Both Parties Investigate, Warn Public About Debris

An Alliant Tech Systems suborbital rocket carrying two NASA hypersonic experiments exploded shortly after liftoff early Friday morning from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. No injuries or property damage were immediately reported.

Most debris from the rocket is thought to have fallen in the Atlantic Ocean. However, there are conflicting reports of debris being sighted on land. This debris could be hazardous.

People who think they may have encountered rocket debris are warned not to touch it, and to report it to the Wallops Emergency Operations Center at 757-824-1300.

NASA says the agency is "very disappointed" in this failure, but for the moment is focusing on public safety and conducting a comprehensive investigation to identify the cause of the explosion. "NASA is assembling a multidiscipline team, along with the rocket's maker Alliant Tech Systems, or ATK, of Salt Lake City, to begin the investigation promptly," the agency added.

The exact launch time was 0510 EDT. The anomaly that caused the failure occurred approximately 27 seconds into flight and is not known.

The ALV X-1 rocket was carrying NASA's HYBOLT, an agency experiment to test temperature and pressure during hypersonic flight, according to the Virginian-Pilot newspaper. Also onboard the SOAREX, an aerodynamic study model.

FMI: www.nasa.gov/