4 ms·

The day of the explosion, someone somewhere had asked the question "How much damage could a rifle shot do to a rocket on a launchpad." As I recall, this questi

The day of the explosion, someone somewhere had asked the question "How much damage could a rifle shot do to a rocket on a launchpad." As I recall, this question was dismissed out of hand at the time, without an answer, owing to the plethora of more likely electrical/mechanical points of failure. While this is still a supremely unlikely scenario given the ample security perimeter, surveillance, etc etc... can someone with more knowledge than me on the subject humor the scenario? A follow up of my own, in the same vein (though not directly related to this incident): how small are the odds of a launching vehicle taking micrometeoroid damage in the atmosphere? If this were to ever occur, this scenario is almost always going to result in the loss of the craft, correct?

scrumper 10y ago
I was interested in this too. Shooting the tank could perhaps have done this. So I researched a bit. A large calibre anti-materiel rifle of the type legally available for purchase in the US has a maximum effective range of about 2km, while its projectiles have shed almost all their energy before 7km out. Looking at a google map of the complex[1] there's no way a saboteur is getting within that effective or even maximum range: it's just miles and miles of Kennedy Space Center and Air Force base. Maybe from a boat, but that's really heavily patrolled (and much harder to shoot from). [1] https://www.google.com/maps/place/Space+Launch+Complex+40/@28.5655888,-80.6948604,12.05z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x88e0bb1a0a9edd77:0x983d6a01a54ad7e5!8m2!3d28.5620893!4d-80.577228 https://www.google.com/maps/place/Space+Launch+Complex+40/@2...
- mentalpiracy 10y ago
  Ah so you'd need a pretty large and specialized piece of hardware for this then, it seems. Not something that some clown could do on a whim with a .308 hunting rifle.
  - scrumper 10y ago
    Yes, pretty specialized; even then, as I was saying, not really viable. There are .50 cal rifles available for purchase which meet the range performance numbers I gave. These are about the longest range, most powerful, man-portable, unguided projectile weapons available for civilian (or indeed military) use. After that you're into missiles, artillery pieces, or naval guns which aren't really worth discussing.

scrumper 10y ago

I was interested in this too. Shooting the tank could perhaps have done this. So I researched a bit. A large calibre anti-materiel rifle of the type legally available for purchase in the US has a maximum effective range of about 2km, while its projectiles have shed almost all their energy before 7km out. Looking at a google map of the complex[1] there's no way a saboteur is getting within that effective or even maximum range: it's just miles and miles of Kennedy Space Center and Air Force base. Maybe from a boat, but that's really heavily patrolled (and much harder to shoot from). [1] https://www.google.com/maps/place/Space+Launch+Complex+40/@28.5655888,-80.6948604,12.05z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x88e0bb1a0a9edd77:0x983d6a01a54ad7e5!8m2!3d28.5620893!4d-80.577228 https://www.google.com/maps/place/Space+Launch+Complex+40/@2...

mentalpiracy 10y ago
Ah so you'd need a pretty large and specialized piece of hardware for this then, it seems. Not something that some clown could do on a whim with a .308 hunting rifle.
- scrumper 10y ago
  Yes, pretty specialized; even then, as I was saying, not really viable. There are .50 cal rifles available for purchase which meet the range performance numbers I gave. These are about the longest range, most powerful, man-portable, unguided projectile weapons available for civilian (or indeed military) use. After that you're into missiles, artillery pieces, or naval guns which aren't really worth discussing.