UPDATE on FALCON-1:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4698736.stm
Last Updated: Friday, 24 March 2006, 22:57 GMT
"SpaceX rocket fails first flight"
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The new Falcon 1 rocket has been lost on its maiden flight.
The US vehicle, developed by the Space Exploration Technologies Corp, was destroyed soon after take-off from the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean.
The vision of Elon Musk, co-founder of the electronic payment system PayPal, the Falcon was designed to cut the cost of current satellite launches.
An onboard camera appeared to show the rocket rolling out of control shortly before the video signal was lost.
SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corp) spokeswoman Gwynn Shotwell told reporters on a conference call that there was about a minute of powered flight.
"We do know that the vehicle did not succeed after that," she said. "Clearly this is a setback but we're in this for the long haul."
And Elon Musk added: "We had a successful lift-off and Falcon made it well clear of the launch pad, but unfortunately the vehicle was lost later in the first-stage burn. More information will be posted once we have had time to analyse the problem."
The vehicle left its launch pad on the Kwajalein Atoll at just after 2230 GMT. It was the fourth attempt at a flight; a number of technical issues had prompted SpaceX to delay the inaugural mission.
The rocket was attempting to carry a 19.5kg satellite to a low-Earth orbit of 450km.
The satellite, FalconSat-2, was built by US Air Force Academy cadets to investigate the phenomenon known as "space weather"."
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/7ABDDC278935D8538525713B00461D92?opendocument
"Combat engineers unearth 500-plus weapons caches, save lives in Iraq"
Submitted by: Regimental Combat Team7
Story Identification #: 200632474550
Story by Cpl. Adam C. Schnell
HADITHA DAM, Iraq (March 24, 2006)