m.
Correction: June 28, 2015
An earlier version of this article misstated the number of astronauts currently aboard the International Space Station. There are three, not six.
By KENNETH CHANG (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/kenneth_chang/index.html)JUNE 28, 2015
Continue reading the main story (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/29/science/space/spacex-rocket-explodes-during-launch.html?_r=0#story-continues-1) Video Falcon 9 Rocket Explodes
Shortly after liftoff on Sunday, a SpaceX Falcon 9 blew up. The rocket carried a cargo ship bound for the International Space Station.
By Reuters on Publish Date June 28, 2015.
An unmanned cargo ship destined for the International Space Station blew up minutes after launching from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Sunday morning, NASA (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/n/national_aeronautics_and_space_administration/index.html?inline=nyt-org) said, raising questions about how the agency and its partners will continue keeping the station supplied.
The countdown had proceeded without a hitch or worries about weather, and the 208-foot-tall rocket lifted off at 10:21 a.m. Eastern time.
But 2 minutes, 19 seconds later, just as George Diller, the commentator during a NASA television broadcast said, “Data coming back shows vehicle on course, on track,” a cloud of white smoke emerged from the rocket’s midsection, and then a rain of pieces started falling toward the Atlantic Ocean more than 20 miles below.
“We appear have had a launch vehicle failure,” Mr. Diller said.
Elon Musk, the chief executive of SpaceX, reported on Twitter:
About an hour later, he added some preliminary analysis:
In a statement, Charles Bolden, the NASA administrator, said, “This is a reminder that spaceflight is an incredible challenge, but we learn from each success and each setback. Today’s launch attempt will not deter us from our ambitious human spaceflight program.”
The more than 4,000 pounds of payload included a docking adapter needed for future crew capsules being developed by Boeing and SpaceX, student experiments and a camera to record meteors streaking into the earth’s atmosphere.
It was first failure in 19 launchings of the Falcon 9 rocket built by Space Exploration Technologies of Hawthorne, Calif., better known as SpaceX.
Until now, SpaceX has had a charmed record with the Falcon 9, avoiding the “infant mortality (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/i/infant_mortality/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier)” that usually afflicts new rocket designs.
On this launching, more attention was paid to the company’s attempts to land the first stage on a floating platform in the Atlantic. The company has invested considerable effort toward recovering and ultimately reusing the first stages in hopes of dramatically cutting the cost of rocket launchings.
Now the company will need to regroup.
This episode follows the failures of two other cargo rockets. In October, an Antares rocket (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/29/us/rocket-heading-to-international-space-station-explodes-no-one-is-hurt.html), built by Orbital ATK, exploded on the launching pad in Virginia. In April, a Russian Progress rocket (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/30/world/europe/russian-space-station-resupply-ship-m27m-said-to-be-out-of-control.html) spun out of control, unable to reach the space station.
The next launching of a Progress cargo ship is scheduled for July 3. Orbital is aiming to resume its cargo missions in November. A Japanese cargo spaceship is scheduled for August.
A news conference at which NASA and SpaceX officials are expected to talk about Sunday’s failure and its ramifications is scheduled for no earlier than 12:50 p.m.
Correction: June 28, 2015
An earlier version of this article misstated the number of astronauts currently aboard the International Space Station. There are three, not six.