I don't think the rocket would have made it to the ground burning had it been solid fuel, it probably would have blown when it started to break up above the gro

I don't think the rocket would have made it to the ground burning had it been solid fuel, it probably would have blown when it started to break up above the ground. That liquid fuel, although hypergolic, isn't going to massively explode unless mixed (hitting the ground did a good job of that). With solid fuel rockets your oxidizer and fuel are already packed and mixed together in an ideal ratio; it is an inherently shittier situation. In either case, in this situation, the crew would be long gone. The real problem comes when the failure of the launch vehicle comes with less notice. When you start designing solid fuel manned rockets you end up making mistakes like this: http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2009-07-18/news/new_1_nasa-constellation-program-rocket-ares-i http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2009-07-18/news/new_1_na...