Sign in / up

back to article KRAKKOOOM! Space Station supply mission in PODULE PRANG EXPLOSION CHAOS

Orbital Sciences just can't seem to catch a break. Monday's launch of its Antares rocket was scrubbed by a rogue sailboat and on Tuesday the rocket exploded just seconds after launching from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Antares rocket fails There has been a vehicle anomaly. We will update as soon as we are …

COMMENTS

Post your comment
House rules Send corrections
Add to 'My topics' unstar *

Page:

  1. Mark 85

    Is it the video or is my connection?

    I've watched this several times and the rocket lifts and then seems to hang on its tail fire before rising again. Around the 3:00 mark on the video. I'm also surprised to see buildings that close to the Launchpad but that could be compression from the telephoto lens.

    0 0 Reply
    1. Bubba Von Braun
      Reply Icon

      Re: Is it the video or is my connection?

      Nope.. it doesn't stop at 3:00 if you watch the LOX vent it continues to move upwards, (the puff's coming off the side of the rocket)

      Not sure though most rockets cease venting to pressurize the propellant/oxidizer.. don't have Antares details, maybe that's the beginning of the failure, and overpressure in the oxidizer system. Have to go find footage of the previous Antares launch

      1 1 Reply
      1. Bubba Von Braun
        Reply Icon

        Re: Is it the video or is my connection?

        ** Update**

        Just looked at the ORB-2 launch video and the venting occurs a couple of times on liftoff so nothing abnormal there then.

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNrf70S_gvs

        2 1 Reply
    2. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Is it the video or is my connection?

      I'm interested to know why at 3:07 the exhaust brightens considerably, but appears to be still constrained in the proper downward direction. One second later the whole things explodes. So is that a throttle up? I'm not sure that it is: why wouldn't you want 100% thrust from the moment it leaves the launch pad? On the other hand I'd have thought that quite a lot of failures would result in flame going everywhere immediately rather than being constrained so.

      Notice the turbo pump blade disks spinning, spiralling away like some sort of firework? Pretty!

      0 2 Reply
      1. John Robson Silver badge
        Reply Icon

        Re: Is it the video or is my connection?

        Sounded like they were going for 108% thrust at the time - which is "normal".

        Full thrust from the rockets would destroy the launchpad (yes, I know this did some of that as well), as well as being possibly unstable for the vehicle. Ramping the throttle up allows for smoother flight.

        1 1 Reply
  2. Bubba Von Braun

    Russian conspiracy?

    Looks like a classic engine failure on liftoff, looks like one failed and took out the other engine.

    Curious note, these engines supplied by AeroJet are the same as the Russian NK-33, Seems these engines like to perform as they did on the N1.. or is Vladimir having some fun at Orbitals expense ;-)

    4 1 Reply
    1. Vulch
      Reply Icon

      Re: Russian conspiracy?

      Not just the same as, they're actual engines built for the N1 before it was cancelled that have been in storage ever since. Another one exploded on the test stand recently.

      8 0 Reply
    2. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Russian conspiracy?

      "r is Vladimir having some fun at Orbitals expense "

      Nah , just some indian engineers deciding to celibrate Diwali in a spectacular fashion.

      1 0 Reply
      1. rh587
        Reply Icon
        Joke

        Re: Russian conspiracy?

        Russians? No, I expect the gatehouse are busy checking the visitor logs for any contractors coming on site by the name of "Noel Smuk" or similar... speaking of which, who was that yacht registered to!?

        1 0 Reply
    3. tmTM
      Reply Icon

      Re: Russian conspiracy?

      Orbital Sciences claim to have fully refurbished and updated the Russian engines.

      So it's unlikely the Russians sold them a dud as they've been totally rebuild and reworked by the OS lot.

      0 0 Reply
  3. Rick Brasche

    And Elon Musk was nowhere near the area according to his press office

    however we still have unconfirmed reports of a Model S leaving the area at a high rate of speed emitting a maniacal laugh.

    23 0 Reply
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: And Elon Musk was nowhere near the area according to his press office

      +1

      Although, in fact he doesn't have a problem with OSC. Right now it's Blue Origin that's the problem because of their patently obvious floating platform patent.

      1 0 Reply
  4. Herbert Meyer
    Mushroom

    just like the good old days.

    Ach, you young people do not remember how it was, back in the the beginning. Vanguard ? Polaris ? "I don't know if it will work on the Russians, but it sure kills gators well."

    Notify range safety, wait for the fires to go down, go out and look for dangerous debris: Thruster tanks, stage separation pyrotechnics, pressurization cylinders, destruct charges...

    13 0 Reply
    1. xperroni
      Reply Icon
      Windows

      Re: just like the good old days.

      Ach, you young people do not remember how it was, back in the the beginning.

      I do remember, but technology is supposed to move forward, yes? I mean, just as if I were to launch a new computer application today, and it came out filled with bugs and security holes

      Ah.

      24 0 Reply
      1. Bubba Von Braun
        Reply Icon

        Re: just like the good old days.

        Ah but these motors at 1960's vintage... ex-surplus from the N1-F they are an awesome motor, and something the US has not been able to replicate.

        Most liquid motors are driven by a Turbo pump that itself uses some of the fuel/oxidizer. The exhaust is then dumped out the side as a vent near the main chamber. (see this footage http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ejx3jTRD_ME for a clear picture of an open loop engine) these motors don't do they they put the exhaust stream into the combustion chamber increasing the efficiency. The Soviets overcame the metallurgy and other issues associated with doing this closed loop system. Result higher performance/weight and why Lockheed and AeroJet beat a path to their door. Atlas uses a different version but same concept a closed loop.

        3 1 Reply
        1. TheOtherHobbes
          Reply Icon

          Re: just like the good old days.

          >The Soviets overcame the metallurgy and other issues associated with doing this closed loop system.

          Or not. "It's brilliant and it only blows up sometimes" is not an acceptable value for the mission_critical key.

          5 0 Reply
          1. Version 1.0 Silver badge
            Reply Icon

            Re: just like the good old days.

            Or not. "It's brilliant and it only blows up sometimes" is not an acceptable value for the mission_critical key.

            It might be if you were Russian.

            3 0 Reply
        2. Vladimir Plouzhnikov
          Reply Icon

          Re: just like the good old days.

          Turbopumps are notorious for being a failure point but it appears in this case either a nozzle or a fuel line has ruptured. Although the video is not of sufficient quality to say for sure but before the explosion there was a big flare up in the direction of the exhaust, which suggests that the fuel was still being supplied at pressure for a while but it was burning outside of containment.

          0 1 Reply
        3. Anonymous Coward
          Reply Icon
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: just like the good old days.

          The big difference with these NK33 closed cycle engines (like the Rocketdyne F1 and the SSME the turbopump exhaust reenters the combustion chamber) is that they run the turbopump oxidiser rich rather than fuel rich. This is much more efficient, but it has a side-effect that the turbopump casing can burn through very rapidly if something goes wrong. 1" of hardened steel lasts less than 100ms in these cases...

          1 1 Reply
        4. Mark 85
          Reply Icon

          Re: just like the good old days.

          Pity that the Russians never really had a successful launch. As I recall, the lead designer had an easy chair on the launch pad to oversee everything prior to launch and then BANG! The thing blew up on the pad while fueling. Killed him and something 200 others also.

          There's a couple of vids out there on Youtube and if I'm remembering right, every launch stack blew up as some point before the second stage could fire. I might be wrong. Feel free to correct me and slap me upside the head.

          0 0 Reply

      2. This post has been deleted by its author

    2. Alan Brown Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: just like the good old days.

      Dangerous debris: You missed anything containing hydrazine, or likely to be contaminated with it.

      We have a couple of instruments sitting in a glass case at work that were dug out from 6 feet of French Guyanian swamp after the first Ariane 5 exploded.

      After falling 5 miles, being buried in that much mud, dug up and rinsed off by the French Foreign Legion, then sitting in storage for a decade - there are _still_ high enough levels of hydrazine contamination on them to make them unwise to handle without gloves.

      It's not the obvious stuff which turns out to kill you 5 years after the event.

      6 0 Reply
      1. Anonymous Coward
        Reply Icon
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: just like the good old days.

        Come on, Hydrazine isn't that bad, work with it all the time without any ... sorry, think I lost a piece of skin there ...

        6 0 Reply
        1. corestore
          Reply Icon

          Re: just like the good old days.

          It's not your skin that's at risk. A tiny quantity of hydrazine will turn your liver off, permanently. Seriously nasty stuff.

          0 0 Reply
        2. Loyal Commenter Silver badge
          Reply Icon

          Re: just like the good old days.

          Hydrazine's nothing!

          I used to work with diazomethane. It's a very effective methylating agent in synthetic chemistry, but you can't use it anywhere near ground-glass joints as it has a purported habit of crystallizing onto them and exploding. Luckily I never experienced this. I did learn to keep a close eye on the thermometer to make sure the ether it's dissolved in stays cold though!

          Preparation instructions include the use of a blast shield, and as well as being explosive, the stuff is acutely and extremely toxic!

          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diazomethane

          0 0 Reply
    3. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Thumb Up

      Re: just like the good old days.

      My high school physics teacher worked on the Polaris missile He had some hair raising, and funny, stories from then.

      3 0 Reply
      1. John 110
        Reply Icon
        Happy

        Re: just like the good old days.

        "...He had some hair raising,..."

        Still had hair then, couldn't have been too bad...

        3 0 Reply
  5. Paul Hovnanian Silver badge

    Resupply

    "The astronauts aboard the space station won't be going hungry, however, since NASA has a policy of maintaining enough essentials on board to cover two resupply mission failures."

    But how long can they hold out re-reading old copys of the Daily Mail?

    1 0 Reply
    1. emmanuel goldstein
      Reply Icon

      Re: Resupply

      those copies of the 'Daily Mail' are not for reading...

      35 0 Reply
      1. Anomalous Cowturd
        Reply Icon
        Holmes

        Re: Resupply

        I can recommend "Nicki Elite". 3 ply, scented, and with aloe vera for added "Angels licking your ring piece clean" goodness!

        Two quid for nine rolls at your local "Home Bargains" shop.

        Beats the pants (literally) off your Andrex / Nouvelle over-priced rubbish.

        Your arse-hole will thank me for this information! :o) 'specially after a decent Ruby!

        3 2 Reply
    2. Vulch
      Reply Icon

      Re: Resupply

      There was a Progress launch due around ten past seven this morning. They might just have had time to get a few copies of said Newspaper Shaped Object on board.

      1 0 Reply
    3. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Resupply

      "But how long can they hold out re-reading old copys of the Daily Mail?"

      Don't worry - they gave them a paper that prints the same old biased naive lefty rubbish every single day so they'll only ever require 1 copy and can just insert different names for people or corporations that the Guardian staff think are this weeks enemies of the revolution and so get the latest stories!

      2 6 Reply
  6. Blofeld's Cat
    Unhappy

    Ouch!

    That looks similar to the 2 March 1965 launch of an Atlas-Centaur rocket, which fell back and completely wrecked launch pad LC-36A at Cape Canaveral.

    I suspect nothing will be launched from LP-0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport for some time.

    0 0 Reply
  7. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    Good thing they waited for the sailboat to get out of range.

    19 1 Reply
  8. Robert Heffernan
    Joke

    Relevant YouTube Clip

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWtohHwNXoU

    0 1 Reply
  9. Lars Silver badge
    Joke

    Vehicle anomaly

    The way your wife would explain wrecking the car, (in a cartoon). Still I would not blame the Russians, they have made extremely fine engines and as a Finnish General once said, if there are more than two moving parts in a Russian engine it will break and in a rocket engine there are less,

    Joke alert, but only partly.

    2 0 Reply
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Joke

      Re: Vehicle anomaly

      "American equipment, Russian equipment, all made in Taiwan!"

      4 2 Reply
  10. Number6

    Early...

    Eight days early for the big firework display, at least in the UK.

    0 0 Reply
  11. Winkypop Silver badge
    Mushroom

    Gravity

    Is a bitch.

    Nice to watch its effects though...

    0 0 Reply
  12. Matto in AUS

    Rockets

    They are indeed tricky, it would seem.

    0 0 Reply
    1. D@v3
      Reply Icon

      Re: Rockets

      yeah, but it's hardly brain surgery

      3 1 Reply
  13. Vinyl-Junkie
    Joke

    I know exactly who to blame....

    To the person who commented yesterday asking why they couldn't launch yesterday even though there was a yacht in the area "after all, what are the chances of a misfire?" I hope you realise: THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!! :)

    19 0 Reply
    1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
      Reply Icon
      Coat

      Re: I know exactly who to blame....

      Yes, I do. I apologise to all and sundry for my rash comment.

      Excuse me while I depart for my volcanic lair....

      2 0 Reply
  14. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    I still don't get why they can't get it right....

    ...it's not like it's rocket scien...Oh wait.

    5 1 Reply
  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Re. N1

    Um.. Possible but more likely fuel debris caused massive leak and puddling resulted in explosion.

    The engine wasnt the problem AFAICT.

    0 5 Reply
  16. RyokuMas
    Facepalm

    To quote John Glenn

    "Glad they got that one out the way!"

    0 0 Reply
  17. hammarbtyp

    So it wasn't supposed to do that then?

    There has been a vehicle anomaly

    Really?!! You think?

    I just thought July 4th/November 5th/<inser celebration of your choice> had come early

    Top award for stating the bleeding obvious....

    2 0 Reply
    1. Someone Else Silver badge
      Reply Icon
      FAIL

      Re: So it wasn't supposed to do that then?

      Perhaps when you translate from CYA-marketing-speak to English, that would come out as:

      There has been an epic fail

      1 0 Reply
      1. Vladimir Plouzhnikov
        Reply Icon

        Re: So it wasn't supposed to do that then?

        Obviously, a major malfunction...

        0 0 Reply
  18. khisanth

    The guy narrating also mentioned something about secure documents on board and for everyone to secure their workstations and files.

    1 1 Reply

Page:

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

Forgotten password ?

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon

Other stories you might like