[oasis-members] SpaceX Falcon 1 Launched and Lost, but "Successful"

[MP1Walsh at cs.com]

In a message dated 3/20/2007 6:29:12 PM Pacific Standard Time, rogers at isi.edu 
writes: 
> Subj: [oasis-members] SpaceX Falcon 1 Launched and Lost, but "Successful" 
> Date:3/20/2007 6:29:12 PM Pacific Standard Time
> From:rogers at isi.edu
> Reply-to:oasis-members at oasis-nss.org
> To:oasis-members at oasis-nss.org
> Received from Internet: 
> 
> 
> 
>     According to Spaceflight Now, the second SpaceX Falcon 1 was
> launched today, started to wobble, ceased to provide telemetry about
> halfway through second stage firing, failed to reach orbit, and was
> declared a success.
> 
>     Based on the record of two rockets launched and two payloads
> lost, Elon Musk, SpaceX founder, feels confident enough in the project
> to begin operational launches without further test flights.
> 
> http://www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon/f2/status.html
> 
>                     Craig Milo Rogers
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> OASIS-members mailing list
> OASIS-members at oasis-nss.org
> http://oasis-nss.org/mailman/listinfo/oasis-members_oasis-nss.org
> 

Reminds me of some of the early days of missile flight testing.

The Air Force would declare anything that flew far enough to
get out of sight of reporters on the beach a success.

OK, I understand that the flight went through a lot of its
flight path and exercised most of its systems, but Musk
risks making himself a laughing stock by claiming it
as a success.

Mike Walsh