[URL]http://news.yahoo.com/spacex-rocket-launch-aborted-last-half-second-113230356.html[/URL]
[QUOTE]CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A new private supply ship for the International Space Station remained stuck on the ground Saturday after rocket engine trouble led to a last-second abort of the historic flight.
All nine engines for the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket roared to life Saturday morning. But with a mere half-second remaining before liftoff, the onboard
computers automatically shut everything down. So instead of blasting off on a delivery mission to the space station, the rocket stayed on its launch
pad amid a plume of engine exhaust.
Even NASA's most seasoned launch commentator was taken off-guard.
"Three, two, one, zero and liftoff," announced commentator George Diller, his voice trailing as the rocket failed to budge. "We've had a cutoff. Liftoff
did not occur."
SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell said that high combustion chamber pressure in engine No. 5 was to blame. During an inspection later in the day,
engineers discovered a faulty valve and worked into the evening to replace it.
[B]
Tuesday is the earliest that SpaceX can try again to send its cargo-laden Dragon capsule to the space station.[/B] The California-based company
— formally known as Space Exploration Technologies Corp. — is targeting every few days for a launch attempt to save fuel in case of rendezvous
problems at the space station. Wednesday also could be a launch option.
This was the first launch attempt by the several private U.S. companies hoping to take over the job of delivering cargo and eventually astronauts to
the space station for NASA. Only governments have accomplished that to date: the United States, Russia, Europe and Japan.
NASA is looking to the private sector, in this post-shuttle era, to get American astronauts launching again from U.S. soil. SpaceX officials said that
could happen in as few as three years, possibly four. Several other companies are in the running.
An estimated 1,000 SpaceX and NASA guests poured into the launching area in the wee hours of Saturday, hoping to see firsthand the start of this
new commercial era. They left disappointed. The abort was especially disheartening given the perfect weather and the absence of any earlier
countdown problems.
Shotwell was asked by a reporter whether she considered Saturday's abort a failure.
[B]"This is not a failure," she said. "We aborted with purpose. It would be a failure if we were to have lifted off with an engine trending in this direction."
She added: "The software did what it was supposed to do" with the engine shutdown.
[/B]
Everyone around town, at least, is rooting for a successful flight.
"Go SpaceX," read the sign outside Cape Canaveral City Hall. Until NASA's space shuttles retired last summer, the sign had urged on the launches of
Discovery, Endeavour and, finally, Atlantis. Those ships are now relegated to museums.
Late last month, SpaceX conducted a test firing of the nine first-stage rocket engines at the pad. Each engine — including No. 5 — was "rock solid,"
Shotwell said.
The first flight of the Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, in June 2010, encountered similar last-second engine trouble, but there was enough time
to fix the problem and fly the same day. [B]SpaceX has just a single second each day to launch this time around because of the space station
rendezvous.[/B]
Six months after the initial Falcon 9 flight, SpaceX launched another rocket with a Dragon capsule that reached orbit. It was the first time a private
company put a spacecraft into orbit and then recovered it. The newest Dragon also is meant to splash down into the Pacific, returning space
stationexperiments and equipment.
For Saturday's launch attempt, SpaceX's billionaire founder, Elon Musk, was in the SpaceX Mission Control in Hawthorne, Calif. He helped create PayPal
and founded SpaceX 10 years ago. He also runs Tesla Motors, his electric car company.
[/QUOTE]
Let's just be happy it didn't pull a Challenger.
Wait, I originally heard that the flight computer didn't turn on.
Good thing these engineers and such can make sure they have a lot of measures to catch mistakes. Launching something into space is not something to just think will happen as easily as a plane lifting off into the air. Im always so impressed with the amount of work it takes to do shit like this. Truely amazing that were able to basically say fuck you to gravity and go explore our universe. Gravity is awesome and keeps us alive, but at the same time is trying to destroy our sun... but is also keeping it together... its like its a good thing... but an evil thing to.... like my girlfriend...... >_> ...... <_< .......
Just think, a million checks a second. Were this 1969 that wouldn't have been so possible, and it might have blown, for the one error.
[QUOTE=King of Limbs;36023406]Good thing these engineers and such can make sure they have a lot of measures to catch mistakes. Launching something into space is not something to just think will happen as easily as a plane lifting off into the air. Im always so impressed with the amount of work it takes to do shit like this. Truely amazing that were able to basically say fuck you to gravity and go explore our universe. Gravity is awesome and keeps us alive, but at the same time is trying to destroy our sun... but is also keeping it together... its like its a good thing... but an evil thing to.... like my girlfriend...... >_> ...... <_< .......[/QUOTE]
What are you doing
[QUOTE=Elecbullet;36023435]Just think, a million checks a second. Were this 1969 that wouldn't have been so possible, and it might have blown, for the one error.[/QUOTE]Even today's cellphones are more powerful than the computers they used for the moon lander.
We've come far, and it's a good thing.
[QUOTE=King of Limbs;36023406]Good thing these engineers and such can make sure they have a lot of measures to catch mistakes. Launching something into space is not something to just think will happen as easily as a plane lifting off into the air. Im always so impressed with the amount of work it takes to do shit like this. Truely amazing that were able to basically say fuck you to gravity and go explore our universe. Gravity is awesome and keeps us alive, but at the same time is trying to destroy our sun... but is also keeping it together... its like its a good thing... but an evil thing to.... like my girlfriend...... >_> ...... <_< .......[/QUOTE]
...What?
Anyways, it's interesting that a private company like SpaceX is ready to shut down their rocket at the very last second due to a failure. Not only do they have a huge stake on the line, but they're not wrapped up in beaureaucratic red tape to make the launch happen. Hopefully it means fewer failures akin to Challenger or Columbia. On the other hand, shareholder demands could pressure them to move too quickly. At the very least, this accident-waiting-to-happen was prevented, and that's unequivocally a good thing.
Here's a video for people that missed:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3MkZHC-Mu4[/media]
[i]"3... 2... 1... lllllliftoff?...."[/i]
[QUOTE=Jad Hinto;36023451]Even today's cellphones are more powerful than the computers they used for the moon lander.
We've come far, and it's a good thing.[/QUOTE]
Cellphones?
The way I heard it it was calculators. Cell phones today can be pretty decent mind you.
[QUOTE=Jad Hinto;36023451]Even today's cellphones are more powerful than the computers they used for the moon lander.
We've come far, and it's a good thing.[/QUOTE]
Hell, an Arduino Mega rivals the power of the Apollo computers(Mega because from what I've researched the Uno doesn't have enough memory to fit the Apollo code, in theory).
[QUOTE=yjhghtfh;36023450]What are you doing[/QUOTE]
Too much apparently :(
My apologies
[QUOTE=King of Limbs;36023406]Good thing these engineers and such can make sure they have a lot of measures to catch mistakes. Launching something into space is not something to just think will happen as easily as a plane lifting off into the air. Im always so impressed with the amount of work it takes to do shit like this. Truely amazing that were able to basically say fuck you to gravity and go explore our universe. Gravity is awesome and keeps us alive, but at the same time is trying to destroy our sun... but is also keeping it together... its like its a good thing... but an evil thing to.... like my girlfriend...... >_> ...... <_< .......[/QUOTE]
If you had cut this post off at "truely amazing," it would've been agreeable instead of idiotic.
Gives a whole new meaning to 'Almost a fail'. Glad to see they didn't have elaborate fireworks. Poor Elon!
[QUOTE=King of Limbs;36023406]Good thing these engineers and such can make sure they have a lot of measures to catch mistakes. Launching something into space is not something to just think will happen as easily as a plane lifting off into the air. Im always so impressed with the amount of work it takes to do shit like this. Truely amazing that were able to basically say fuck you to gravity and go explore our universe. Gravity is awesome and keeps us alive, but at the same time is trying to destroy our sun... but is also keeping it together... its like its a good thing... but an evil thing to.... like my girlfriend...... >_> ...... <_< .......[/QUOTE]
PUIs hard and is afraid of nothing
[editline]20th May 2012[/editline]
I honestly love this post.
It's refreshing to read this, sort of cute.
I don't blame them for having this many delays - this is the first commercial spacecraft with docking capabilities that we've seen, there are bound to be some issues
[QUOTE=King of Limbs;36023406]Good thing these engineers and such can make sure they have a lot of measures to catch mistakes. Launching something into space is not something to just think will happen as easily as a plane lifting off into the air. Im always so impressed with the amount of work it takes to do shit like this. Truely amazing that were able to basically say fuck you to gravity and go explore our universe. Gravity is awesome and keeps us alive, but at the same time is trying to destroy our sun... but is also keeping it together... its like its a good thing... but an evil thing to.... like my girlfriend...... >_> ...... <_< .......[/QUOTE]
never thought I'd say this again
but go back to gaia online
[QUOTE=Jad Hinto;36023451]Even today's cellphones are more powerful than the computers they used for the moon lander.
We've come far, and it's a good thing.[/QUOTE]
The Saturn V (moon rocket) flight computer had processor speed of 2MHz.
:v:
""This is not a failure," she said. "We aborted with purpose. It would be a failure if we were to have lifted off with an engine trending in this direction."
She added: "The software did what it was supposed to do" with the engine shutdown."
Well put. This isn't a failure, it's a success. An aborted launch means that your systems are working.
[QUOTE]"This is not a failure," she said. "We aborted with purpose. It would be a failure if we were to have lifted off with an engine trending in this direction."
She added: "The software did what it was supposed to do" with the engine shutdown."
[/QUOTE]
At least the safety measures are working.
Better to know that your rocket will last another day rather than blow up like the challenger, any day.
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