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And this loss might cost them their program: "This test flight was their last shot at success before the project is considered for closure." http://www.guardi

• reemrevnivek 15y ago
  That page concludes with: "Had the latest test flight gone to plan, the Falcon HTV-2 would have separated from its rocket high above the atmosphere and entered a steep dive before levelling out and performing a series of subtle manoeuvres to test its aerodynamic performance. At the end of the flight the plane would have rolled upside down and steered a graceful arc into the ocean." The official press release at http://go.usa.gov/KLe http://go.usa.gov/KLe says that they confirmed separation and that they achieved high-speed aerodynamic flight, not that they "would have separated". They lost contact 9 minutes into the aerodynamic tests, and the plane (if you can call it that, the CNN article calls it a "triangular wedge of zoom" which seems more appropriate) went down sometime after that.