SpaceX rocket explosion.

[TerraHertz]

http://www.news.com.au/technology/science/space/implication-of-possible-sabotage-adds-conspiratorial-twist-to-drama-of-spacex-rocket-explosion/news-story/ebb8f76c96c423d9b9555e37ed902805
Implication of possible sabotage adds conspiratorial twist to drama of SpaceX rocket explosion
October 3, 2016


I'm not saying *anything*.

[Len]

http://www.news.com.au/technology/science/space/implication-of-possible-sabotage-adds-conspiratorial-twist-to-drama-of-spacex-rocket-explosion/news-story/ebb8f76c96c423d9b9555e37ed902805
Implication of possible sabotage adds conspiratorial twist to drama of SpaceX rocket explosion
October 3, 2016

  That's pathetic. "A big kid did it!"

[zapta]

http://www.news.com.au/technology/science/space/implication-of-possible-sabotage-adds-conspiratorial-twist-to-drama-of-spacex-rocket-explosion/news-story/ebb8f76c96c423d9b9555e37ed902805
Implication of possible sabotage adds conspiratorial twist to drama of SpaceX rocket explosion
October 3, 2016


I'm not saying *anything*.

According to the Washington Post (owned by Bezos, a competitor), SpaceX wanted to examine the roof of a competitor's building nearby. Air Force investigators examined the roof and didn't find anything relevant or suspicious.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/implication-of-sabotage-adds-intrigue-to-spacex-investigation/2016/09/30/5bb60514-874c-11e6-a3ef-f35afb41797f_story.html

[GreggD]

SpaceX founder and chief executive Elon Musk told CNBC last month that investigators believe they have narrowed the likely cause of the Sept. 1 mishap to a problem during filling of the rocket’s second stage with super-cold liquid oxygen.

The explosion occurred about eight minutes before the Falcon 9’s engines were to ignite during a hold-down test.

The oxygen likely froze solid and caused a high-pressure helium tank to burst, blowing the upper stage apart almost instantly, and leading the rest of the rocket to collapse in a fireball. The helium is used to pressurize the second stage’s propellant tanks for flight.

Musk said engineers believe they can fix the problem with a change in fueling procedures, avoiding major hardware changes that would have kept SpaceX missions grounded longer.

[TerraHertz]

There's been some pretty interesting analysis based on the pattern of damage to the strongback frame and piping. Generally coming to the conclusion that Space-X had a nubie accident with LOX, in which insulation around the main oxygen charging pipe became saturated with oxygen (condensing from both the air and the oxgen venting.)
LOX and thermal insulation equals an explosive, that can even spontaneously ignite. It blew parts of the strongback apart, blasting the shrapnel through the rocket.

It's interesting Space-X hasn't said anything about that theory. Maybe because it's such a basic goof, they might risk insurance payouts or something like that?

I've been collecting links:

20161105

Spacex Explosion; Before and After - Seems to Reveal the Cause - Falcon 9 (AMOS-6) Loss


Early Shrapnel Tells a Story - Spacex Pad Anomaly Explosion Mechanism and the COPVs
Sep 28, 2016



Strongback Explosion Destroyed the Falcon Rocket - The Evidence (So Far) - AMOS-6


Spacex Exploding Strongback Shrapnel, and it's Destruction of the Falcon 9 Rocket 

20161122

Exact Falcon Explosion Conditions - Illustrated by JCSAT Mission - Revealing Cause and Prevention

[ajb]

Well, there's an F9 sitting safely on a barge in the Pacific right now, and the second stage is on its way to LEO with ten Iridium satellites.  It's only a first step towards getting back into a good cadence, but it's a step!

[CatalinaWOW]

Yeah, congratulations to them.  They are planning a bunch more in the near future.  Keeping up the pace will be an issue for them.

[Bryan]

If you are over 40 you will get it.