SABOTAGE? NASA’s Unmanned Antares Rocket Explodes on Launch
Oct 29 2014
An unmanned Antares rocket explodes seconds after lift off from a commercial launch pad in Virginia, as NASA TV broadcast shows. This was a supplky rocket heading for the space station.
ATLANTIC, Va. (AP) — An unmanned commercial supply rocket bound for the International Space Station exploded moments after liftoff Tuesday evening, with debris falling in flames over the launch site in Virginia. No injuries were reported following the first catastrophic launch in NASA’s commercial spaceflight effort.
The accident was sure to draw criticism over the space agency’s growing reliance on private U.S. companies in this post-shuttle era. NASA is paying billions of dollars to Orbital Sciences and the SpaceX company to make station deliveries, and it’s counting on SpaceX and Boeing to start flying U.S. astronauts to the orbiting lab as early as 2017.
This was the fourth flight by Orbital Sciences to the orbiting lab.
The Orbital Sciences’ Antares rocket blew up over the beachside launch complex at Wallops Island. The company said everyone at the site had been accounted for, and the damage appeared to be limited to the facilities. And nothing on the lost flight was urgently needed by the six people living on the 260-mile-high space station, officials said.
Flames could be seen shooting into the sky as the sun set.
Orbital Sciences’ executive vice president Frank Culbertson said things began to go wrong 10 to 12 seconds into the flight and it was all over in 20 seconds when what was left of the rocket came crashing down. He said he believes the range-safety staff sent a destruct signal before it hit the ground. Read more
October 31st, 2014, 17:51
Ryan Ruck
Re: The United States is OUT OF THE SPACE BUSINESS
Maybe I'm missing it but where is the believed sabotage?
The article doesn't say anything and the video and screen shot look just like the regular video.
I think this was just a case of simple failure. After all, they were using 40+ year old Russian engines.
October 31st, 2014, 18:28
American Patriot
Re: The United States is OUT OF THE SPACE BUSINESS
I don't think this was sabotage unless the Russians did it with a rocket engine they sent. Or someone inside pressed the detonate button.
I heard that a destruct signal was sent.
October 31st, 2014, 18:47
American Patriot
Re: The United States is OUT OF THE SPACE BUSINESS
Space Ship Two has crashed.
Pilots' conditions unknown at this time.
The plane is down safely.
October 31st, 2014, 18:50
Malsua
Re: The United States is OUT OF THE SPACE BUSINESS
Quote:
Originally Posted by American Patriot
Space Ship Two has crashed.
Pilots' conditions unknown at this time.
The plane is down safely.
Your statements are at odds of each other. Down safely != Has Crashed.
October 31st, 2014, 18:52
American Patriot
Re: The United States is OUT OF THE SPACE BUSINESS
MOJAVE, Calif. (AP) — Virgin Galactic has reported an unspecified problem during a test flight of its SpaceShipTwo space tourism rocket.
The company tweeted Friday morning that SpaceShipTwo was flying under rocket power and then tweeted that it had ‘‘experienced an in-flight anomaly.’’ The tweet said more information would be forthcoming.
Kern County Fire Department reports it is heading to a location in the Mojave Desert. California Highway Patrol Officer Darlena Dotson says the agency is responding to a report of a crash in the Cantil area.
SpaceShipTwo has been under development at Mojave Air and Spaceport in the desert northeast of Los Angeles.
SpaceShipTwo is carried aloft by a specially designed jet and then released before igniting its rocket for suborbital thrill ride into space and then a return to Earth as a glider.
October 31st, 2014, 18:53
American Patriot
Re: The United States is OUT OF THE SPACE BUSINESS
Virgin Galactic says space tourism rocket lost
October 31, 2014 | Updated: October 31, 2014 1:51pm
Image 1 out of 9
Smiley N. Pool/Houston Chronicle
A mockup of SpaceShipTwo sits next to the Virgin GalacticÕs Gateway To Space building at Spaceport America on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2014, in Upham, N.M. The facility is home to Virgin Galactic operations and fleet of motherships and spaceships.
MOJAVE, Calif. (AP) — Virgin Galactic reported that its SpaceShipTwo space tourism rocket has been lost in Southern California and the status of the pilots is unclear.
The company tweeted Friday: "During the test, the vehicle suffered a serious anomaly resulting in the loss of SpaceShipTwo."
The company founded by British billionaire Richard Branson would not say what happened other that it was working with authorities to determine the cause of the "accident."
Kern County Fire Department reported it was heading to a location in the Mojave Desert. California Highway Patrol Officer Darlena Dotson said the agency was responding to a report of a crash in the Cantil area.
Virgin Galactic has been the front-runner in the fledgling space-tourism industry. SpaceShipTwo, typically flown by a crew of two pilots, has been under development in the desert northeast of Los Angeles.
October 31st, 2014, 18:53
American Patriot
Re: The United States is OUT OF THE SPACE BUSINESS
One fatality.
One serious injury.
October 31st, 2014, 18:58
American Patriot
Re: The United States is OUT OF THE SPACE BUSINESS
Rescue chopper on site. One on a rescue basket (?) or stretcher. One confirmed dead.
October 31st, 2014, 18:58
American Patriot
Re: The United States is OUT OF THE SPACE BUSINESS
MOJAVE, Calif. (AP) — Virgin Galactic reported that its SpaceShipTwo space tourism rocket has been lost in Southern California and the status of the pilots is unclear.
The company tweeted Friday: "During the test, the vehicle suffered a serious anomaly resulting in the loss of SpaceShipTwo."
The company founded by British billionaire Richard Branson would not say what happened other that it was working with authorities to determine the cause of the "accident."
Kern County Fire Department reported it was heading to a location in the Mojave Desert. California Highway Patrol Officer Darlena Dotson said the agency was responding to a report of a crash in the Cantil area.
Virgin Galactic has been the front-runner in the fledgling space-tourism industry. SpaceShipTwo, typically flown by a crew of two pilots, has been under development in the desert northeast of Los Angeles.
October 31st, 2014, 18:59
American Patriot
Re: The United States is OUT OF THE SPACE BUSINESS
Virgin Galactic spaceship crashes during California test flight
Reuters
By Irene Klotz
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Oct 31 (Reuters) - A suborbital passenger spaceship being developed by Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic crashed during a test flight on Friday at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California, officials said.
Two pilots were aboard the spaceship, which was undergoing its first powered test flight since January. It was not immediately known if they were able to parachute to safety.
More than 800 people have paid or put down deposits to fly aboard the spaceship, which is carried to an altitude of about 45,000 feet and released. The spaceship then fires its rocket motor to catapult it to about 62 miles (100 km) high, giving passengers a view of the planet set against the blackness of space and a few minutes of weightlessness.
The spaceship is based on a prototype, called SpaceShipOne, which 10 years ago won the $10 million Ansari X Prize for the first privately developed manned spacecraft to fly in space.
Friday's test was to be the spaceship's first powered test flight since January. In May, Virgin Galactic and spaceship developer Scaled Composites, a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman Corp, switched to an alternative plastic-type of fuel grain for the hybrid rocket motor.
The accident is the second this week by a U.S. space company. On Tuesday, an Orbital Sciences Antares rocket exploded 15 seconds after liftoff from Wallops Island, Virginia, destroying a cargo ship bound for the International Space Station. (Reporting by Irene Klotz; Editing by David Adams and James Dalgleish)
October 31st, 2014, 19:00
American Patriot
Re: The United States is OUT OF THE SPACE BUSINESS
New information:
Witnesses report spaceship exploded in flight after firing engines.
October 31st, 2014, 19:01
American Patriot
Re: The United States is OUT OF THE SPACE BUSINESS
California Hwy Patrol confirms one dead, one injured.
October 31st, 2014, 19:06
American Patriot
Re: The United States is OUT OF THE SPACE BUSINESS
October 31st, 2014, 19:09
American Patriot
Re: The United States is OUT OF THE SPACE BUSINESS
Problems experienced during a test flight of Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo may have resulted in the death of one of its two crewmembers, according to early and unconfirmed reports surfacing on Twitter.
Virgin Galactic announced on its feed that an "anomaly" occurred six minutes after it was released from its mothership, WhiteKnightTwo, over the Mojave Desert.
Wreckage and at least one parachute were observed on the ground, via ">a live feed posted by ABC News 23, which sent a helicopter to the scene. Two parachutes were seen by onlookers, according to reports, and one of the crewmembers is said to have also been seen alive on the ground.
Stephen Clark, of Spaceflightnow.com, writes that it was the 55th flight of SpaceShipTwo and its 35th free flight: "It was the fourth time SpaceShipTwo had fired up its rocket motor in flight, and the first powered mission since Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites, the craft’s builder, switched from a rubber-based propellant to a plastic-based fuel mix."
Officials confirmed to reporters that two people were onboard the vessel and that officials were looking for the pilots.
SpaceShipTwo's design would let it carry six passengers and two pilots on trips to the edge of space, with hundreds of reservations already taken for the $250,000 ride. Virgin Galactic boss Richard Branson had hoped to see the earliest flights next year. The Mojave Air and Spaceport is 60 miles south of Bakersfield, California.
Re: The United States is OUT OF THE SPACE BUSINESS
Surprising that you could survive something that blows up the plane.
October 31st, 2014, 19:16
American Patriot
Re: The United States is OUT OF THE SPACE BUSINESS
I am thinking like you, Challenger. I remember seeing that seconds after it happened on replay. I missed the launch by perhaps 1 minute. The explosion was 73 seconds into the launch and I walked in as they were showing the replay. My wife was standing there watching, crying. She's already figured out what happened.
My youngest son was born the next day. He will be 29 this year.
But I read they just changed the type of fuel they were using recently.
They have done this flight dozens of times it sounds like.
It's possible the rocket engine exploded and the ship itself was mostly intact. The pilot that escaped probably couldn't do much other than jump and hope to hell he made it.
October 31st, 2014, 19:21
American Patriot
Re: The United States is OUT OF THE SPACE BUSINESS
Civilians saw the ship explode. I'm surprised there's no video yet. Civilians saw the chute coming down as well.
October 31st, 2014, 19:25
American Patriot
Re: The United States is OUT OF THE SPACE BUSINESS
Thirty five test flights. 35 was this one.
October 31st, 2014, 19:30
American Patriot
Re: The United States is OUT OF THE SPACE BUSINESS
Ken Brown, a photographer who witnessed the crash, said the space tourism craft exploded after it was released from a plane that carries it to a high altitude.