Friday, September 9, 2016

SpaceX's Musk: Launch Failure Most Difficult In 14 Years

Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX, the space rocket firm led by tech mogul Elon Musk, appears to be facing what Musk called "the most difficult and complex failure we have ever had in 14 years", after the explosion of its rocket on a launch pad in Florida last week. Musk said on Twitter that the Falcon 9's engines "were not on" and that "there was no apparent heat source" in the failure, which occurred when filling the spacecraft's fuel tanks. In an unusual appeal to the public, Musk asked any users with recordings of the event to email a special email address, as the company is attempting to understand a mysterious "bang" that occurred ahead of the Falcon 9 explosion.