NASA Balloon Crashes On Liftoff

NASA Balloon Suffers Mishap in Australia, NASA
“Upon release, the balloon’s payload hit the ground and was dragged approximately 150 yards before hitting a fence and sports utility vehicle. No one was injured. A mishap investigation board is being convened.”
NASA balloon crashes on take-off in Australia, destroying telescope, USA Today
“A towering NASA science balloon bearing a gamma-ray telescope crashed on liftoff today in Australia, according to reports from the Outback. The gondola carrying the multimillion-dollar package overturned an SUV and narrowly missed several onlookers. The Nuclear Compton Telescope, which was developed by the University of California, was destroyed. The telescope “came off the launch vehicle badly and hit the ground several times as the abort completed,” team member Eric Bellm, a graduate astronomy student at the UC-Berkeley, wrote on the mission’s blog [now blocked].”