May 3 1986
From The Space Library
Another NASA launch ended in failure as a $30 million Delta rocket carrying a $55.7 million weather satellite was destroyed shortly after liftoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida. An order to destruct by remote control came when the rocket's main engine failed and it tumbled off course. This was the first mishap for the Delta rocket, praised as NASA's most dependable launch vehicle, in nine years and 43 consecutive launches. The four most used vehicles for launching satellites (the Delta, Titan 3D and Atlas Centaur rockets and the Space Shuttle) were all put on hold, grounding the agency for an undetermined amount of time. A short circuit was the leading suspect the Delta loss. (W Times, May 5/86; May 6/86; W Post, May 5/86; May 6/86; WSJ, May 5/86; May 6/86; NY Times, May 5/86; May 6/86)
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