SpaceX scratches test

Posted: Thursday, January 25, 2007 8:26 PM by Alan Boyle

Last week, SpaceX founder Elon Musk said he would be putting off the next launch of his low-cost Falcon 1 rocket until mid-February at the earliest, due to a glitch involving the thruster control system. At the time, he still intended to go ahead with a static-fire engine test on the launch pad, on Omelek Island in the Pacific Ocean's Kwajalein Atoll. Today, however, Musk said the static-fire test would be delayed as well:

"In an excess of caution, we decided not to proceed with the static fire this month. The vehicle is now back in the hangar, where the stages are being de-mated for careful inspection.

"The static fire and launch window is now mid- to late February, due to Kwaj having to configure for an incoming Minuteman and then reconfigure back to handling a Falcon launch. During this downtime, we will take the opportunity to go over every inch of the rocket with a microscope again.

"As Andy Grove said, 'Only the Paranoid Survive.'"

Considering that the first Falcon 1 rocket launch failed due to an errant nut and a resulting fuel leak, you could cite yet another saying: "Once burned, twice shy."

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