**Falcon 1 ATTEMPT 2 \u2013 Live Updates, Webcast and Launch Coverage** \u2013 70,000 reads.<\/em><\/p>\n **ATTEMPT 1 SCRUB \u2013 with background information** \u2013 61,000 reads.<\/em><\/p>\n NASASpaceflight.com\u2019s exclusive interviews with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk: The drama of Monday\u2019s scrub with just over a minute remaining \u2013 due to a range source telemetry and land line issue \u2013 was nothing in comparison to what appeared to be a dramatic end to proceedings during Tuesday\u2019s attempt.<\/p>\n Space Technology (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n With the countdown proceeding all the way to the firing up of the Merlin engine, and with the countdown clock reaching T-0, the launch was aborted just as the Falcon I was expected to lift off the pad. <\/p>\n According to SpaceX, the last gasp abort was automatically caused by the main engine chamber pressure being 0.2 percent lower than the allowable preset limits. <\/p>\n With everyone expecting a scrub for the day, along with at least a 24 hour turnaround, SpaceX engineers decided on recycling for a launch just over an hour later. The stages were drained back of LOX and fuel to 50 percent, before picking up the countdown process once again. <\/p>\n Re-starting from a T-16 minute count, the Falcon I was prepared for a launch time of 1:10 am GMT. This time, SpaceX had good fortune on their side, as the count proceeded without issue. <\/p>\n Finally blasting off from its island launch pad, the vehicle rose majestically, as the Earth disappeared below it via the downward pointing camera on the rocket \u2013 the same view that showed the failure last March, leading to a one year stand-down. <\/p>\n No such problems this time, until what is still an unconfirmed issue at stage separation, where the first stage appeared to catch the second stage engine as it fell away. <\/p>\n The second stage still managed to keep flying until just prior to T+5 minutes, when oscillation was observed on the vehicle\u2019s camera, before slowing rolling \u2013 what at least appeared to be \u2013 off course, as the webcast video ended abruptly. <\/p>\n Musk did note that the second stage did shut off prematurely, and that the vehicle likely failed to make a full orbit. <\/p>\n \u2018The things we were most concerned about were the first stage ignition and lift off, and the trajectory of the first stage, because that is the most significant portion of the atmosphere where you can have high winds, and potentially where you can have a structural problem,\u2019 said Musk in a post launch Q&A. \u2018No anomalies on the first stage.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Stage separation went very well,\u2019 he added, dismissing what may have been observed on the video. \u2018Both the stage separation and the fairing sep went flawlessly. Second stage ignition also went flawlessly.\u2019 <\/p>\n \u2018We did see a roll control issue later in the second stage. That seems fairly straightforward to correct.\u2019 <\/p>\n Musk, who was still without full data from the launch in order to make the Q&A with reporters was still buoyant over the launch, which he claimed achieved 90 percent of the test objectives. <\/p>\n \u2018I only just came from the command trailer, so it is a bit premature to say anything. We didn\u2019t achieve the desired orbit, but at this moment I do not know the state of the second stage. The high likelihood is that it re-entered before a full orbit. We reached the altitude of 300km, that\u2019s what I can say. <\/p>\n \u2018The roll control caused the second stage engine to shut off prematurely. I would say we have retired about 90 percent of the risk associated with the rocket. This was a test launch, not a satellite launch.\u2019<\/p>\n Now Musk and SpaceX can concentrate on making inroads into the launch business, which is an ambitious plan, involving a range of new vehicles, from unmanned to manned.<\/p>\n \u2018It definitely could have gone a little better today, but we retired most of the risk associated with the rocket, and I think that is a success,\u2019 Musk noted.<\/p>\n \u2018I would characterize this as a very good day for SpaceX,\u2019 he added. \u2018We successfully reached space, and really retired almost all the risk associated with the rocket. I feel extremely good about having successful satellite launches later this year.\u2019<\/p>\n <\/font> **NASASpaceflight.com Job Opportunities**<\/em><\/font> <\/font><\/em><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" While it wasn\u2019t a perfect launch event, SpaceX are rightly claiming success with the launch of their Falcon I vehicle. The vehicle reached 300kms into space, before ending its second stage flight prematurely, due to a loss of telemetry and an issue with the vehicle\u2019s roll control. While that is still being evaluated, CEO Elon […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41768"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41768\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
PART 1 \u2013 <\/em>PART 2 \u2013 <\/em>PART 3 <\/em>
Click here<\/em> for the previous 23 SpaceX articles on this site.<\/em><\/u><\/em><\/p>\n<\/font><\/p>\n
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