Topic: SpaceX Falcon 9 Test Fire Ends with Abort

[sam]

http://www.universetoday.com/2010/03/09/spacex-falcon-9-test-fire-ends-with-abort/

SpaceX  just released the official word on what happened with Tuesday's 3.5 second test-fire of the Falcon 9 rocket. The test aborted immediately after it started, and a a spin start system failure forced the early shutdown. The Falcon 9 sits on Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and from the Kennedy Space Center press site, (about 4 miles away) a muffled bang was heard at the time of ignition, 1:41 pm EST. "Today SpaceX performed our first Static Fire for the Falcon 9 launch vehicle," said Emily Shankin from SpaceX in a press release. "We counted down to an T-2 seconds and aborted on Spin Start. Given that this was our first abort event on this pad, we decided to scrub for the day to get a good look at the rocket before trying again. Everything looks great at first glance."

[Clive]

Isn't Falcon 9 funded by PayPal?  They must be making serious money to be able to pay for rockets like that.   

[sam]

Well I think its probably part funded. Plus I think this shows how cheap commerical space flight could be. Its the government that makes it so costly.

[Clive]

Very good point Sam. 

[sam]

Not that I'm a member of the Space Frontier Foundation -  http://spacefrontier.org/ but I feel they have a point.