WASHINGTON, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- NASA destroyed a rocket carrying two hypersonic experiments shortly after its failed liftoff from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia early Friday, the U.S. space agency reported.

The failure was caused by an anomaly that occurred approximately 27 seconds into the flight, which began at 5:10 a.m. EDT (0910 GMT) Friday, said NASA. The nature of the anomaly is unclear.

The rocket was destroyed by range safety officials after the liftoff failure.

"No injuries or property damage were immediately reported," NASA said in a statement, noting that most debris from the rocket is thought to have fallen into the Atlantic Ocean.

However, there are conflicting reports of debris being sighted on land, which NASA said could be hazardous.

People who think they may have encountered rocket debris are advised not to touch it and to report it to the Wallops Emergency Operations Center, warned NASA.

The agency is very disappointed at this failure but has now focused on protecting public safety and conducting a comprehensive investigation to identify the root cause, said the statement.

NASA is assembling a multi-disciplinary team, along with the rocket's makers Alliant Tech Systems, to begin the investigation promptly.
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