Before it could slip the surly bonds of earth and dance the skies on laughter-silvered wings, SpaceX’s Falcon 9’s early morning launch was unfortunately scrapped by Nasa today due to higher than normal pressure readings in its number five engine.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 aborted its launch May 19 moments after its engines ignited when computers detected higher pressure readings than allowed. The center engine pressure built above limits and a shutdown occurred one-half second before liftoff, SpaceX officials said.
Before the spacecraft makes another launch attempt—so it can rendezvous and dock with the International Space Station—the Falcon 9 will be moved off the launch pad and returned to its hangar where the engine can be thoroughly inspected. And if engineers do discover a problem, the engine will be swapped out with a backup so the Falcon 9 can make another launch attempt as early as Tuesday morning if all goes well. [NASA via Dvice]
Image by SpaceX
