4 ms·

Video of the explosion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHMmMgdcOSU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHMmMgdcOSU ...and I believe this is the water-tower you ca

Video of the explosion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHMmMgdcOSU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHMmMgdcOSU ...and I believe this is the water-tower you can see in the video: https://www.google.se/maps/place/NASA+Wallops+Flight+Facility/@37.8336778,-75.4877723,200m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x91e6a41a07f96c6e https://www.google.se/maps/place/NASA+Wallops+Flight+Facilit...

bennettfeely 12y ago
This video seems a little better quality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL5eddt-iAo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL5eddt-iAo
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
  - InclinedPlane 12y ago
    Almost certainly. The solid fuel would be bonded to the casing of the stage, so little fragments of burning fuel and casing would likely result in generation of thrust, which could causing spiraling fragments.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
callesgg 12y ago
I expected it to self desturct. Why would it not do that? Was it to close to the ground?
- ericcumbee 12y ago
  I'd say it was to close to the ground to self destruct. And there would have been a call from the Range Safety Officer in the event he ordered a destruct or the computer called a destruct.
  - phkahler 12y ago
    While it probably wouldn't need to be destroyed, the last thing you want is for part of it to lay down on the ground still producing thrust. Better to be certain.
- trothamel 12y ago
  I don't think Antares can command itself to destruct. The destruct has to be commanded by the range. There isn't any point to issuing the destruct command unless the impact point is dangerously far from the flight path, and that wasn't the case here.
  - dalke 12y ago
    I think it's reasonable to assume that Antares can command itself to destruct given that other rockets have that ability, and have so destructed. Ariane 5 (the infamous flight 501) self-destructed. http://sunnyday.mit.edu/accidents/Ariane5accidentreport.html http://sunnyday.mit.edu/accidents/Ariane5accidentreport.html "The launcher started to disintegrate at about H0 + 39 seconds because of high aerodynamic loads due to an angle of attack of more than 20 degrees that led to separation of the boosters from the main stage, in turn triggering the self-destruct system of the launcher" A SpaceX rocket self-destructed: http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/188593-spacex-rocket-self-destructs-after-detecting-an-anomaly-reusable-space-launchers-are-tricky-business http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/188593-spacex-rocket-self... "In a statement, SpaceX says the rocket detected an anomaly and automatically initiated its self-destruct sequence." The Titan IVA-20 explosion was also due to a self-destruct, and not the range officer: http://fas.org/spp/military/program/launch/titan_iv-20_sum.htm http://fas.org/spp/military/program/launch/titan_iv-20_sum.h... "At this point, the northern-most Solid Rocket Motor (SRM #1) separated from the core booster, initiating the Inadvertent Separation Destruct System. At 45.529 seconds, approximately 3 seconds after the automatic destruct sequence, Mission Flight Control Officers sent command destruct signals to the vehicle."
    - trothamel 12y ago
      For what it's worth, this mission had a manual destruct command sent at T+20s. EDIT: According to the press conference.
    - engi_nerd 12y ago
      Up until a few months ago, I was an engineer for OSC. We used the same Flight Termination Logic Unit (FTLU) as Antares. I can confirm that it can provide for automatic destruct should the engineers desire it. I have no knowledge of the specifics of its use in Antares (I did not work on the Antares program), but given the constraints of operating from Wallops, I would not be surprised if automatic destruct is enabled for all Antares launches.
- _kst_ 12y ago
  There wouldn't have been much point in a self destruct. The rocket launched, then it looked like there was an explosion in or near the boosters (which apparently caused a loss of thrust), then it fell back onto the pad and exploded. Blowing it up at a higher altitude just would have spread the debris a little farther.
  - _kst_ 12y ago
    According to the press conference just now, the range safety officer apparently did send a destruct signal. The signal probably would have been sent very close to the time the rocket hit the ground. In my relatively ignorant opinion, it was going to blow up one way or another. We'll probably get more details later.
    - Stolpe 12y ago
      Out of curiosity, what does this signal actually trigger?
      - kogepathic 12y ago
        Each rocket contains conventional explosives which are used to destroy the vehicle if attitude control is lost during flight. It's to prevent the rocket from causing more damage by possibly crashing into a populated area. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Range_safety http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Range_safety
      - smackfu 12y ago
        Usually it's a rope of explosives running up the barrel of the rocket. The goal is to quickly remove structural integrity, and the rocket takes care of blowing itself up immediately.
rodrigocoelho 12y ago
There's another video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPHkDc-CwoQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPHkDc-CwoQ

bennettfeely 12y ago

This video seems a little better quality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL5eddt-iAo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL5eddt-iAo

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
- InclinedPlane 12y ago
  Almost certainly. The solid fuel would be bonded to the casing of the stage, so little fragments of burning fuel and casing would likely result in generation of thrust, which could causing spiraling fragments.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]

callesgg 12y ago

I expected it to self desturct. Why would it not do that? Was it to close to the ground?

ericcumbee 12y ago
I'd say it was to close to the ground to self destruct. And there would have been a call from the Range Safety Officer in the event he ordered a destruct or the computer called a destruct.
- phkahler 12y ago
  While it probably wouldn't need to be destroyed, the last thing you want is for part of it to lay down on the ground still producing thrust. Better to be certain.
trothamel 12y ago
I don't think Antares can command itself to destruct. The destruct has to be commanded by the range. There isn't any point to issuing the destruct command unless the impact point is dangerously far from the flight path, and that wasn't the case here.
- dalke 12y ago
  I think it's reasonable to assume that Antares can command itself to destruct given that other rockets have that ability, and have so destructed. Ariane 5 (the infamous flight 501) self-destructed. http://sunnyday.mit.edu/accidents/Ariane5accidentreport.html http://sunnyday.mit.edu/accidents/Ariane5accidentreport.html "The launcher started to disintegrate at about H0 + 39 seconds because of high aerodynamic loads due to an angle of attack of more than 20 degrees that led to separation of the boosters from the main stage, in turn triggering the self-destruct system of the launcher" A SpaceX rocket self-destructed: http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/188593-spacex-rocket-self-destructs-after-detecting-an-anomaly-reusable-space-launchers-are-tricky-business http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/188593-spacex-rocket-self... "In a statement, SpaceX says the rocket detected an anomaly and automatically initiated its self-destruct sequence." The Titan IVA-20 explosion was also due to a self-destruct, and not the range officer: http://fas.org/spp/military/program/launch/titan_iv-20_sum.htm http://fas.org/spp/military/program/launch/titan_iv-20_sum.h... "At this point, the northern-most Solid Rocket Motor (SRM #1) separated from the core booster, initiating the Inadvertent Separation Destruct System. At 45.529 seconds, approximately 3 seconds after the automatic destruct sequence, Mission Flight Control Officers sent command destruct signals to the vehicle."
  - trothamel 12y ago
    For what it's worth, this mission had a manual destruct command sent at T+20s. EDIT: According to the press conference.
  - engi_nerd 12y ago
    Up until a few months ago, I was an engineer for OSC. We used the same Flight Termination Logic Unit (FTLU) as Antares. I can confirm that it can provide for automatic destruct should the engineers desire it. I have no knowledge of the specifics of its use in Antares (I did not work on the Antares program), but given the constraints of operating from Wallops, I would not be surprised if automatic destruct is enabled for all Antares launches.
_kst_ 12y ago
There wouldn't have been much point in a self destruct. The rocket launched, then it looked like there was an explosion in or near the boosters (which apparently caused a loss of thrust), then it fell back onto the pad and exploded. Blowing it up at a higher altitude just would have spread the debris a little farther.
- _kst_ 12y ago
  According to the press conference just now, the range safety officer apparently did send a destruct signal. The signal probably would have been sent very close to the time the rocket hit the ground. In my relatively ignorant opinion, it was going to blow up one way or another. We'll probably get more details later.
  - Stolpe 12y ago
    Out of curiosity, what does this signal actually trigger?
    - kogepathic 12y ago
      Each rocket contains conventional explosives which are used to destroy the vehicle if attitude control is lost during flight. It's to prevent the rocket from causing more damage by possibly crashing into a populated area. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Range_safety http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Range_safety
    - smackfu 12y ago
      Usually it's a rope of explosives running up the barrel of the rocket. The goal is to quickly remove structural integrity, and the rocket takes care of blowing itself up immediately.

rodrigocoelho 12y ago

There's another video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPHkDc-CwoQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPHkDc-CwoQ