Remind us again why we can’t just fund NASA appropriately?
A private rocket company’s first attempt to launch satellite’s into space went awry yesterday when the rocket spun out of control during its second stage and crashed into the ocean.
The startup space firm Astra was attempting its first launch from Cape Canaveral for the third time. A live stream of the launch showed an initially promising result. When the rocket entered into its second stage, the camera on the rocket showed a wild spin. The Earth can be seen coming in and out of view as the rocket flipped.
Shortly after the team celebrated the separation of the first stage, the video from the rocket cut out. A livestream quickly diverted to the launchpad before a representative came on screen to apologize for the failed launch of NASA research satellites.
“An issue has been experienced during flight that prevented the delivery of our customer payloads to orbit,” they said. “We are deeply sorry.”
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This article appears in Feb 9-15, 2022.