NASA and the Private Sector - Page 147

An expensive, highly classified U.S. spy satellite is presumed to be a total loss after it failed to reach orbit atop a Space Exploration Technologies Corp. rocket on Sunday, according to industry and government officials.

Lawmakers and congressional staffers from the Senate and the House have been briefed about the botched mission, some of the officials said. The secret payload—code-named Zuma and launched from Florida on board a Falcon 9 rocket—is believed to have plummeted back into the atmosphere, they said, because it didn’t separate as planned from the upper part of the rocket.

Once the engine powering the rocket’s expendable second stage stops firing, whatever it is carrying is supposed to separate and proceed on its own trajectory. If a satellite isn’t set free at the right time or is damaged upon release, it can be dragged back toward earth.

The lack of details about what occurred means that some possible alternate sequence of events other than a failed separation may have been the culprit.

On January 09 2018 14:16 LegalLord wrote:
The rumor mill is saying that Zuma was lost.

www.wsj.com

No one's talking, though. Everything is classified and no one gives a straight answer out of the usual sources.

On January 09 2018 21:58 lestye wrote:

Is it possible they want to spread misinformation so people forget about the super secret satelite?

On January 09 2018 22:06 {CC}StealthBlue wrote:
Northrup Grumman did the mating and SpaceX was not allowed to perform satellite preparation.

WASHINGTON — The White House formally resubmitted nominations for leaders of both NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to the Senate Jan. 8, a procedural move even as the path to their confirmations becomes narrower.

The administration announced late Jan. 8 that the nominations of Jim Bridenstine to be administrator of NASA and Barry Myers to be administrator NOAA were being resubmitted to the Senate, along with several dozen other nominees for government positions. Also included in the list was Jeffrey DeWit, who was first nominated Nov. 29 to be chief financial officer of NASA.

The resubmitted nominations are a procedural move. The Senate, under its rules, returns nominations to the president at the end of its first session if they have not been either confirmed or rejected by the full Senate, unless the Senate agrees by unanimous consent to keep the nominations active. The president must resubmit the nomination if he still wants the Senate to consider them.