5 ms·

Ignition aborted, launch failed. Sigh.

• res 14y ago
  Sounds like it had to do with the computers. Damn shame. Edit: My mistake, the computers detected an engine parameter that was out of bounds. See you guys early Tuesday morning for round 2.
  • joering2 14y ago
    They said it happened again on Falcon 2 and 9. Hope they will be ready for May 22nd, next window. Good nite, HN!
  • Intermernet 14y ago
    Dang Computimifiers!
  • frisco 14y ago
    "Engine 5 shutdown: chamber pressure high" was the reason given on the web cast.
• dakrisht 14y ago
  Wonder what happened. At least they saved the vessel.
  • JshWright 14y ago
    That's one major advantage of a liquid fueled vehicle. Try shutting off an SRB after it's lit...
    • jrockway 14y ago
      All you need is a faulty O-ring.
    • tsotha 14y ago
      That's why I was hoping the hybrid engine Scaled Composites used for the X-prize would work out - it gives you the best of both worlds. Haven't heard much about that lately.
• baq 14y ago
  :( Better luck Tuesday.
• ramidarigaz 14y ago
  Next window is Tuesday, so not too long. I was really impressed that they were able to abort nearly 5 seconds after ignition.
  • waterlesscloud 14y ago
    Yeah, the NASA people on twitter seemed impressed by that too. It's a good safety feature, no matter what the glitch turns out to be.
  • nikcub 14y ago
    Is this the first time a rocket has been aborted after ignition and for it to have not blown up?
    • nknight 14y ago
      No, SpaceX themselves have done it several times, and I'm about 90% sure there's prior precedent as well. It's a theoretical capability of any liquid-fueled rocket, assuming an adequate hold-down system. Edit: Looks like Ariane 5 has similar systems on its main engine, but it also uses solid rocket boosters, which can't be shut down once started. http://www.space.com/11264-rocket-launch-aborts-engine-malfunction.html http://www.space.com/11264-rocket-launch-aborts-engine-malfu...
    • jah 14y ago
      No. Mercury-Redstone 1 had a launch failure after ignition and launch: Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7O4V7JfeTSU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7O4V7JfeTSU Description: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury-Redstone_1#Causes_of_the_failure http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury-Redstone_1#Causes_of_th...
  • pilom 14y ago
    They are designed to be held down on the launch pad operating at full power for up to 20 seconds (looking for source) before being released so that they can verify all systems are operating correctly before it is in the air.
• Mithrandir 14y ago
  I heard one of them say that the computer saw an engine parameter it "didn't like." :( Next launch opportunity, May 22 at 12:44:34 AM PST Here's a video of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AevYDCAE1xc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AevYDCAE1xc Edit: Elon Musk tweeted "Launch aborted: slightly high combustion chamber pressure on engine 5. Will adjust limits for countdown in a few days"
  • rosser 14y ago
    Moments after the abort, I heard one of the techs say it was triggered by an "engine 5 chamber pressure high" reading.
• jacktoole1 14y ago
  Next launch window Tuesday, May 22. They seem to have a good process for handling the failure though, which is probably more important than how they handle success (although less exciting for viewers).
  • raverbashing 14y ago
    Correct The main objective of SpaceX is reliability Have to say they gave a very good presentation about that today