Setback For Danes

The attempt to test fly a new rocket by the Copenhagen Suborbitals, a private, non-profit group trying to launch a human on a suborbital spaceflight, was aborted this past weekend due to a malfunction of the main liquid oxygen valve, the group said.

The launch window is open until September 17, however, so the test flight may yet take place soon. The mission the Suborbitals are trying to fly would be reminiscient of the first couple Mercury flights. That a private, volunteer group can even seriously consider a project that demanded the resources and commitment of the U. S. Government fifty years ago is an indication of how advances in science and technology have changed the world over those few decades.