Multi-Million $$ NASA Telescopes destroyed on balloon takeoff

[cbdo2007]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20100429/sc_space/hugenasascienceballooncrashesinaustralianoutback

Huge NASA Science Balloon Crashes in Australian Outback

Tariq Malik
This story was updated at 10:51 a.m. EDT.

A huge NASA balloon loaded with a telescope painstakingly built to scan the sky at wavelengths invisible to the human eye crashed in the Australian outback Thursday, destroying the astronomy experiment and just missing nearby onlookers, according to Australian media reports.

In dramatic video released by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), the giant 400-foot (121-meter) balloon is seen just beginning to lift its payload, then the telescope gondola appears to unexpectedly come loose from its carriage. The telescope crashes through a fence and overturn a nearby parked sport utility vehicle before finally stopping.

(video at link)

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What a f*ckin' waste!

[Liberal Veteran]

1. Yeah, I saw this video earlier today. Very sad.

Hope they had insurance.

[Johonny]

2. experimenting isn't easy or cheap