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submitted 4 days ago by [email protected] to c/spaceflight
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[-] threelonmusketeers 2 points 20 hours ago

Drone footage of the incident has surfaced: https://x.com/AJ_FI/status/1808378644949094742

Neat angle we haven't seen before.

[-] [email protected] 6 points 3 days ago

"unintended launch" lol

[-] Tar_alcaran 40 points 4 days ago

You'd think making a big clamp is easier than making a rocket...

[-] [email protected] 69 points 4 days ago

They're rocket scientists, not clamp scientists.

[-] [email protected] 20 points 4 days ago

It'd be easier to train clamp scientists to static fire than to train rocket scientists to clamp.

[-] [email protected] 8 points 4 days ago

Are you trying to clamp an asteroid?

[-] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

We can pretty much assume whatever needs clamping’s less than 28” thick.

[-] [email protected] 11 points 4 days ago

There's a reason management courses all insist that you focus on your core competency.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

Next time maybe they’ll shell out for The Clamp

[-] [email protected] 24 points 4 days ago
[-] threelonmusketeers 20 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

CNSA would be "Temu NASA".

Space Pioneer is more like "Temu SpaceX". Their aforementioned Tianlong-3 rocket is pretty much a Falcon 9 clone.

[-] [email protected] 20 points 4 days ago

"No casualties were found."

Nice.

On the positive side, they really stuck the landing.

[-] [email protected] 12 points 3 days ago

None died or none was found?

[-] kakito69 2 points 3 days ago

Everyone died and the bodies were not found (they exploded)

[-] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago

Or none were looked for. Coverups are easier when you ignore the evidence.

[-] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago

To shreds you say...

[-] [email protected] 18 points 4 days ago

Static fire quickly became dynamic one

[-] threelonmusketeers 27 points 4 days ago

Wow, that's wild!

Space Pioneer issued its own statement later, stating there was a structural failure at the connection between the rocket body and the test bench.

Sounds like the hold-down clamps failed. Have there been any previous cases in history where static fires unexpectedly turned into non-static fires?

[-] [email protected] 37 points 4 days ago

well there was that incident in '86 when the shuttle Atlantis was 'accidentally' launched with 4 kids aboard during an engine test. The documentary about it called Space Camp is riveting.

[-] Jumuta 2 points 1 day ago
[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat

[-] [email protected] 17 points 4 days ago

Few people know that one of those kids was now famous actor, Joaquin Phoenix. I watched that documentary many times and was shock to find out that people speak in a type of slow motion when in zero G.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago

Technically speaking it was low-G. None of Joachim Phoenix’s movies are strictly “zero-G”

[-] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago

It means the rocket was just too good for those clamps

[-] [email protected] 8 points 3 days ago

In surprised a failure like that led to it being launched straight up like that.

[-] [email protected] 24 points 4 days ago
[-] Socsa 28 points 4 days ago

Bruh why the fuck are they doing this in the suburbs

[-] [email protected] 20 points 4 days ago

I was thinking the same thing. You can kind of figure out the distance from the time the rocket disappears behind the cloud/hill to the time you hear the explosion in the second video. The rocket disappears at 41 seconds and the explosion is heard at 49.5 seconds. Even if the rocket had hit the ground as soon as it disappeared from sight we're talking 2-3 kilometers away.

[-] threelonmusketeers 14 points 4 days ago

Even if the rocket had hit the ground as soon as it disappeared from sight we’re talking 2-3 kilometers away.

That seems uncomfortably close, especially given this statement:

The rocket’s onboard computer automatically shut down the engines and the rocket fell 1.5 kilometers southwest.

I assume they mean 1.5 km from the test stand? If the rocket had flown a bit further, or in a different direction, it could have fallen in what looks to be a rather densely populated area.

[-] [email protected] 15 points 4 days ago

Wouldn't be the first time. China drops debris and rocket stages on populated areas all the time

[-] [email protected] 7 points 3 days ago

And rocket fuel, which isn't great for pretty much anything alive.

[-] threelonmusketeers 4 points 3 days ago

rocket fuel, which isn't great for pretty much anything alive

Depends on the rocket fuel.

  • Methalox: Harmless gases. Methane is a greenhouse gas, but it's not toxic. Basically like a bunch of cows burping.
  • Kerolox: Kerosene is an oily liquid, so not great for the environment, but not highly toxic.
  • Hypergolics: Hydrazine derivatives and nitrogen tetroxide are both highly toxic.

The Tianlong-3 in this article uses kerolox. The Long March 2C booster which fell near a village last week uses hypergols.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

Yeah, primarily hypergolics are the fun ones. I didn't hear about the booster that fell near a village recently, but there was one that I think had an emergency dump over some village or town a few years ago.

[-] [email protected] 13 points 4 days ago

China is a very small country, obviously.

[-] clay_pidgin 20 points 4 days ago

Sorry, my bad. I forgot a zip tie.

[-] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago

Okay someone do the math on how many zipties it would take to hold down a Saturn 5 rocket.

[-] threelonmusketeers 5 points 4 days ago

Why are we using zip ties as hold-down clamps in the first place?

[-] [email protected] 13 points 4 days ago

Because we couldn't find our duct tape.

[-] threelonmusketeers 3 points 3 days ago

Ah yes, the handyman's secret weapon...

[-] [email protected] 9 points 3 days ago

"I believe it's time for me to flyyyyy"

[-] [email protected] 14 points 4 days ago

Task failed successfully.

[-] [email protected] 12 points 4 days ago
[-] threelonmusketeers 4 points 3 days ago

Wow, that was fast, even for Scott!

[-] [email protected] 12 points 4 days ago

They need more struts!

[-] [email protected] 9 points 4 days ago

I’m happy nobody was hurt. Keep trying kerbalnaughts!

[-] [email protected] 6 points 4 days ago
[-] [email protected] 4 points 4 days ago

Their rockets fly even when you try to not let them fly.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago

Never Mind that. Look at all those mini-splits.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago

You'd figure that would have learned from Boeing and used a whole shitload of fasteners..

this post was submitted on 30 Jun 2024
156 points (97.6% liked)

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