I had a somewhat more intemperate, rather politicized, working title, but my wife gently pointed out that I was not being fair.
Irk | RT @JPMajor: Oh no. #Orb3 pic.twitter.com/yaoLwuzo7q
— Sean Hackbarth (@seanhackbarth) October 28, 2014
[*My wife further gently pointed out that this was not necessarily a NASA rocket.]
It is not a NASA rocket, but the real political controversial aspect is that this launch was done not in Florida. I am happy for the people working on this in Virginia, but this is just another reminder that Obama lied to Florida (if you can lift that video, please do so) about keeping the space program here.
We’ve had a space launch capability in Virginia for decades.
Cheap soviet hardware. You could build a conspiracy theory around Obama deliberately causing this as a tool against the Russians, but the lead time is likely prohibitive given his apparent foresight, and it seems unlikely he has the ability to plan and execute disasters for benefit.
Preliminary indications seem to be* that one of the AJ-26 engines — basically refurbished Soviet NK-33 engines — failed. Condolences to Orbital Sciences Corporation and to Aerojet Rocketdyne,the supplier of the rocket engines.
The AJ-26 had been having problems: http://www.spacenews.com/article/financial-report/42180aerojet-rocketdyne-takes-loss-on-aj-26-engine-problems
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* Note the weasel words.
Bummer