SpaceX rocket explosion.

[firewalker]

SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Explosion.

@ 1:10



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/explosion-at-spacex-launch-site_us_57c8360de4b078581f114eef?section=&

Alexander.

[dannyf]

what  a show.

I am happy that the facebook bird didn't make it.

[StillTrying]

They've invented a re-usable rocket system but with a slight design flaw, - it blows itself to smithereens most times.

[Delta]

No problem.  It's a REUSABLE rocket.  Just refuel it and it'll be ready to explode again!

[janoc]

They've invented a re-usable rocket system but with a slight design flaw, - it blows itself to smithereens most times.

AFAIK, this one wasn't the reused one yet, that was to be the next launch in September.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-spacex-explosion-live-spacex-explosion-did-not-involve-a-1472743403-htmlstory.html

The kaboom has supposedly happened during fueling, so probably some human error or maybe even just an unfortunate spark at exactly the wrong moment ...

However, it is the second major accident involving a total loss of payload and vehicle in two years (not counting the crash landings on the barge, as those were expected), that doesn't sound good for their reputation.

I guess Musk will have to slow down and go back to basic engineering principles - like making sure that things not only work, but that they do so repeatedly and safely. With the recent Tesla Autopilot issues it is starting to feel like they are moving too quickly, trying to reach overly ambitious goals on unrealistic deadlines. Accidents do happen, but when they are attempting to fly before they can walk and neglecting "unimportant" bits like human factors in the process, then preventable accidents start to happen. Also the approach that when something goes south they blame the user (Tesla) doesn't help.

[bitslice]

No great loss. If it had been successful then Zuckerberg would have been free to broadcast his edited version of the internet to the third world.
For someone who has no respect for other people's privacy, he shouldn't be allowed to push his political propaganda onto another 10 billion people. .

[zapta]

What does static fire mean? Fire caused by ESD?

[HP-ILnerd]

What does static fire mean? Fire caused by ESD?

"Static Fire" means it's done without the vehicle moving--locked to the pad.

Worth noting that this is the only kind of vehicle where it's perfectly normal to trust phenomenally expensive payloads to a vehicle that has never even been started before.  SpaceX does full flight-duration static fires in Texas, with a pre-launch static fire before each launch.  That's actually unique.

A real sign that the industry has made it out of it's infancy, would not just be reusability, but that a vehicle can't even get a tail number and be officially "in service" until it's proven it can fly.
A shakedown cruise, if you will.

[HP-ILnerd]

Very curious as to what caused this.  LOX, while supporting combustion vigorously, is not itself flammable.  The fuel, which is Kerosene doesn't vaporize into a combustible gas/air mix really well, so the whole thing would have to be pretty leaky for that to be the initial source of combustion.  It does look (to me) that the explosion was somewhere between the strongback and the vehicle's second stage, and of course the incident actually happened during fueling.  The vehicle might not be to blame at all.  Recall the strongback mounted fuel-loading lines had a bit of an incident during the very first Falcon 9 launch.



See that hose coming loose with all the fire right after liftoff?  Not supposed to do that.

They use triethylborane (which is pyrophoric) for the ignition system.  Anybody know if that is pumped in just before launch?  A leak of that would certainly cause fire...

[rob77]

it was a matter of time to see a space-x explosion... every rocket sooner or later explodes..

[dannyf]

also, there are other company's such as boeing,raheon etc who arent happy about space-x appearance on the scene.

Yeah, vast conspiracy,

[JoeN]

I'm going with they have to spin up a turbopump or an APU or something prior to launch and somehow it blew it's ass out, rupturing the second stage fuel tank and KABOOM.  Uneducated guess.

[EEVblog]

  to the engineers who built that tower

[TerraHertz]

From youtube  v=_BgJEXQkjNQ



Seems a bit odd that anything much would be happening up around the 2nd stage, during a static fire of the first stage. I hope the cause is determined.

More than a few people (and States) will be pleased Zuckerberg/Faceplant/Israel didn't get their spy/propaganda satellite this time. Me included. Whether such feelings had anything to do with the 'test anomaly', who knows.

Here's a thought: now that the Equation_group/NSA penetration toolkit is in the wild, and (not coincidentally) there's a sudden surge in the number of 'hacked files' leaks, I wonder whether SpaceX uses net-connected PCs of any kind in their launchpad control systems? Someone calling payback for STUXNET perhaps?


Btw, only loosely related: for some reason my YTD youtubedownloader install stopped working at all. Uninstall, reinstal, no change.
It always says "Failed(2) The video you have requested is not available."
Even if I'm simultaneously playing the same video in a browser window, demonstrating it certainly is available. I love it when software lies to me.
Not finding anything sensible via google on this fault. Plenty of mentions, but all rubbish.

Is anyone else having this problem, or is it just something with my system? Tried two different PCs, same.

There's a frame or two earlier in the explosion, but I can't get the in-browser player to pause on them. And can't download the video atm.

[ChunkyPastaSauce]

Seems a bit odd that anything much would be happening up around the 2nd stage, during a static fire of the first stage. I hope the cause is determined.

Musk said the failure occurred during a fuel transfer to the second stage

[Skimask]

That'll buff out???

[TerraHertz]

Musk said the failure occurred during a fuel transfer to the second stage

Wow, fueling up the second stage, for a static fire test of the first stage, sounds like being a bit OCD.

Or maybe the launch software only has one sequence, and that 2nd stage refueling is in there?

Well, I guess they need to tighten up that leaky pipe joint and start from the beginning again.

[Brumby]

Can't get much detail from that footage - but here's my best shot.

3 Frames surrounding the initial explosion - 1 before, 2 immediately after.  The third panel is a composite, taking the lens flare of the third frame as an indication of the centre of the explosion, with cross hairs to show where that point is.

[HP-ILnerd]

Brumby, very cool!

May I tweet that?

It does seem external to the vehicle!

[ez24]

X marks the spot

[Brumby]

Brumby, very cool!

May I tweet that?

It does seem external to the vehicle!

Go for it.

Please let people know it where it came from.

[aargee]

"Last thing on the checklist..." Tick, tick, tick, "Here it is..."

"Flight computer, meet Facebook"

[HP-ILnerd]

Brumby:  Done!

Can be found under #SpaceXExplosion, plus Dave reweeted it.
Note, it's tweeted under my real name.  No, my parents did not name me HP-ILnerd.  Anyone who knows me finds this odd, but the Universe is odd.

[Srbel]

Well, too bad, Aeon Flux. :/

[ivaylo]

Interesting info how these things are insured - https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/01/here-what-we-know-about-the-spacex-explosion/ Apparently "marine cargo" is the way to go, could it have similar survival rate?