SpaceX good for NASA, not firm
12:15 AM
Nasa Information
,
A private rocket successfully sent a capsule full of cargo zipping
toward the International Space Station in a first of its kind delivery
for NASA, but couldn't deliver on job No. 2: putting a commercial
satellite into the correct orbit.
One of nine engines on Space X company's Falcon 9 rocket failed
Sunday 79 seconds after launch because of a pressure loss. The engine
didn't explode, but it did start a series of events that meant another
company's private satellite is not in the place it is needed.
The main mission for the Falcon launch _ delivering half a ton of
science and food supplies toward the space station _ is still on track
with a docking of the cargo-laden Dragon capsule scheduled for
Wednesday. SpaceX on Monday said the ship's flight computer calculated a
new path to the station for the capsule. It is the first of a dozen
supply runs under a mega-contract with NASA.
“Falcon 9 did exactly what it was designed to do,'' the
California based SpaceX said. “Like the Saturn V, which experienced
engine loss on two flights, Falcon 9 is designed to handle an engine out
situation and still complete its mission.''
But not all of its mission.
The original plan was for Falcon to fire its second stage engines
after Dragon left and then deploy an industrial communications
satellite into orbit for Orbcomm of Dulles, Virginia.
Because this is a new resupply ship for the space station, NASA
and its international partners had set detailed safety rules in advance
for Falcon, even though the engine failure was far from the station. And
those rules prevent SpaceX from firing its second stage engines,
Orbcomm said in a statement.
... contd.
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