“Actuator drift” on the rocket’s second-stage thrust vector control system occurred late in the countdown, automatically triggering the abort. The issue will need to be resolved before Friday’s launch attempt, which would be at 5:09 a.m. EST.
The strongback has returned to its upright position.
Too bad. I was looking forward to this launch.
Another disappointing screw up… We’re used to them and not surprised, however. Ever since Russia stopped supplying NASA with rocket engines…
At least Space X told the truth about malfunctioning. This time there was no doubtful excuses about some “boat in the water within the range”.
One day, NASA… And remember if you can’t do it, ask those who can, like Russians.
Can we get a technical explanation of what “actuator drift” is and why it killed the launch? I am guessing it is some kind of unacceptable out of tolerance condition that introduces inaccuracy and/or delay in where you point the rocket motor steering and where the motor is actually pointed. But, I’m no rocket scientist….
Pretty funny comment. I wish Spacex all the best and I am confident they will land it on the barge.
Congrats to SpaceX on stopping the launch before the automatic abort. Stuff happens with these very complex systems and better to delay the launch (despite all our disappointment) than have a disaster. This is especially true given the fact an actuator on the second stage thruster was involved. Probably a one-off, we’ll see. Let’s plan for a go Friday. Best O’ Luck to your team.
Seems pretty reasonable to scrub the launch until Friday. Better safe than lose about $133 million for a failed launch (I’m not sure that figure is entirely accurate, the SpaceX Falcon 9 2014 standard launch cost is $61.2 million).