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Uprated "10-ton" Ariane 5 Fails

Posted by chrisd on from the boom-boom-boom dept.

Soft writes "The latest version of the European Ariane 5 booster ("ESC-A") has failed on its first launch. Liftoff was good up to booster separation but the core stage shut down one minute afterwards or so. The rocket was supposed to lift ten metric tons (22,000 lb) to geostationary transfer orbit, versus 6.7 for the previous Ariane 5G (and 5 and 5.3 for the latest Atlas 5 and Delta 4). Arianespace planned to retire its other launchers (Ariane 4, Ariane 5G) in favor of Ariane 5 ESC-A. Next launch, of space probe Rosetta, was due in mid-January."

8 of 306 comments (clear)

  1. Yet Another Space Launch Failure? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hey, why can't they get this right? It isn't rocket sci- ...oh, never mind.

  2. At Least they are Persistant by Coffee+Warlord · · Score: 5, Funny

    "He speculated the mission might have to risk a flight rather than see years of research and millions of euros go to waste."

    Kudos to them for keeping at it, at least. Too many space missions/projects are canned after a few failures. If we're going to get ANYWHERE in space in the next 100 years, we need more of this persistance. Take some risks, see what happens.

    (Admittedly, I don't know how wise it would be to scrap it now and tell the gov't you just wasted a zillion bucks, but still.)

  3. I remember the last one... by Sanity · · Score: 5, Funny
    I was studying Computer Science at Edinburgh University when the first Ariane 5 rocket exploded in flight. A guy, I wish I can remember his name but he was quite senior, from the ESA came to speak to us about why it had happened. Basically, it was an unhandled exception in some could which shouldn't have been running when the rocket was in-flight which caused both navigation systems to fail.

    He was a great speaker, his lecture was actually really funny in places. He joked about how rockets, by nature, tend to explode (just look at the early Chinese rockets centuries ago), so this one was really just fulfilling its mission prematurely. My favorite line was something like:

    The primary navigation system failed at 37.126 seconds after take-off. The backup navigation system failed at 37.778 seconds after take-off for exactly the same reason. Reproducability is normally something scientists like to see - but not so much in this case.
  4. Paris, we have a problem... by Tuxinatorium · · Score: 3, Funny

    nah, it just doesn't sound right.

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    Repeal the DMCA!
  5. Re:How long does it take?! by Keebler71 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Last I checked, France hasn't even launched a monkey into space so who do you mean by "we"?

    --
    "It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance." - Thomas Sowell
  6. French rockets... by doormat · · Score: 5, Funny

    Its like the old joke...

    In heaven....
    The French are the chefs....
    The Germans are the engineers...
    The British are the policemen...
    The Italians are the lovers...
    And the Swiss organize everything.

    In hell...
    The British are the chefs...
    The French are the engineers...
    The Germans are the policemen...
    The Swiss are the lovers...
    And the Italians organize everything.

    (BTW, this was a french made rocket)

    --
    The Doormat

    If you're not outraged, then you're not paying attention.
    1. Re:French rockets... by distributed.karma · · Score: 5, Funny

      The trouble with Canada is that they could have gotten French cuisine, American technology and English culture. Alas, they ended up with French technology, American culture and English cuisine.

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      If you moderate this, then your children will be next.

  7. Re:Well.... by susano_otter · · Score: 4, Funny
    (think "Skylab made of C-4")

    Thanks! Don't mind if I do!

    Mmmm... Skylab made of C4... throw kilotons of conventional explosives half-way around the world... :9
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    Any sufficiently well-organized community is indistinguishable from Government.