Quote:
Originally Posted by David
https://screen.yahoo.com/elon-musk-called-antares-rocket-200910140.html
Elon Musk Called The Antares Rocket A 'joke' 2 Years Before It Exploded
by Wochit 0:52 mins
An Orbital Sciences rocket operating under a NASA contract exploded shortly after launch on Tuesday evening, much to everyone's surprise, except for perhaps Elon Musk. The SpaceX CEO trashed Orbital Sciences for using outdated Russian engines during a 2012 Wired interview, saying "One of our competitors, Orbital Sciences, has a contract to resupply the International Space Station, and their rocket honestly sounds like the punch line to a joke. It uses Russian rocket engines that were made in the ’60s." The Antares rocket was carrying a Cygnus spacecraft that was supposed to deliver supplies to the International Space Station on a routine mission. The exact cause of the explosion is still unknown.
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My Patent Attorney works in an office which files most of the NASA patents. And he is a serious space NUT. I have a call in to see if they have any insight.
The Russian rocket engine is quite reliable and proven design. It was "refurbished"...
Makes me wonder if the Russians sold the crap engines. OTOH, 4 out 5 launches successful is a reasonable record. Insurance isn't cheap...
back in the 1980's I wanted to buy up Minuteman II liquid rockets for use a LEO launchers. problem was the payload was too low.