Last October, a supply rocket from Dulles, Virgina-based Orbital Sciences exploded after takeoff from Wallops Island.
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Until it exploded in midair.
Sunday’s disaster in the near future after launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station was in fact another the next rushed goal to resupply the space station.
But the disaster comes on the heels of two other failed ISS resupply missions over the last eight months.
“It isn’t critical that they make the exact dates – there is a few flexibility in our overall launch plans”, added Iridium spokeswoman Diane Hockenberry.
There were no injuries or damage reported on the ground, as debris from explosion fell into the Atlantic Ocean.
Preliminary analysis pointed to a problem with the rocket’s second-stage motor liquid oxygen tank, SpaceX said.
Investigators still don’t know what caused SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, which had flown successfully 18 previous times, to disintegrate and fall back to Earth, despite good weather and a smooth countdown.
In a partnership between NASA and Microsoft, a set of HoloLens devices were to be sent to the global Space Station to assist with communications and training utilizing new software known as Sidekick. Right now, the crew has enough supplies to see them through late October, NASA space station program manager Mike Suffredini said.
The Verge learned that SpaceX, NOAA and NASA are working to come up with a new Falcon 9 rocket launch schedule. Along with the rocket was the Dragon capsule, which was loaded with over 4,000 pounds of supplies for the global Space Station.
NASA has contracted SpaceX for sending supplies to the global Space Station and about 20 commercial and other satellite operators.
Elon Musk, the entrepreneur and private space transport pioneer who founded SpaceX, had a terrible birthday on Sunday, when his company’s Falcon 9 rocket experienced its first-ever launch failure out of 19 total launches. However, the astronauts are safe aboard the station and have sufficient supplies for the next several months.
NASA’s headquarters senior official William Gerstenmaier wants to clarify that no negligence happened, and the incident was purely accident which is why they want to understand what went wrong in order to move forward and avoid the same thing for future flights. The commercial cargo program was designed to accommodate loss of cargo vehicles.
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There has also been an outpouring of support for SpaceX.
