Not a perfect Launch but not a bad Abort either.
The SpaceX Dragon mission to the International Space Station was due to launch this morning but they scrubbed just before final ignition.
From
Popular Mechanics:
The Heartbreak of a Launch Abort
An aborted rocket launch is a frustrating thing to watch. From a causeway linking Merritt Island to the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, I watched with a small crowd of other journalists at the blearingly early hour of 4:55 am, waiting for the launch of SpaceX�s Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket. The early launch time was one of the narrow windows available to line up the Dragon with the orbit of the International Space Station, where it was scheduled to dock four days from now. And it certainly seemed as if all systems were go for this one. The countdown over the PA system went all the way to t-minus .5 seconds, and the first burst of ignition illuminated the pre-dawn sky for a moment�but only a moment, and then we all discovered that it had been called off.
Early analysis pegged the cause for the mission abort as a high-pressure reading in Engine 5 of the Falcon 9 rocket. SpaceX is playing it awfully safe on this mission, officially titled COTS-2, which is designed to demonstrate that an unmanned Dragon spacecraft can safely dock with the ISS and deliver supplies. If successful�or at least, if eventually successful�the Dragon could carry manned missions to ISS within the next few years, eliminating NASA�s current reliance on Russian spacecraft to bring American astronauts into space. But before the Dragon is even allowed to approach the ISS on the COTS-2 mission, it will have to go through a day�s worth of test maneuvers in space.
A lot of data will have been collected and will be analyzed and the next launch will be that much closer to success. The people at
SpaceX are doing some amazing work. They will be attempting another launch on Tuesday, May 22nd at 3:44 AM Eastern. Good work and God Speed!
Posted by DaveH at May 19, 2012 6:18 PM