Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The Falcon 9 launched on time at 10:21 a.m. EST. After liftoff, an anomaly occurred. SpaceX is evaluating the issue.
Credit: NASA

Here’s a new story from me on the recent loss of the SpaceX Falcon 9 booster:

The June 28 failure of the commercial SpaceX Falcon 9 has put a dent in the rocket’s impressive track record. Whatever the root cause of the malfunction, fixing the problem, and returning to flight is paramount to fulfill billions of dollars launch orders.

There are a number of wait-and-watch ripple effects stemming from the booster catastrophe that are being flagged by space analysts I contacted:

How Will Sunday’s Rocket Explosion Affect SpaceX?
by Leonard David, Space.com’s Space Insider Columnist
July 01, 2015 11:05am ET

http://www.space.com/29822-spacex-rocket-failure-impact.html

Post-failure press conference.
Credit: NASA

Note: During a post-launch press conference on June 28, mangers from SpaceX, NASA, and the Federal Aviation Administration discussed the mishap following the liftoff of the SpaceX CRS-7 mission from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The mission was to deliver supplies, hardware and other important cargo to the International Space Station.

Hans Koenigsmann, vice president of Mission Assurance at SpaceX, is leading the investigation of the cause of the issue.

Participants in the news briefing were:

— Gwynne Shotwell, president and chief operating officer of SpaceX (via phone)

— Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator of NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (via video from NASA Headquarters)

— Michael Suffredini, NASA’s International Space Station Program manager

— Pam Underwood, deputy division manager, Operations Integration Division, Federal Aviation Administrator.

To view the video, go to:

http://www.nasa.gov/feature/video-nasa-spacex-faa-discuss-launch-failure

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