Mar 4 1996
From The Space Library
The Communist Party of China acknowledged for the first time that a failed satellite launch occurring on 15 February 1996 had killed six people and injured 57 others. The Long March 3B rocket had exploded, destroying the 15 INTELSAT satellite and damaging 80 homes. The secretive government of the People's Republic of China had denied the major accident, announcing simply that a setback had occurred. However, foreign news sources had captured video footage of the launch rocket as it careened out of control and exploded in a highly populated area. The Chinese government ended the news blackout, which had prevented its own citizens from learning of the disaster, stating China's intention to delay future launch plans.
Henry McDonald became Director of Ames Research Center (ARC) in Mountain View, California. NASA had selected McDonald for the position in January 1996 after the selection of former Director Ken K. Munechika as NASA's first Director of Moffett Federal Airfield. A former professor of mechanical engineering at Pennsylvania State University, McDonald brought to NASA both industrial and academic experience.
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