(FRENCH) Super rocket explodes on launch (OOPS ALERT)

BBC News ^ | December 12, 2002 | BBC News

[rogue yam]

Generally speaking, the choice of launch site is strongly influenced by the intended inclination of the orbital plane of the satellite with respect to the Earth's equatorial plane. That is, if one wants to launch a spacecraft into a low or zero inclination orbit, then one seeks a launch site at or near the equator. This saves fuel.

[Cobra64]

The pilot was Inspector Cleusault? Where's the Pink Panther and the Inspector's pics?

[Ole Okie]

leave the comparisons between French rockets and their automobiles to you lot. ;)

Any country that can produce the Renault Dauphine can't be all good, Ivan.

[Cobra64]

111 space shuttle missions.... so I heard yesterday when it finally landed after a 3-4 day weather delay.

[shaggy eel]

,,, thanx, I wasn't aware of that aspect at all.

[PAR35]

Do you know whether or not the French space program contracts with Lucas for its electrical systems? I recall well the reliability of British Leyland made cars with Lucas electrical systems.

[Cobra64]

I always liked the "Le Car." Right. That piece of shi'it was the precursor to the Yugo. Seriously, there was a "Le Car" sold in this country in the 1970s or 80s.

[Brett66]

Boeing and LockMart are waiting in the wings with their new launchers. (already successfully launched)

[Willie Green]

Maybe Suriname shot it down to test their Star Wars defense system.

[B-Chan]

The "Le Car" was a rebadged Reneault 5 sold under the American Motors marque. By all accounts, it was a piéce de merde.

Besides, in French it should be "La Car". They didn't even get the name right...

(Regíe Reneault has made some decent cars over the years -- not as many as Citroën or Peugeot, but a few.)

[dalereed]

"reliability"

I really hope you meant unreliability!

[lawdude]

"Ten minutes after the blast the french army surrendered."

Well, the old saying goes, "You are what you eat!"

Need I say more?

[altair]

Nope. France is too far north. Math trumps national pride.

[100%FEDUP]

Shouldn't it be a (HOL MOI ESCARGO ALERT)?

[Frohickey]

The boss of Arianespace, Jean-Yves Le Gall, immediately apologised to his two customers.

Arianespace's boss' boss, immediately surrendered to whoever was around. :)

[Toirdhealbheach Beucail]

Shouldn't this be a "Hold muh cheese" alert?

[Frohickey]

The first of those two Russian rocket failures was attributed to "outside forces", read, sabotage. Could this be also? I can hardly imagine the borders of French Giuana [sic, I'm sure] being secure.

I think the French Foreign Legion is doing guard duty on French Guiana.

Kourou:  Europe's Jungle Space Center: Amid French Guiana's swamps, Europe's space center regularly launches the successful Ariane rockets

Since countdown began, security forces have been at maximum alert.  Barbed wire and electrified fences surround the Center's facilities.  French soldiers man checkpoints.  Backing them up are some 500 members of the French Foreign Legion's elite Third Infantry Regiment.  Overhead, Legion pilots crisscross the are in ultralight aircraft, and navy patrol boats cruise offshore.  Near the launch site, antennas whirl at an air force radar station manned with anti-aircraft weapons.  Among other things, France is on guard against any possibility that civil strife in neighboring Surinam, which is under Libyan influence, might disrupt Ariane launches.

[crypt2k]

"The setback will now put an enormous question mark over Europe's upcoming science mission Rosetta, designed to put a lander on Comet Wirtanen.

The Rosetta craft was due to launch on the next Ariane 5 flight on 12 January. Its eight-year journey to the comet requires the probe to be swung around Mars once and Earth twice to get it in the right position to catch the comet..."

Hopefully, they have a backup plan. Looks like this mission will be in mothballs for awhile.

[The_Media_never_lie]

The debris would have fallen into the Atlantic Ocean. The satellites were likely to have been insured.

The boss of Arianespace, Jean-Yves Le Gall, immediately apologised to his two customers.

"At this stage it is too early to give precise reasons for this failure," he said.

All they need to do now is plan to equip the rockets with nukes aimed at the U.S., and Loral will help them troubleshoot.

[GhostSoldier]

Hold muh Brie!