I'm sure Russian engineering and industry is top notch, but the point that people are taking from this accident is that the engines on the Antares are refurbished, once mothballed, decades old equipment, whose reason for being chosen had less to do with capability than availability and cost.

 

And as far as Soyuz vs Space Shuttle goes, a faulty valve or parachute can also doom a spacecraft...

Kevin, you discerned my point correctly. I would be just as concerned were they using "refurbished" American rocket engines.

 

Perhaps I should have underlined the relevant adjective refurbished...

New report just out confirms that the launch company hit the "destruct" or terminate button as they got indicators the launch was flawed and the rocket would not make orbit. Wanted to make sure it did not stray into a populated area.  Wonder how they determined that so quickly.

That just doesn't sound right. One of the main reasons for launching from the east coast is that within seconds after lift off, the vehicle is over the Great Pond more commonly known as the Atlantic Ocean...

 

...there's not a whole lot of "populated area" there!

That just doesn't sound right. One of the main reasons for launching from the east coast is that within seconds after lift off, the vehicle is over the Great Pond more commonly known as the Atlantic Ocean...

 

...there's not a whole lot of "populated area" there!

 

I don't think the rocket even had a chance to angle out over the ocean before it was made to go boom. If it was in trouble that early (and considering the relatively nearby civilian spectators shown in various videos) I would want to stop it too, before it (or any of its upper stages) got a mind of its own and veered someplace......... inconvenient.

 

Given the possibilities, I would have pounded that "destruct" button with a big old cartoon sized whack-a-mole hammer, if necessary, without the slightest hesitation..

The range safety officers have their finger on the destruct button ready to push it at the first hint. These launches from Wallops actually come pretty close to NYC. Several years ago, as I was flying down the Shaff arrival into Newark one saturday morning from Bangor, I was looking out the window at the numerous contrails in the sky above and noticed one particular zig-zagged contrail. I looked at it for a second and said to my FO that that contrail looked like a missile trail. I followed it up and sure enough, almost overhead at the end of the contrail was a wide plume of fire looking like a comet, it winked out for a second and then restarted, continuing northeastward, parallel to the coast. If it was not for the overcast skies, everyone on the streets of New York city would have seen it overhead. The controllers knew nothing of it. At least it was heading away and up. Turned out that it was a Minotaur rocket being launched from Wallops as the first commercial launch from that facility.

That's interesting, Kevin. Thanks for the sharing the personal insights. I was not aware that launches from Wallops Island went so far north...

 

 

That just doesn't sound right. One of the main reasons for launching from the east coast is that within seconds after lift off, the vehicle is over the Great Pond more commonly known as the Atlantic Ocean...
 
...there's not a whole lot of "populated area" there!

 

While the intended flight path may be out over the ocean, being on the coast implies that the opposite direction could take it over land, and thus populated areas. Rockets don't always go where you want them too.

 

Not to even mention the gases from the explosion, which I'm sure contain all sorts of things you don't want anybody breathing, and which you certainly don't want to be spread across any sort of wide area.........

 

Remember the warnings about toxic debris from the Columbia?

I'd imagine that the engineers would have developed systems/procedures which constantly monitor the rocket and that if there was an abnormal condition it would require a self destruct action.

 

For example, if the velocity was below a certain rate after a certain time then this may require a self destruct, no questions asked, no second guessing, no hang on, let's see wait and see if it sorts itself out.

 

They probably do simulated launches so they can practice a whole range of failures and how best to respond before things really go pear shaped.