Oct 29 2009
From The Space Library
NASA announced that the Ares I-X booster rocket tested on 28 October 2009 had sustained damage when it fell into the Atlantic Ocean. A deflated parachute had caused a poor landing, resulting in the damage. NASA officials stated that the test launch itself had succeeded, but one of the three parachutes had failed. All three parachutes had opened, but only one had fully opened. One had deflated for unknown reasons, wrapping around a partially opened parachute, which had caused the booster to land in the ocean with extra force. The recovery crew had captured photographs showing what appeared to be a large crack in the casing on the first stage, in an area called the forward segment, as well as a fractured actuator bracket on the side of the rocket.
Marcia Dunn for Associated Press, “NASA: Booster Rocket Damaged in Test Flight,” 30 October 2009; Todd Halvorson, “Live at KSC : Ares I-X Parachutes Fail During Flight,” Florida Today (Brevard, FL), 30 October 2009.
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