Jan 7 1997
From The Space Library
The Clipper Graham (DC-XA) Incident Investigation Board released its final report concerning the explosion of the vehicle at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The Board, chaired by former astronaut Vance Brand, determined that a disconnected brake line on the secondary landing gear had prevented the gear from fully extending. The DC-XA, a prototype developed by McDonnell Douglas for NASA, had flown successfully in its fourth test flight on 31 July 1996, before failing on landing. NASA's director of space transportation noted that the failure, which occurred as part of ongoing research into reusable launch vehicles, had strengthened NASA's resolve to reduce costs and to achieve efficient reusability, safety, and reliability, ideally using a combination of automation and human control.
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