INTRODUCTION
The United States (U.S.) space program began in a period of history when numerous nations were at war with each other. During this period, one of the biggest enemies of the U.S. was Germany. The Germans seemed to have rocketry just about mastered. Their V-1 and V-2 rockets, designed by Werner von Braun, rained terror across Europe. The U.S. was well aware of this and took actions to seize the German rocket technology. In late 1945 as WWII was winding down, the U.S. intelligence community partnered with the military began Operation Overcast. The operation, more notably known as Operation Paperclip, was a covert operation aimed at capturing German scientists and bringing them back to the U.S. for continued rocket research. Hundreds of German scientists were brought to the U.S. and gainfully employed at such places as the White Sands Proving Ground. As a result, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was eventually formed. In the years following the creation of NASA, …show more content…
One failure occurred shortly after liftoff on a resupply mission to the ISS. The rocket experienced an anomaly and disintegrated, destroying both the rocket and the Dragon capsule filled with precious cargo. The second failure occurred not long after. One of the pre-launch tests performed by SpaceX on every Falcon launch is called the “static fire” test. During this test, rocket is completely fueled and the engines are ignited for approximately 1 second. On this failure, the rocket was being fueled in preparation for a static fire test when out of nowhere the rocket exploded. The explosion destroyed the rocket and badly damaged the launch pad. If SpaceX wants to keep their status with NASA and continue as a chosen candidate for the CCP, the company will have to figure out why the Falcon 9 has experienced these failures and how to prevent them before humans are on
The United States (U.S.) space program began in a period of history when numerous nations were at war with each other. During this period, one of the biggest enemies of the U.S. was Germany. The Germans seemed to have rocketry just about mastered. Their V-1 and V-2 rockets, designed by Werner von Braun, rained terror across Europe. The U.S. was well aware of this and took actions to seize the German rocket technology. In late 1945 as WWII was winding down, the U.S. intelligence community partnered with the military began Operation Overcast. The operation, more notably known as Operation Paperclip, was a covert operation aimed at capturing German scientists and bringing them back to the U.S. for continued rocket research. Hundreds of German scientists were brought to the U.S. and gainfully employed at such places as the White Sands Proving Ground. As a result, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was eventually formed. In the years following the creation of NASA, …show more content…
One failure occurred shortly after liftoff on a resupply mission to the ISS. The rocket experienced an anomaly and disintegrated, destroying both the rocket and the Dragon capsule filled with precious cargo. The second failure occurred not long after. One of the pre-launch tests performed by SpaceX on every Falcon launch is called the “static fire” test. During this test, rocket is completely fueled and the engines are ignited for approximately 1 second. On this failure, the rocket was being fueled in preparation for a static fire test when out of nowhere the rocket exploded. The explosion destroyed the rocket and badly damaged the launch pad. If SpaceX wants to keep their status with NASA and continue as a chosen candidate for the CCP, the company will have to figure out why the Falcon 9 has experienced these failures and how to prevent them before humans are on