Wallops Island rocket was destroyed lower than estimated

The suborbital rocket that was destroyed during launch last week was about 8,500 feet high and 3,000 feet downrange from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, lower than initially reported, the space agency said on Wednesday.

In addition, the flight was only 20.1 seconds old when range safety personnel halted it because the ALV X-1 rocket was veering off track.

NASA had said shortly after the 5:10 a.m. launch Friday that the rocket was between 11,000 and 12,000 feet high, and between 20 and 27 seconds into flight when it was destroyed.

The rocket's designer, Alliant Techsystems, or ATK, is investigating the cause of the problem and focusing on the guidance navigation and control system. Trina Patterson, senior media relations manager for ATK Launch Systems, said Wednesday that propulsion operated as planned and thrust levels were in line with specifications. The rocket was turning smoothly, as anticipated, she said.

The problem may be related to what the company said on Friday was an unusual trajectory and altitude required for one of the experiments it carried, which would have tested temperature and pressure at hypersonic flight (five times the speed of sound). Outside experts will review the data to help the company determine what went wrong, she said.

Small pieces of debris fell on the south end of Wallops Island in the facility's designated hazard area, NASA said. Some debris floated south and was picked up from uninhabited beaches and marsh by the Wallops Recovery Team.

"The Wallops Recovery Team has investigated all reports from the public of falling debris and nothing would suggest that hazardous debris landed outside designated areas," NASA said in a release.

Debris could be hazardous, and should not be touched. Anyone finding pieces from the rocket or its scientific experiments should call (757) 824-1300.

Diane Tennant, (757) 446-2478, diane.tennant@pilotonline.com