NASA can now authorize up to ten million dollars for a prize without consulting Congress. The previous limit was a quarter of a million.

It’s apparently not a structural design flaw, as I had feared yesterday.

Hopefully, until the beginning of a new era of lower-cost spaceflight.

[Update just before scheduled launch]

On a fifteen-minute hold for winds. It looks like Clark Lindsey is on the telecon.

I would assume that the count clock will remain stopped at fifteen minutes until the winds die down. They have about an eight-hour launch window.
[Update at 2:27 EST]

Kwaj Rockets says that the mission is aborted (I assume that means for today), but no one else has confirmed that yet.

[Update a minute or two later]

Clark Lindsey confirms. And it’s not just weather:

A structural problem has been found in the first stage and will require repair. So launch is scrubbed till next year. RATS!!

Rats, indeed. Better safe than sorry, though.

How is it that they discover a structural problem with the first stage only fifteen minutes prior to launch?

[Update at 4:20 EST]

Here’s a report from Alan Boyle.

This seems pretty serious to me. If they discovered that there structure couldn’t handle fully-fueled tanks in a static one-g environment, then how could it possible have handled launch loads? Sounds like they had negative design margin at first glance, though we won’t know more until they tell us. Fortunately, it’s on the first stage, so if they end up having to add weight to it to beef up the structure, it won’t have as big a payload impact as it would if it were up higher.

Good luck, SpaceX and Falcon. I expect Clark to stay on top of this today.

[Update a couple minutes later]

Out of the Cradle will be liveblogging it too.

Good luck, SpaceX and Falcon. I expect Clark to stay on top of this today.

[Update a couple minutes later]

Out of the Cradle will be liveblogging it too.

Good luck, SpaceX and Falcon. I expect Clark to stay on top of this today.

[Update a couple minutes later]

Out of the Cradle will be liveblogging it too.

Dwayne Day and Jeff Foust have an interesting history of recent (i.e., over the past several years, prior to the announcement of the VSE) internal human exploration studies at NASA, with some unanswered questions:

…who initiated the discussions in the White House concerning the need for a new human spaceflight goal and why? Who championed the issue and how much interaction did they have with NASA? Why and how did the White House pick and choose between plans? Why was NASA

SpaceX will be making their next launch attempt at 11 AM Pacific time.

Mark Whittington has further (uncharitable) thoughts about the late Senator Proxmire. It’s a harsher obituary than I’d write, particularly seeing as the body has barely cooled off, but then, I’ve never been as enamored of large federal space budgets (particularly considering how ineffectively they’ve been spent, for the most part) as he is.

Mark Whittington has further (uncharitable) thoughts about the late Senator Proxmire. It’s a harsher obituary than I’d write, particularly seeing as the body has barely cooled off, but then, I’ve never been as enamored of large federal space budgets (particularly considering how ineffectively they’ve been spent, for the most part) as he is.