SpaceX launch aborted plus solar eclipses for your bucket list
19 May 2012, 17:05 UTC
It huffed and it puffed but never took to the sky. Today was to be the historic launch of the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule to the International Space Station (ISS), but a mere half-second before liftoff, on-board computers … Continue reading →
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket ignites its nine engines for a few seconds before shutting them down this morning. Credit: NASA TV
It huffed and it puffed but never took to the sky. Today was to be the historic launch of the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule to the International Space Station (ISS), but a mere half-second before liftoff, on-board computers shut it down. Launch aborted. A high pressure reading in the combustion chamber in engine #5 was to blame.
Tuesday May 22 at 2:44 a.m. Central time is the next earliest launch opportunity. Fortunately a spare engine – Falcon runs with a total of nine – is available as a replacement if needed. Falcon is the first attempt by the private American company SpaceX to get into the ISS cargo-delivery business, a task that to date has been handled by government-run space programs in Russia, Japan, Europe and the U.S.
Artist rendering of SpaceX ...
