Blue Origin Rockets Crumple And Explode in Two Incidents
Two Upper stages of Rockets at the Blue Origin New Glenn Factory were damaged in the last few weeks. These incidents are only now being reported.
The upper portion of one rocket crumpled into itself, in part due to worker error, while it was being moved to a storage hangar. It was moved from hot and humid conditions outdoors an into an air-conditioned storage hangar. It then collapsed like a crushed coke can.
In a separate incident, another upper rocket portion failed during stress testing and exploded.
New Glenn is designed to compete with SpaceX Falcon Heavy and is four years late.
Blue Origin is trying to launch NASA Escapade mission to Mars. It needs to launch in October, 2024 when the Mars launch window is open. Mars and Earth get aligned every two years.
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