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Posted on 08/28/2021 7:32:35 PM PDT by BenLurkin
Rocket builder Astra Space on Saturday launched its first rocket since the company went public.
At liftoff, the rocket appeared to move sideways rather than straight up. Astra founder, chairman and CEO Chris Kemp told CNBC that about a second into the flight, one engine shut down. The company is currently investigating the reason.
Astra founder and Chief Technology Officer Adam London added that the system performed relatively well under the circumstances. The rocket had sufficient thrust even with one engine out to very slowly lift off the pad, and the guidance system maintained control of the rocket.
About 2 minutes and 28 seconds into the flight, the flight safety crew issued an all-engine shut-down command which caused the rocket to stall, the CEO said. It reached an altitude of about 31 miles (50 kilometers) and returned back to earth with no injuries or damage to any property.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
Astra rocket suffers anomaly during orbital launch attempt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfjO7VCyjPM
As Elon giggles
LOL Certainly the most bizarre behavior on liftoff I’ve ever seen.
Wow, hell of a recovery by the guidance system. Tiny little thing, looks like something launching out of Vandenberg 40+ years ago.
Slip slidin away
Slip slidin away
They have nothing on Wernher von Braun.
The race to outdo SpaceX continues to falter. Why? Because competitors are DESPERATELY attempting to compete. SpaceX has been at it for a great many years. They employed an Iterative Development Process over those many years.
They continue to do so. In the public eye for all to see. And, they are EMBARRASSING everyone else. SpaceX is Old School innovation. Lead by an Old School style Entrepreneur.
I am not a Tesla fan. Not by any stretch of the imagination. Battery-powered transport is a joke. Oil, coal, and natural gas are far superior producers of reliable and plentiful energy. I am a SpaceX fan.
Aren’t they supposed to spin to compensate for (in this case extreme) asymmetrical thrust?
Or the dirtbag a couple blocks over from us
Any dude that would send a convertible sports car with driver in a space suit dummy is Aces in my book
It’s kind of a dog, huh?
An astradog.
Me, too. About 25 degree off vertical tilt, straightens itself up, then scoots sideways for a long distance, and finally decides to head toward space.
That is an amazing control and guidance system.
I’m shocked the launch director didn’t mash the “Destruct” button!
It reminded me of initially trying to take off and hover an RC helicopter...scooting sideways across the floor (pre-inertial guidance).
From the title, I thought this was about Joe Biden
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The more competition, the better. But it seems like SpaceX is far ahead of everyone else at this point, no matter how many lawsuits Blue Origin files.
Considering the German scientists were writing the book on modern rocketry they didn’t do too bad.
Now imagine if Hitler had access to those V2 rockets in 39 or 40 instead of 42.
Most of those V2 scientists ended up in the US via Operation Paper Clip, then were sidelined until the Soviets surprised us with Sputnik.
The Germans were dusted off and rolled up their sleeves to do their thing.
It lost one of five of its engines at liftoff. Each engine gave .25 thrust to weight, so the result was 1/1 total thrust to weight. It only began ascending after it had burnt enough propellant to gain greater than 1/1 thrust to weight.
Awesome control!
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