4 ms·
Next window is Tuesday, so not too long. I was really impressed that they were able to abort nearly 5 seconds after ignition.
by 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 agoYeah, 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 agoIs this the first time a rocket has been aborted after ignition and for it to have not blown up?
- nknight 14y agoNo, 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 agoNo. 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 agoThey 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.