NASA Says Two Ares I-X Parachutes Malfunctioned | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-07.07.25

Airborne-NextGen-07.08.25

AirborneUnlimited-07.09.25

Airborne-AffordableFlyers-06.26.25

AirborneUnlimited-06.27.25

Sat, Oct 31, 2009

NASA Says Two Ares I-X Parachutes Malfunctioned

Impact With The Ocean Likely Caused Booster Buckling

NASA officials said in a news conference Friday that two of the three 150-foot parachutes designed to slow the descent of the Ares I-X booster failed, causing it to be damaged when it impacted the water.

Mission manager Bob Ess told reporters one parachute deflated almost immediately after opening, and a second deployed only part way, meaning that the booster came back to the surface under what amounted to 1 1/2 parachutes.

"Don't play this too much," Ess urged reporters. "The parachute thing was like 'Hey, look at that.' We're not worried about that. There's no investigation. There's no unusual thing we're doing. We're just going through our usual post (flight) tests."

The Associated Press reports that engineers won't know for certain what caused the parachutes to fail until they have an opportunity to fully examine the booster, which arrived back at the Kennedy Space Center on Friday.

Ess said the powered portion of the flight looked "rock solid", but that there will be no definitive results until all the data is analyzed, which may take several weeks.

FMI: www.nasa.gov

Advertisement

More News

KidVenture Educational Activities Lineup At EAA AirVenture 2025

Youth Explore With Hands-On Builds, RC Airplanes, Flight Sims, Much More KidVenture is located just north of the EAA Aviation Museum, at Pioneer Airport, and has arranged a myriad >[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (07.07.25)

“About nine decades ago, Amelia Earhart was recruited to Purdue, and the university president later worked with her to prepare an aircraft for her historic flight around the >[...]

Airborne 07.07.25: Sully v Bedford, RAF Vandalism, Discovery Moving?

Also: New Amelia Search, B737 Flap Falls Off, SUN ‘n FUN Unveiling, F-16 Record Captain Sully Sullenberger, the pilot who saved 155 people by safely landing an A320 in the Hu>[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (07.08.25)

"It is critically important for North American flight safety that Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) violations are avoided. All pilots must familiarize themselves with updates to >[...]

Airborne-NextGen 07.08.25: Joby in Dubai, Army Electra, Archer iin Abu Dhabi

Also: Hackers v Aviation, Discovery Moving?, Gogo Galileo HDX, EVE to Costa Rica Joby Aviation announced its electric air taxi successfully completed a series of VTOL wingborne tri>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC