RocketSTEM Issue #12 - July 2015 | Page 60

Carolina. After losing their experiment in the Antares failure in October, they again watched their work destroyed aboard the SpaceX Dragon capsule. Despite the apparent break up of the rocket 159 seconds after launch, flight termination signals were sent 70 seconds later to ensure any remaining components would not endanger anyone. The FAA’s NOTMAR map (top) and the NOTAM map (bottom) issued before the SpaceX CRS-7 launch. ISS suffers another loss of resupply cargo: “45th Space Wing Mission Flight Control Officers sent command destruct functions in accordance with Air Force policy and procedures to ensure public safety,” the Air Force said in a statement. The action may have also help disperse rocket fuel harmlessly in the atmosphere making the search for debris safer. When watching in person, from near the launch site or on TV, hearing that launch has been scrubbed because the “range is red” is frustrating. But know that this helps keep everyone on the ground out of harm’s way so that should something go wrong after liftoff, the Range Safety Officers can terminate that flight safely. Learn more about the history of keeping the Eastern Test Range safe in an Air Force film at http://goo.gl/ TszjkD. 58 58 Falcon 9 ruptures during ascent www.RocketSTEM .org