
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, September 8, 1995                   TAG: 9509080074
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: VIENNA                                LENGTH: Short

VIENNA FIRM TO TRY ROCKET LAUNCH AGAIN

The company that tried unsuccessfully this summer to launch a commercial rocket from the Eastern Shore will try again as early as next month.

EER Systems of Vienna was less than two minutes from sending its Conestoga rocket with its payload of scientific experiments into space from Wallops Island on Aug. 13 when computers revealed the loss of pressure in two of the rocket's six engines. The reduced pressure would have made the rocket difficult to steer.

EER spokesman Mike Bryant said the company has not determined exactly why the engines lost hydraulic pressure, but he said the problem appears to be minor.

The 52-foot rocket is designed to carry small payloads into space, then return some of them to Earth. The payloads are a variety of experiments ranging from plants to pharmaceuticals.

EER's initial attempts to determine the problem were frustrated by Hurricane Felix, which hung offshore for days. The launching pad is only about 100 yards from the ocean.

- Associated Press

by CNB