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SpaceX Flight 4 Launch Postponed

Matt_dk noted that yesterday's launch plans for SpaceX have hit some turbulence. He says "SpaceX Flight 4 Launch has been postponed. The static fire took place on Saturday [20 Sep 2008, CA time], as expected, and no major issues came up. However, after a detailed analysis of data, we decided to replace a component in the 2nd stage engine LOX supply line. There is a good chance we would be ok flying as is, but we are being extremely cautious. This adds a few extra days to the schedule, so the updated launch window estimate is now Sept 28th through Oct 1st [CA time]."

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  1. Re:More Wasteful then NASA? by Teancum · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm assuming this is a joke, intended to get a few funny mod points here.

    If this were serious, of course some occasional parts that are likely to be good but have a question of doubt that they may be bad are replaced. Heck, I do that when I'm repairing my automobile... for exactly the very same reason. If I'm digging into the timing belt and I know the water pump has 50,000 miles on it, I'll change it (the water pump) out even if it is presumably working just fine... just to give an example.

    This is good maintenance practice, and how you keep things flying. It is also called rocket science here.