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SpaceX Falcon 9 CRS-1 lifting into place on the Launch Pad
When watching the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch on Sunday there was no mention of any problems during the rockets ascent into orbit, but it was later revealed that the first stage suffered an engine failure in one of the 9 merlin engines lifting the rocket into space.
The engine failure occurred one minute 19 seconds into the flight, almost half way through the burn of the first stage. This turned out not to be an issue as the Falcon 9 has been designed to achieve orbit on just 7 of the 9 engines. The Dragon capsule was inserted into orbit at the precise position that was planned, enabling it to chase down the International Space Station for the docking that took place today.
This was the second time in two launches that there has been an engine failure. The Delta IV with the GPS IIF-3 satellite had a partial engine failure just 3 days before the SpaceX Falcon launch. Fortunately neither problem was terminal and both missions were successful.
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