Tag: Space Shuttle

X-37B : Putting the Cart Under the Horse
By 2012.12.13 0 Comments Read More →

X-37B : Putting the Cart Under the Horse

Tuesday’s launch of a Atlas V rocket carrying the X-37B unmanned orbital space plane marked an interesting development in the gradual progression of  reusable space flight capability.  In the first place, it represented a return to flight of the RL-10 upper stage engine following an October Delta IV launch “anomaly” in which an underperfoming engine led to a longer than planned […]

Posted in: Launch Vehicle Development
Falcon 9 Loses an Engine (and Fairing), Demonstrates Resiliance
By 2012.10.09 0 Comments Read More →

Falcon 9 Loses an Engine (and Fairing), Demonstrates Resiliance

In an update released Monday,  further analysis of the engine anomaly observed in Sunday night’s launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 on NASA CRS-1 mission suggests that engine number 1 experienced a sudden pressure loss which resulted in a computer commanded shutdown, not an explosion as originally speculated.  According to current analysis, the debris seen in high fidelity launch photographs is that of the protective engine fairing being […]

Posted in: COTS/Commercial Crew, Launch Vehicle Development, NASA, SpaceX
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