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SpaceX rocket explodes during testing over Texas

bbc.co.uk

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Re: SpaceX rocket explodes during testing over Texas

#31

Post by shabble »

AVTizzle wrote: post #12

>>The unmanned rocket was destroyed when its self-destruct system was triggered after an unexplained malfunction. It's interesting these rockets are equipped with self-destruct systems. What scenario would warrant a rocket purposely self-destruct?

Any number of reasons. Test ranges are usually in remote areas to avoid any immediate danger, but if the guidance or control systems malfunction, it can go somewhere unfortunate rather quickly.

I can't seem to find any good numbers, but it seems like the F9 rocket should have somewhere around 200 tons of fuel & oxidiser (kerosene & liquid oxygen). That, in addition to the few other hundred tons of rocket landing anywhere public is probably not going to end well.

IIRC, most rockets over a certain size are required to have some form of 'range safety package'[1] which may include a self-destruct capability for exactly these reasons.

In the course of the Challenger shuttle accident, the Solid Rocket Boosters were remotely destroyed by the range safety officer[2]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Range_safety

[2] http://history.nasa.gov/rogersrep/v1ch9.htm

Re: SpaceX rocket explodes during testing over Texas

#32

Post by gus_massa »

mariuolo wrote: post #14
AVTizzle wrote: post #12

>>The unmanned rocket was destroyed when its self-destruct system was triggered after an unexplained malfunction. It's interesting these rockets are equipped with self-destruct systems. What scenario would warrant a rocket purposely self-destruct?

> It's interesting these rockets are equipped with self-destruct systems. What scenario would warrant a rocket purposely self-destruct? When they're out of control and could hit someone.

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Challenger_disast...

> The more robustly constructed crew cabin also survived the breakup of the launch vehicle; while the SRBs were subsequently destroyed remotely by the Range Safety Officer, the detached cabin continued along a ballistic trajectory and was observed exiting the cloud of gases at T+75.237.

In the images, you can see the solid rocket booster (SRB) following a random path after the explosion.

Re: SpaceX rocket explodes during testing over Texas

#33

Post by jpatokal »

AVTizzle wrote: post #12

>>The unmanned rocket was destroyed when its self-destruct system was triggered after an unexplained malfunction. It's interesting these rockets are equipped with self-destruct systems. What scenario would warrant a rocket purposely self-destruct?

Avoidance of cases like this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelsat_708

Re: SpaceX rocket explodes during testing over Texas

#34

Post by Mvandenbergh »

AVTizzle wrote: post #12

>>The unmanned rocket was destroyed when its self-destruct system was triggered after an unexplained malfunction. It's interesting these rockets are equipped with self-destruct systems. What scenario would warrant a rocket purposely self-destruct?

Interestingly the Russian space program never used range safety systems, but then they had an empty part of Kazakhstan to launch in.

Re: SpaceX rocket explodes during testing over Texas

#35

Post by wlesieutre »

shabble wrote: post #31
AVTizzle wrote: post #12

>>The unmanned rocket was destroyed when its self-destruct system was triggered after an unexplained malfunction. It's interesting these rockets are equipped with self-destruct systems. What scenario would warrant a rocket purposely self-destruct?

Any number of reasons. Test ranges are usually in remote areas to avoid any immediate danger, but if the guidance or control systems malfunction, it can go somewhere unfortunate rather quickly. I can't seem to find any good numbers, but it seems like the F9 rocket should have somewhere around 200 tons of fuel & oxidiser (kerosene & liquid oxygen). That, in addition to the few other hundred tons of rocket landing anyw…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelsat_708 comes to mind as an example of when you'd want a failed launch to self-destruct. It went off course and landed in a village.

Re: SpaceX rocket explodes during testing over Texas

#37

Post by speeq »

smoyer wrote: post #21

I hope there's a way to disable the self-destruct mechanism when they start doing manned flights!

Dragon V2 will have a Launch Escape System, which is used to quickly separate the crew module from the rest of the rocket in case of an emergency.

http://www.collectspace.com/review/spacex_las01.jpg

Re: SpaceX rocket explodes during testing over Texas

#38

Post by sjtrny »

electromagnetic wrote: post #17
AVTizzle wrote: post #12

>>The unmanned rocket was destroyed when its self-destruct system was triggered after an unexplained malfunction. It's interesting these rockets are equipped with self-destruct systems. What scenario would warrant a rocket purposely self-destruct?

Honestly, play KSP. Once you flip a rocket, its nearly unrecoverable and it just accelerates into the ground.

I wonder if the reusable rockets from SpaceX could recover from a flipped position during re-entry?

Re: SpaceX rocket explodes during testing over Texas

#39

Post by rpedela »

kome wrote: post #19
zizee wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you trolling? Most rocket platforms have had a rate of failure. The ESA's Ariane 5 (predecessor of the VEGA rocket) had launch failures as well. SpaceX has had an amazing run in comparison to most other platforms. >But concretely, what's the point of it? NASA worked fairly well if well founded... NASA doesn't build rockets. They have always outsourced the job to aerospace companies. > Now for political reasons th…

> The ESA's Ariane 5 (predecessor of the VEGA rocket) had a very checkered history. Ariane 5 is not the predecessor of Vega. They are two very different project, for different payloads. And look at the table of success and failure rate of the Ariane 5 itself http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arianne_5 > SpaceX has had an amazing run in comparison to most other platforms. Clearly that's not the case. > I think you'll find…

In that context, NASA was the customer. They didn't bail them out. It wasn't charity.

Re: SpaceX rocket explodes during testing over Texas

#40

Post by LaGrange »

ceejayoz wrote: post #26
AVTizzle wrote: post #12

>>The unmanned rocket was destroyed when its self-destruct system was triggered after an unexplained malfunction. It's interesting these rockets are equipped with self-destruct systems. What scenario would warrant a rocket purposely self-destruct?

Not only do these rockets have them, but manned craft like the Space Shuttle are destructible from the ground (one hopes the encryption keys are well-protected). You don't want an out-of-control bomb heading towards Orlando. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Range_safety#Range_safety_in_US...

Actually, your link states that the orbiter wasn't destructible.
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