Army rocket blown up during failed launch in Kodiak
A test of a new Army weapon failed 4 seconds into flight from the Kodiak Launch Complex early Monday when the rocket went awry and was blown to bits by flight controllers.
The fiery end to the rocket short-circuited the second test of a hypersonic glider designed to fly so fast it can reach anywhere on the globe in about an hour. The test target was the U.S. missile facility on Kwajalein atoll in the Marshall Islands, about 4,000 miles away.
Debris from the three-stage, solid-fuel launch vehicle rained down on the state-owned launch facility. No one was injured but buildings were damaged, said Craig Campbell, president and chief executive officer of Alaska Aerospace Corp.
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| Damage is visible at the Kodiak Launch Complex after a rocket launch was aborted early Monday morning, August 25, 2014, at the site. The rocket was carrying an Advanced Hypersonic Weapon, a glider that once launched from a rocket flies a non-ballistic trajectory to its target. The flight was terminated less than four seconds after the launch. The launch was controlled remotely -- no people were in the buildings shown in the photo at the time of the launch. | Photo by Eric Schwantes (click to enlarge) |
Can you say "Oopsie"?
