Rocket error dooms ice satellite's launch

"rk" wrote in message
...
Rocket error dooms ice satellite's launch
BY STEPHEN CLARK, SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Updated: October 8, 2005 @ 5 p.m. EDT

http://spaceflightnow.com/rockot/cryosat/


A new satellite to help provide insight into one of the more controversial
environmental issues being faced today failed to reach orbit to begin its
mission to monitor crucial changes in Earth's polar ice caps because its
rocket booster's flight computer had a missing command.

-- end excerpt --

--
rk, Just an OldEngineer
"These are highly complicated pieces of equipment almost as complicated as
living organisms. In some cases, they've been designed by other computers.
We
don't know exactly how they work."
-- Scientist in Michael Crichton's 1973 movie, Westworld

Yes, as I said. Seems to me some better QA is required on that rocket's
team. its shody, and the last one fell out of the sky, didn't it, for some
other reason?

Was it insured?

Brian

--
Brian Gaff....Note, this account does not accept Bcc: email.
graphics are great, but the blind can't hear them
Email:
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________

In article ,
Brian Gaff wrote:
Yes, as I said. Seems to me some better QA is required on that rocket's
team. its shody, and the last one fell out of the sky, didn't it, for some
other reason?

No, Rockot's record has been excellent, up to now. (You're probably
thinking of the Volna failure -- different rocket, different people.)
It's been putting things exactly where the customers wanted them to go.

Was it insured?

I doubt it. It's costly -- the premium for launch insurance is often
10-20% of the launch price -- and government bureaucrats tend to see this
as an unnecessary expense. There have been exceptions; after the loss of
the original Cluster satellites, the launches for Cluster II were insured.
--
spsystems.net is temporarily off the air; | Henry Spencer
mail to henry at zoo.utoronto.ca instead. |