Can you say OOPS!
This video starts with an exciting countdown and quickly goes to a dramatic — if not confusing — set of circumstances yesterday where an Ariane 5 rocket’s main engine ignited, but the boosters did not. Officials say the aborted launch on March 30, 2011 from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana was due to a main engine glitch seven seconds after ignition. Launch was set for 5:45 p.m. EDT (2145 GMT) yesterday, and a new launch date will be set after determining the exact nature of the malfunction. The payload includes two communications satellites which Arianespace officials say are “in a safe mode on the launch pad.”
The rocket will be sent back into a hangar where engineers can investigate the problem.
