Rocket Heat Blamed for Comet Mission Failure
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From Times Staff and Wire Reports
A spacecraft that broke up last year during a mission to study comets was probably destroyed by the heat from its rocket motor, NASA officials said.
The theory is the most probable of four scenarios outlined by the board that investigated the loss of the $159-million Contour. The board found the hot plume of exhaust gases produced by the firing of the solid rocket motor probably caused “structural failure.”
Other possible causes included a collision with space debris or failure of the motor itself, NASA officials said.
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