spacetoday.net: Suborbital rocket explodes after liftoff

Posted: Fri, Aug 22, 2008, 8:10 AM ET (1210 GMT)
ALV X-1 prior to launch (ATK)

An ATK-developed suborbital rocket carrying two NASA experiments exploded shortly after liftoff from Virginia Friday morning. The ATK Launch Vehicle (ALV) X-1 lifted off from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) at Wallops Island, Virginia, at 5:10 am EDT (0910 GMT) Friday but exploded 27 seconds after liftoff, according to a NASA statement. The cause for the explosion is not known. According to the statement most of the rocket debris fell into the Atlantic Ocean, although there were conflicting reports about whether any debris fell on land; that debris is considered hazardous and should not be approached by the public. The ALV was carrying two experiments, one to study the hypersonic boundary layer around the vehicle and the other to test a new design for reentry capsules, provided by NASA. The launch was the first for the two-stage solid-propellant vehicle, which was designed to lead to the development of a larger version for orbital launches of small satellites.