Posted: Mon, Dec 16, 2002, 7:52 PM ET (0052 GMT)
Arianespace announced Monday that it has appointed a five-person board of inquiry to look into last week's Ariane 5 launch failure, with a final report due in just three weeks. The board, led by Wolfgang Koschel, head of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), has been tasked to determine what happened during the inaugural launch of the ESC-A version of the Ariane 5 that caused the vehicle to fly erratically three minutes after liftoff, forcing launch controllers to eventually destroy the vehicle. The board will also determine if the problem is isolated to the ESC-A version or if the baseline Ariane 5 is also affected. The timing of the investigation, allowing only three weeks during the holiday season for a final report, is required if a baseline Ariane 5 is to lift off between January 13 and 31 to send ESA’s Rosetta mission towards comet Wirtanen. Space News quoted Claudie Haignere, the French research minister, as calling the timeline "ambitious". Other members of the team include launch vehicle and spacecraft experts from ESA, the French space agency CNES, and industry.

Related Links:

•  Arianespace press release
•  Space News article (subscription required)