Orbital CRS-3 Rocket explodes t+6 seconds
 

http://blogs.nasa.gov/orbital/

No loss of life but reported considerable damage to launch pad area.

Antares rocket suffered catastrophic failure six second after launch from Wallops Island, VA.

Launch was tonight at 18:22 East time.

Was that that new capsule that is meant to supply the ISS and bring the US back into manned space flight, or was it something different?

No need top reply, it is Cygnus. German news now also covers it.

Our backward march continues... hey, Russia, can you help us with our rockets? We don't have any more German scientists from WWII.

Well...Russia could be part of the problem. As far as I understand it, these rocket engines being used in Cygnus are old refurbished engines from the Soviet N1 moon rocket program.

They have had some issues with failures during testing in the past. One for example determined to be caused by "kerosene fuel leak in engine manifold due to stress corrosion cracking of the 40 year old metal". Here's a Popular Mechanics article if you want to read more.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/scie...aunch-14991680

Chinese chips in American hightech weapons.

Russian engines in American space rockets.

What's next? Northkorean burgers at McDonalds?

We better stock up on candles, for when the grid goes down.

http://i.qkme.me/3oqotj.jpg

I had thought about getting a job at Orbital Sciences... Now I'm not so sure...

In any case, Elon Musk is no doubt stroking his white persian cat and grinning maniacally.

Yea, set up here on the Va border hoping to see a rocket launch....

The way I understand the company has decided to produce their own engine, rather buy old stocks of Soviet NK33s or new Russian RD180 series engines.

Plus they have outsourced some work on the first stage to the Southern Design Bureau in Ukraine.

Correction, it appears that booster in question was using an Ukrainian/American modified Soviet NK33 engine.

Could well be.

My understanding is that refurbished Russian engines were used.

Yes, old (1970s Soviet Lunar program) NK33 engines refurbished by Ukrainian Yuzhnoye Design Bureau to the Air Jet 26 standard.

I think we can just be glad it wasn't a manned mission. It's a huge step backwards for commercial space travel, but only a step.

Check out NASA's record with rockets back in the day, seems like every other one blew up on the pad! These are new companies getting into rocket design, and it appears they are taking short cuts that aren't working out real well. But we have had plenty of Atlas and Titan rockets do the same thing sadly.

A picture= 1000 words....YIPES
 

Because German rockets were that reliable:

http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18lf.../ku-xlarge.jpg

Still, at least no-one was killed in this incident, and there'll be others...no new rocket is problem-free...the amount of times the Titan blew up during launch, but it became the most relied and trusted launch vehicle in the US arsenal, likewise NASA.

I think my favourite explosion was the Delta II in 1997, a ruptured SRM casing set off the auto-destruct thirteen seconds after launch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_aHEit-SqA

Until we build a space elevator, or some form of mass driver then we're stuck with the old and inefficient solid-fuel propellant devices and the costs involved with them. It's all rather short-sighted...but humanity is, really, otherwise we'd have globalised the space program by now and actually be making strides to get an off-planet facility working.

http://weknowmemes.com/wp-content/up...aliens-guy.jpg

EDIT: Oh...almost forgot my second favourite rocket fail, the Zenit 3SL, which managed to melt the launchpad underneath it and fall into the sea:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7wBN-U2KXI

We gotta get off o' this planet!
 

I dunno...I think the answer might just fall on us one day...

https://33.media.tumblr.com/f502db0c...kyaxo1_400.gif