A SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle experienced trouble with a single actuator as it prepared to leave Cape Canaveral, Fla., forcing the launch to be postponed, reported NBC News. With less than a minute and a half remaining in the countdown, “engineers observed drift on one of the two thrust vector actuators on the second stage that would likely have caused an automatic abort,” SpaceX spokesman John Taylor said in a statement. The Dragon capsule aboard the unmanned Falcon rocket contains more than 5,000 pounds of supplies intended for the International Space Station, reported MSN via the Associated Press. SpaceX plans to make a historic two-part landing in which the first stage would return to a platform in the Atlantic Ocean. If the rocket recovery experiment is successful it could lead to reusable launch vehicles, significantly driving down the cost of space launches. SpaceX head Elon Musk said via twitter the next launch attempt will be Friday around 5 a.m.
As Air Force leaders consider concepts of operations for Collaborative Combat Aircraft, sustainment in the field—and easing that support by using standard parts and limiting variants—should be a key consideration, according to a new study from AFA's Mitchell Institute of Aerospace Studies.