It is now confirmed that a helium leak caused the scrub of the Falcon 9 May 10 launch.
It is now confirmed that a helium leak caused the scrub of the Falcon 9 May 10 launch.
According to reports, no damage occurred, but tracing the leak has apparently taken longer than expected, which explains the slip in the announced schedule.
Readers!
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It is now confirmed that a helium leak caused the scrub of the Falcon 9 May 10 launch.
According to reports, no damage occurred, but tracing the leak has apparently taken longer than expected, which explains the slip in the announced schedule.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
FAA Experimental permit for DragonFly vehicle at McGregor,TX site:
http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/media/20140513_DragonFly_DraftEA%28Public%29.pdf#page=2&zoom=auto,-12,214
I preferred the notional DragonRider vs DragonFly due to the Pern reference, (And an endless series of available names, Ramoth, Mnemneth, Ruth, etc)
Highlights:
– up to four steel landing legs
– weighs 14000 lbs unfueled
– maximum proplellant load is 400 gallons
Four kinds of test flights expected:
– propulsive assist landing (dropped from helicopter with chutes)
– fully propulsive landing (dropped from helicopter)
– propulsive assist hop (self launched, parachute deploys)
– fully propulsive hop (like Grasshopper)
This is gonna be totally AWESOME! The cows at McGregor are in for a series of scary days. (Or else they will be the most jaded cattle on the planet).
Faster please! (As Glenn Reynolds likes to say).
Great thread on this topic at NasaSpaceflight.com
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=34800.0
Calling out the high points. This is going to be so much fun!
I can’t wait until they have launches backed up. Launches every week or two.
Then if something like this happens they can just role the rocket off the launch pad and role the next one on for a minimal delay between launches. They are only making money of things fly.