As SpaceX Knows, That's Why They Call Them 'Test Flights'

Initial Report by ANN Space Correspondent, Wes Oleszewski

"So we're 5-for-5 testing on this Grasshopper.

Wahoo! But, but that means we're not pushin' hard enough. We've gotta' tunnel one of those vehicles into the ground by trying somethin' really hard. We haven't done that yet. So now our challenge to our test team is that you've gotta push hard enough that we're gonna to see somethin' happen. A spectacular video… failures make spectacular video"

That was SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell, in mid -June 2013 in a TEDx Talk at Chapman University. On the evening of August 22nd, 2014, Shotwell and SpaceX got their wish as a Falcon 9R veered off of its planned flight profile and was automatically destroyed by the Flight Termination System at their McGregor, Texas test facility. There were no injuries at all in the event and SpaceX is reporting that the test vehicle remained in it planned flight area at all times.

In the video clips recorded by on-lookers, the Falcon 9R, which is the off-spring of the "Grasshopper" (shown below) that Shotwell spoke of, appears to climb normally to a safe altitude. Then the vehicle suddenly pitches over and the Flight Termination System takes over, shuts down the three engines and commands the destruction of the vehicle. Parts can then be seen raining down to the ground. Elon Musk, the SpaceX founder and chief designer, Tweeted, "…rockets are tricky."

The Falcon 9R is part of a system of SpaceX boosters that are intended to return to earth and land vertically by means of rocket power. Many in the spaceflight community contend that this is impossible and never has been done. Thus, SpaceX is pushing the envelope as far as they can to find out just were the boundaries are. On this flight they have likely found more than one such edge of the envelope.

Although some may come out and say "Ah-Ha!" pointing to the fireball in the sky as an indication of something wrong with SpaceX, everyone should be reminded that this IS flight test. As long as SpaceX can learn from this event, they will be better for it- as will the spaceflight industry. Since no one has ever tried what SpaceX is doing with the Falcon 9R, no one else has failed. If SpaceX handles this event right, they will not have failed either.

FMI: www.spacex.com