I hope there's a way to disable the self-destruct mechanism when they start doing manned flights!
SpaceX rocket explodes during testing over Texas
21–30 of 95 posts
Re: SpaceX rocket explodes during testing over Texas
#22"We've got to tunnel one of these vehicles into the ground by trying something really hard." - Gwynne Shotwell, President and COO of SpaceX
Re: SpaceX rocket explodes during testing over Texas
#23"We've got to tunnel one of these vehicles into the ground by trying something really hard." - Gwynne Shotwell, President and COO of SpaceX
please explain
Re: SpaceX rocket explodes during testing over Texas
#24>>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?
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Re: SpaceX rocket explodes during testing over Texas
#25Earlier 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…
> Ariane 5 is not the predecessor of Vega.
I stand corrected. The point is that the ESA's rocket program is far from flawless as your "3 from 3" post above suggests.
>> SpaceX has had an amazing run in comparison to most other platforms.
> Clearly that's not the case.
From the article, this was a TEST flight. Exploding rockets is an expected part of the development process.
Re: SpaceX rocket explodes during testing over Texas
#26>>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...
Re: SpaceX rocket explodes during testing over Texas
#27"We've got to tunnel one of these vehicles into the ground by trying something really hard." - Gwynne Shotwell, President and COO of SpaceX
please explain
As an experimental vehicle, you're generally supposed to be pushing the limits of what it can do to find those limits. Essentially, they're saying "no accidents means we aren't trying hard enough to break the thing".
Re: SpaceX rocket explodes during testing over Texas
#28I hope there's a way to disable the self-destruct mechanism when they start doing manned flights!
Very unlikely. The Space Shuttle also had this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Range_safety#Range_safety_in_US...
Re: SpaceX rocket explodes during testing over Texas
#29I hope there's a way to disable the self-destruct mechanism when they start doing manned flights!
There won't be. If the self-destruct triggers, then the rocket is 1) already going to cause their deaths, and 2) going to potentially save the lives of people on the ground.
Now, that said, this is why we have escape towers on pods (and the escape rockets around the sides of the Dragon 2). In the case of an emergency, those eject the pod from the rocket so that it can be returned safely, even as the rocket is destroyed.
Re: SpaceX rocket explodes during testing over Texas
#30I hope there's a way to disable the self-destruct mechanism when they start doing manned flights!
The shuttle had its own variant although that was manual, not automatic http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/space/nasa/4262479
I believe it doesn't matter what the craft is, there is always some manner of self-destruct to ensure a larger population isn't threatened by debris from an exploding rocket.