Sounds like someone activated something they shouldn't of, or a reaction within filling, although they probably went over those possibilities already.
[QUOTE=Saxon;51038275]Funny because some of their greatest tragedies came from pressure and trying to make deadlines
Regardless it doesn't matter if it was the cause or not, its relevant to the discussion anyhow.
[editline]12th September 2016[/editline]
As for some real news, they're clueless as to how it happened and trying to recruit the public and some more experts to help out.
[URL]http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2016/0911/SpaceX-needs-you-Musk-calls-on-public-government-in-explosion-probe[/URL][/QUOTE]
They just want videos from more povs to identify if a popping sound a few seconds before is from the rocket or unrelated. They always work with government agencies though. Don't use that to try and push your weird agenda of SpaceX being incompetent.
[URL="http://www.spacex.com/news/2016/09/01/anomaly-updates"]Update from SpaceX:[/URL]
[QUOTE]September 23, 1:00pm EDT
Three weeks ago, SpaceX experienced an anomaly at our Launch Complex 40 (LC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. This resulted in the loss of one of our Falcon 9 rockets and its payload.
The Accident Investigation Team (AIT), composed of SpaceX, the FAA, NASA, the U.S. Air Force, and industry experts, are currently scouring through approximately 3,000 channels of engineering data along with video, audio and imagery. The timeline of the event is extremely short – from first signs of an anomaly to loss of data is about 93 milliseconds or less than 1/10th of a second. The majority of debris from the incident has been recovered, photographed, labeled and catalogued, and is now in a hangar for inspection and use during the investigation.
At this stage of the investigation, preliminary review of the data and debris suggests that a large breach in the cryogenic helium system of the second stage liquid oxygen tank took place. All plausible causes are being tracked in an extensive fault tree and carefully investigated. Through the fault tree and data review process, we have exonerated any connection with last year’s CRS-7 mishap.
The teams have continued inspections of LC-40 and the surrounding facilities. While substantial areas of the pad systems were affected, the Falcon Support Building adjacent to the pad was unaffected, and per standard procedure was unoccupied at the time of the anomaly. The new liquid oxygen farm – e.g. the tanks and plumbing that hold our super-chilled liquid oxygen – was unaffected and remains in good working order. The RP-1 (kerosene) fuel farm was also largely unaffected. The pad’s control systems are also in relatively good condition.
SpaceX’s other facilities, from the Payload Processing Facility at the Cape, to the pad and hangar at LC-39A, are located several miles from LC-40 and were unaffected as well. Work continues at Pad 39A in preparation for bringing it online in November. The teams have been in contact with our Cape Canaveral and Kennedy Space Center partners and neighbors and have found no evidence of debris leaving the immediate area of LC-40.
At SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, CA, our manufacturing and production is continuing in a methodical manner, with teams continuing to build engines, tanks, and other systems as they are exonerated from the investigation. We will work to resume our manifest as quickly as responsible once the cause of the anomaly has been identified by the Accident Investigation Team. Pending the results of the investigation, we anticipate returning to flight as early as the November timeframe.
Other efforts, including the Commercial Crew Program with NASA, are continuing to progress. Getting back to flight safely and reliably is our top priority, and the data gathered from the present investigation will result in an even safer and more reliable vehicle for our customers and partners.[/QUOTE]
It's rumoured to be something akin to harmonics compromising the integrity of the pressure vessel in the second stage.
Helium copvs have always been a trouble maker.
I hold my hopes in Rocket Lab.
[url]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_Lab[/url]
Latest update from Musk at the NRO:
[QUOTE]We are close to figuring it out. It might have been formation of solid oxygen in the carbon over-wrap of one of the bottles in the upper stage tanks. If it was liquid it would have been squeezed out but under pressure it could have ignited with the carbon. This is the leading theory right now, but it is subject to confirmation. The other thing we discovered is that we can exactly replicate what happened on the launch pad if someone shoots the rocket. We don’t think that is likely this time around, but we are definitely going to have to take precautions against that in the future. We looked at who would want to blow up a SpaceX rocket. That turned out to be a long list. I think it is unlikely this time, but it is something we need to recognize as a real possibility in the future.
Addressing return to flight:
The plan is to get back to launch in early December and that will be from pad 39A at the Cape and we will be launching around the same time from Vandenberg as well. Pad 40 will probably be back in action around March or April next year. Probably around May or so is when we will launch Falcon Heavy. We are going to re-fly the first returned core December or January. We have test fired one of the returned cores 8 times and it looks good. That is promising for testing re-flight.
[/QUOTE]
[url]https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/57balr/details_from_elons_speech_at_the_nro/?st=iu8r48s3&sh=1220d77b[/url]
[QUOTE]We looked at who would want to blow up a SpaceX rocket. That turned out to be a long list.[/QUOTE]
That's a really depressing thing to read
I wonder if Jeff Bezos was anywhere on that list though :v:
God, everytime this thread gets bumped my heart skips a beat at the title
[QUOTE=ZpankR;51200186]God, everytime this thread gets bumped my heart skips a beat at the title[/QUOTE]
Better?
[editline]13th October 2016[/editline]
[QUOTE=Thunderbolt;51199797]That's a really depressing thing to read
I wonder if Jeff Bezos was anywhere on that list though :v:[/QUOTE]
Hell, Johnny Depp is on that list. (Musk may or may not be with his ex wife)
[QUOTE=Morgen;51199180]Latest update from Musk at the NRO:
[url]https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/57balr/details_from_elons_speech_at_the_nro/?st=iu8r48s3&sh=1220d77b[/url][/QUOTE]
What happened to the thread? It seems like the r/spacex mods went out of their way to delete/censor all the comments and the post.
[QUOTE=winsanity;51200436]What happened to the thread? It seems like the r/spacex mods went out of their way to delete/censor all the comments and the post.[/QUOTE]
information is from a unclassified video, but only posted on a classified system
[editline]13th October 2016[/editline]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/mirMNBj.png[/img]
[editline]13th October 2016[/editline]
[url]http://archive.is/eGel4[/url]
[editline]13th October 2016[/editline]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/UNaTTNs.png[/img]
So are they saying the reason the rocket blew up on the launchpad was because somebody shot it? Or are they just saying that shooting it could cause it to explode?
[QUOTE=st_nick5;51201681]So are they saying the reason the rocket blew up on the launchpad was because somebody shot it? Or are they just saying that shooting it could cause it to explode?[/QUOTE]
They are saying that shooting the rocket can definitely cause it to explode, which means that "our rocket exploded because somebody shot it" is a plausible explanation.
[QUOTE=st_nick5;51201681]So are they saying the reason the rocket blew up on the launchpad was because somebody shot it? Or are they just saying that shooting it could cause it to explode?[/QUOTE]
They won't ever be able to tell for sure why the rocket exploded. However, they have nailed it down to two very plausible scenarios, one of them being that somebody shot it.
[QUOTE=Nikita;51201756]They are saying that shooting the rocket can definitely cause it to explode, which means that "our rocket exploded because somebody shot it" is a plausible explanation.[/QUOTE]
This would be the criminal investigation of the decade if this turned out be true
Someone got hired to assasinate a ROCKET
[QUOTE=MendozaMan;51201933]This would be the criminal investigation of the decade if this turned out be true
Someone got hired to assasinate a ROCKET[/QUOTE]
You mean, someone got hired to assassinate a [i]company[/i].
I'm not convinced someone shooting the rocket is what happened.
But it's obvious that the goal wouldn't be to destroy the rocket, but rather to ruin the company behind it.
If you can't explain why your product explodes, it'd be a huge blow to your company's reputation.
I expect SpaceX will try to get better security measures for future launches anyway. Maybe roof acccess to all buildings with an LOS of the launch pad.
[Media]https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/774153847371501569[/media]
I mean...
They should set up dedicated mics around the launch pad so they can easily triangulate noises such as gunfire.
[QUOTE=Map in a box;51203865]They should set up dedicated mics around the launch pad so they can easily triangulate noises such as gunfire.[/QUOTE]
I bet that there's enough videos from different perspectives that this might be possible to do for this case.
[editline]14th October 2016[/editline]
Also, is anyone surprised that shooting a rocket can make it explode?
[B]No damage to SpaceX or ULA launch pads after Vandenberg fire.[/B]
[QUOTE]Launch pads and ground equipment used by SpaceX, United Launch Alliance and other private aerospace firms at Vandenberg Air Force Base were not damaged by the recent wildfire in the area, the companies and base officials said.
However, the base is currently assessing damage to electrical wiring that supports the launch range. Until that process is complete, the range will remain closed, Lt. Col. Alex Mignery, 30th Civil Engineer Squadron operations flight commander, said in a statement.
Source:
[url]http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-vandenberg-spacex-ula-20161013-snap-story.html[/url]
Previous thread:
[url]https://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1535060&highlight=vandenberg[/url][/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Kybalt;51204172]
Also, is anyone surprised that shooting a rocket can make it explode?[/QUOTE]
I don't know, I'd like to think rockets have a health higher than 1, but what do I know?
[QUOTE=Zenreon117;51204849]I don't know, I'd like to think rockets have a health higher than 1, but what do I know?[/QUOTE]
That upgrade costs too much gold.
Also, its not like rockets have much in the way of armor plating.
[QUOTE=Zenreon117;51204849]I don't know, I'd like to think rockets have a health higher than 1, but what do I know?[/QUOTE]
you do realize it's basically a bunch of flammable gases wrapped in metal the thickness of a soda can
A soda can is a good comparison. Except it's a shaken soda can under pressure. One hole will be enough to make it pop. Then the gas does the rest. If you know where to shoot it, like the location of the COPVs that hold compressed helium (easy for an expert), blowing it up would be really easy.
[QUOTE=LordCrypto;51204858]you do realize it's basically a bunch of flammable gases wrapped in metal the thickness of a soda can[/QUOTE]
Even the inert helium can be an issue if a highly pressurized tank of it ruptures causing explosive decompression (See: CRS-7).
[QUOTE][highlight]ANOMALY UPDATE[/highlight]
[B]October 28, 4:00pm EDT[/B]
The Accident Investigation Team continues to make progress in examining the anomaly on September 1 that led to the loss of a Falcon 9 and its payload at Launch Complex 40 (LC-40), Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.
Since the incident, investigators from SpaceX, the FAA, NASA, the US Air Force and industry experts have been working methodically through an extensive fault tree to investigate all plausible causes. As part of this, we have conducted tests at our facility in McGregor, Texas, attempting to replicate as closely as possible the conditions that may have led to the mishap.
The investigation team has made significant progress on the fault tree. Previously, we announced the investigation was focusing on a breach in the cryogenic helium system of the second stage liquid oxygen tank. The root cause of the breach has not yet been confirmed, but attention has continued to narrow to one of the three composite overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs) inside the LOX tank. Through extensive testing in Texas, [B]SpaceX has shown that it can re-create a COPV failure entirely through helium loading conditions.[/B] These conditions are mainly affected by the temperature and pressure of the helium being loaded.
SpaceX’s efforts are now focused on two areas – finding the exact root cause, and developing improved helium loading conditions that allow SpaceX to reliably load Falcon 9. With the advanced state of the investigation, we also plan to resume stage testing in Texas in the coming days, while continuing to focus on completion of the investigation. This is an important milestone on the path to returning to flight.
Pending the results of the investigation, we continue to work towards returning to flight before the end of the year. Our launch sites at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, remain on track to be operational in this timeframe.
[url]http://www.spacex.com/news/2016/09/01/anomaly-updates[/url][/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=OvB;50984467]It might be SpaceX hardware:
Video:
[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BgJEXQkjNQ[/media]
I just read this thread today and it was very strange. I watched this video and at 1:10 from the top right of the screen you can see something fly in right as the rocket explodes. I just thought the timing was crazy. Then later in the thread Elon is talking about someone possibly shooting the rocket.
Did anyone else see that at 1:10 in this video?
[QUOTE=Jitterz;51280347][QUOTE=OvB;50984467]It might be SpaceX hardware:
Video:
I just read this thread today and it was very strange. I watched this video and at 1:10 from the top right of the screen you can see something fly in right as the rocket explodes. I just thought the timing was crazy. Then later in the thread Elon is talking about someone possibly shooting the rocket.
Did anyone else see that at 1:10 in this video?[/QUOTE]
Looks like a bird or insect. It happens a few other times in that video.
The camera is extremely zoomed in (you can tell by how long it takes the sound to reach it after it explodes, roughly 10 seconds, which would make it around 2 miles away), which makes the nearby objects flying in front of it look really fast.
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