Firefly lunar lander touches down on the moon
POSTED BY: second
UPDATED: Wednesday, August 5, 2026 17:26
VIEWED: 46397
PAGE 7 of 21
Video shows the explosion twice - once at normal speed and again at half speed.
Firefly Alpha did a double somersault, which broke its back.
I have no idea why the engines steered the rocket to do a flip.
Here is how to do a somersault without breaking your back.
How to Do a Somersault | Gymnastics
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
According to a mission overview distributed by Firefly before the launch, the vehicle was supposed to reach the speed of Mach 1 67 seconds after liftoff, followed by maximum dynamic pressure nine seconds later. However, launch controllers did not report that the vehicle was supersonic until 2 minutes and 20 seconds after liftoff, about 10 seconds before the vehicle exploded.
A statement from Vandenberg Space Force Base made it clear that Space Launch Delta 30 “terminated” the mission, which it likely did upon detecting the subpar performance of the rocket.
https://gizmodo.com/firefly-aerospace-rocket-explodes-during-inaugural
-test-1847614975
"Space Launch Delta 30 terminated the Firefly Aerospace Inc., Alpha rocket over the Pacific Ocean at 7:01 p.m. Pacific Time after a successful lift off at 6:59 p.m. Pacific Time"
https://www.vandenberg.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/276
3829/firefly-alpha-terminated-mid-flight/
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
And thus, Firefly got cancelled for a second time, but it could have been worse:
The Nedelin Catastrophe
R-16 ICBM
October 24, 1960
Killed approximately 269 engineers, technicians, and military personnel including Chief Field Marshall Nedelin, while being prepared for launch.
Starts at 15 minutes 50 seconds into video.
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Video shows the explosion twice - once at normal speed and again at half speed.
Firefly Alpha did a double somersault, which broke its back.
I have no idea why the engine steered the rocket to do a flip.
Because they used one gimbal instead of two. Just a stupid guess. In a gimbaled thrust system, the engine or just the exhaust nozzle of the rocket can be swiveled on two axes (pitch and yaw ) from side to side.
T
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Firefly Aerospace traces rocket launch failure to premature engine shutdown
The main propellant valves for one of Alpha's four first-stage engines closed.
"The vehicle continued to climb and maintain control for a total of about 145 seconds, whereas nominal first-stage burn duration is about 165 seconds. However, due to missing the thrust of 1 of 4 engines, the climb rate was slow, and the vehicle was challenged to maintain control without the thrust vectoring of engine 2," Alpha representatives wrote in a Twitter thread on Sunday.
"Alpha was able to compensate at subsonic speeds, but as it moved through transonic and into supersonic flight, where control is most challenging, the three-engine thrust vector control was insufficient and the vehicle tumbled out of control. The range terminated the flight using the explosive Flight Termination System (FTS). The rocket did not explode on its own," they added.
"We will report [the] root cause of the anomaly at the end of the investigation. In collaboration with the FAA and our partners at Space Launch Delta 30, we'll return to conduct Alpha Flight 2 as soon as possible," Firefly wrote in the Twitter thread.
More at https://www.space.com/firefly-aerospace-rocket-failure-engine-shutdown
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
In a description accompanying the video, Firefly said that one of the four Reaver engines in the rocket’s first stage, designated engine 2, shut down 15 seconds into the flight. “It was an uneventful shutdown – the engine didn’t fail — the propellant main valves on the engine simply closed and thrust terminated from engine 2,” the company stated.
The rocket continued to ascend using the remaining three engines, but with reduced thrust. That would explain the underperformance apparent in the flight: according to the company’s press kit, the vehicle was supposed to reach Mach 1 67 seconds into the flight, but launch controllers did not report that the vehicle was supersonic until 2 minutes and 20 seconds after liftoff.
More at https://spacenews.com/firefly-alpha-failure-blamed-on-premature-engine
-shutdown/
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Exciting
T
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Reaver engine ??.Cool indeed.
You buy this ship, treat her proper, she'll be with you for the rest of your life.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
New owners take helm of Firefly Aerospace in Cedar Park
Last September, the company launched its inaugural rocket but it was intentionally exploded minutes after lifting off.
CEDAR PARK, Texas — A private equity firm, AE Industrial Partners, has a new majority stake of Firefly Aerospace based in Cedar Park. The acquisition comes as the aerospace company makes arrangements for its second rocket launch after the first ended in an intentional blast over the Pacific Ocean.
Firefly Aerospace managed to fundraise roughly $75 million in a move led by AE Industrial Partners and, according to a report from KVUE's news partners at the Austin American-Statesman, Firefly says their value sits at around $1 billion.
The company set up shop in Cedar Park after initially being headquartered in California. Since its founding in 2014, Firefly has sought to position itself as a competitor in the small satellite market. The industry has seen an emerging number of launch providers to government and commercial customers to deliver payloads into space.
More at https://www.kvue.com/article/money/economy/boomtown-2040/new-owners-ta
ke-helm-of-firefly-aerospace-in-cedar-park/269-c396adde-0373-48a0-991f-81b651fc9c67
Firefly Aerospace @Firefly_Space tweeted:
Flight 2 is getting ready to head to our launch pad at Vandenberg Space Force Base. Get a behind-the-scenes look into our journey so far.
11:11 AM · Mar 29, 2022·Twitter Web App
https://twitter.com/Firefly_Space/status/1508839165638676484
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Flight Two
Type: Test Flight
Second test flight of the Firefly Alpha small sat launcher developed by Firefly Aerospace.
Projected To Launch
May, 2022
https://www.spacelaunchschedule.com/launch/firefly-alpha-flight-two/
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME