No casualties according to Wimp.com
But holy shit that explosion, god it's loud
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl12dXYcUTo[/media]
Any details on the rocket? Like it's purpose, who launched it and how much damage it caused?
No, sorry. All I know is that it was unmanned.
[QUOTE=Tinter;41302955]Any details on the rocket? Like it's purpose, who launched it and how much damage it caused?[/QUOTE]
Right, time to shine:
It was a Proton-M rocket carrying 3 navigation satellites into a medium-altitude orbit. By the looks of it, one of the boosters on the side failed causing an asymmetrical thrust, which flipped the vehicle over.
[sub][sub][sub]Holy shit I'm a nerd[/sub][/sub][/sub]
[QUOTE=Dacheet;41303340]Right, time to shine:
It was a Proton-M rocket carrying 3 navigation satellites into a medium-altitude orbit. By the looks of it, one of the boosters on the side failed causing an asymmetrical thrust, which flipped the vehicle over.
[sub][sub][sub]Holy shit I'm a nerd[/sub][/sub][/sub][/QUOTE]
While I was hoping for a bit more, I appreciate your nerdness.
[QUOTE=Dacheet;41303340]Right, time to shine:
It was a Proton-M rocket carrying 3 navigation satellites into a medium-altitude orbit. By the looks of it, one of the boosters on the side failed causing an asymmetrical thrust, which flipped the vehicle over.
[sub][sub][sub]Holy shit I'm a nerd[/sub][/sub][/sub][/QUOTE]
Living up to your title eh? That video is just like watching my rockets in KSP.
i think the person at the end was crying :(
[QUOTE=JerryK;41305283]i think the person at the end was crying :([/QUOTE]
It's understandably why. If you worked on the satellites, you spent tens of hundreds (if not thousands) of hours working with a team to make this happen, and have all of that work be lost in a matter of seconds, and knowing it was all for not.
:(
[editline]3rd July 2013[/editline]
[QUOTE=Tinter;41303891]While I was hoping for a bit more, I appreciate your nerdness.[/QUOTE]
Sigh, if I must:
Okay, so the Proton rocket is a 53 meter tall, 700 metric ton expendable multistage launch vehicle that has been around since 1965. It was originally designed to carry nukes but then they decided to put shit into space with it (sort of an N1 lite) and for about 17 years it was the largest expendable launch system until the Titan IV in 1989. It can carry 22 tonnes into Low Earth Orbit, or 6 Tonnes into GEO. This tonnage can increase if an additional stage is added, which in some cases put spacecraft on interplanetary missions. Launch failures for the Proton are really uncommon, with the last one happening in 1969. It has a 11.5% failure rate, with most of those occurring in the upper stages high above the atmosphere. Notable payloads the Proton carried include the Mir space stations, the core Zarya and Zvezda modules for the ISS, and probes to Mars, Venus, and Halley's Comet. It has earned $4.3 billion [≈ net worth of Richard Branson, business magnate (2011)] since it was contracted to the International Launch Services in 1994.
The satellites it was carrying were from the GLONASS constellation. They are designed to last ten years in orbit, and have really advanced solar arrays. Protons can actually carry 6 of the latest satellites because they are half as light as the past generation. The GLONASS constellation supplies Samsung, Apple, LG, HTC, Motorola, and many more smartphones and military systems.
The failure, the more I look at the video, can also be a guidance issue. You can see the booster and engine nozzles swivel (or gimbal) as the vehicle takes off, which looks like it is an overcorrection. The explosion was so large because the rocket was between 70 and 90 percent fuel by mass, and the reason it broke apart was due to aerodynamic stresses incurred by the turn, not unlike how Challenger broke up.
Are you happy now?
[editline]3rd July 2013[/editline]
Honestly, I'm surprised no one was injured. The explosive force of that could easily have hurled hundred kilogram pieces a good distance. For comparison, the Saturn V could hurl one long ton pieces of metal three miles if it exploded on the pad, and this weighs about one sixth of that.
[editline]3rd July 2013[/editline]
Moreover this rocket doesn't have a self-destruct function like American and some European rockets. The rocket was also pointing (from what I understand) towards a nearby town. This was a very lucky accident.
Holy shit, it crashed and I was all 'oh that wasnt as loud as I-' KABOOOOOM. That shockwave was amazing.
It's a damn shame that all that money and work went to waste, but I can't think of a more spectacular way to have it all go.
[quote][i]"A good rule for rocket experimenters to follow is this: always assume that it will explode.
— Astronautics, issue 38, October 1937.[/i][/quote]
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