What are your "favorite" launch failures?
(pic snagged from Rocket Explosions)
Full Version: "blowed Up Real Good!"
If you're gonna go bad, you might as well make it good!
What are your "favorite" launch failures?
(pic snagged from Rocket Explosions)
What are your "favorite" launch failures?
(pic snagged from Rocket Explosions)
I don't have an image or the footage handy, but there was this early Thor or Delta launch, back in the late 1950s or early 1960s, when the missile lifted off, set on its side, and arced *just* over the Banana River, where it impacted and exploded.
The thing was supposed to be an Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM). However, that flight was re-designated an IBRM -- for the one and only deployed Inter-Banana River Missile.
-the other Doug
The thing was supposed to be an Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM). However, that flight was re-designated an IBRM -- for the one and only deployed Inter-Banana River Missile.
-the other Doug
The saddest rocket failure I remember is the Vanguard carrying an Explorer satellite, aka Kaputnik. The toppling nosecone added to the pathos!
--Bill
--Bill
What amazes me is the number of these boosters - of all sorts - that were blowing up with great frequency in the late 1950's and early 1960's...and then some guys with BIG cojones volunteered to ride on top of them!
QUOTE (Bill Harris @ Dec 20 2005, 08:33 PM)
The saddest rocket failure I remember is the Vanguard carrying an Explorer satellite, aka Kaputnik. The toppling nosecone added to the pathos!
--Bill
--Bill
And supposedly the satellite tumbled out onto the tarmac and began signalling!
(1) CBS spent 6 straight months following the assembly of one Juno 2 booster that was supposed to launch an Explorer satellite in mid-1959, with the intention of telecasting an hour-long TV show on the subject. The plans were hastily cancelled after said rocket lifted off, instantly started to turn upside down and toward the cameramen, and was blown up in mid-air 5 seconds after launch. (You may have seen the photos of that one; it would have been Explorer 6 had it succeeded, and the satellite type on it was later successfully relaunched as Explorer 7.)
(2) One of the Mercury 7 -- I believe it was Alan Shepard -- said that in mid-1960 NASA invited all the Mercury astronauts to watch the first test flight of a fully detailed unmanned Mercury capsule on an Atlas. The effect was somewhat spoiled by the fact that this launch was Mercury-Atlas 1, which blew up with no warning at all a minute after launch when it hit Max Q -- and, to make the effect even more comforting, this particular capsule was not equipped with an escape rocket and got blown to bits along with the rocket.
(3) Nor should we forget such immortal failures as the first Atlas-Able launch of a lunar Pioneer (nose shroud fell off, followed by the probe and then the third stage), or the first attempt to fly an unmanned Mercury on a Redstone. (The rocket started to lift off, shut down its engine one second later due to a faulty sensor, and bumped still upright back down on the pad without exploding. The capsule, having assumed that the rocket had shut down normally at the end of its burn, immediately ejected its escape rocket -- which took off spectacularly from the top of the rocket while it was still sitting on the launch pad -- then sampled the environment outside and concluded that it was already time to open its parachute and start scattering radar chaff and flashing its recovery light beacon, all of which it did while still sitting on top of the rocket. The capsule itself being undamaged, it was reflown on a replacement Redstone just a month later completely successfully.) I got a whole 10th-grade English composition just out of the accounts of these early failures.
(2) One of the Mercury 7 -- I believe it was Alan Shepard -- said that in mid-1960 NASA invited all the Mercury astronauts to watch the first test flight of a fully detailed unmanned Mercury capsule on an Atlas. The effect was somewhat spoiled by the fact that this launch was Mercury-Atlas 1, which blew up with no warning at all a minute after launch when it hit Max Q -- and, to make the effect even more comforting, this particular capsule was not equipped with an escape rocket and got blown to bits along with the rocket.
(3) Nor should we forget such immortal failures as the first Atlas-Able launch of a lunar Pioneer (nose shroud fell off, followed by the probe and then the third stage), or the first attempt to fly an unmanned Mercury on a Redstone. (The rocket started to lift off, shut down its engine one second later due to a faulty sensor, and bumped still upright back down on the pad without exploding. The capsule, having assumed that the rocket had shut down normally at the end of its burn, immediately ejected its escape rocket -- which took off spectacularly from the top of the rocket while it was still sitting on the launch pad -- then sampled the environment outside and concluded that it was already time to open its parachute and start scattering radar chaff and flashing its recovery light beacon, all of which it did while still sitting on top of the rocket. The capsule itself being undamaged, it was reflown on a replacement Redstone just a month later completely successfully.) I got a whole 10th-grade English composition just out of the accounts of these early failures.
Actually, Bruce, the way I always heard the story, MR-1 was reflown as MR-1A some weeks later, using the same capsule *and* the same Redstone booster. The Redstone problem was not with the missile itself, but with the GSE power plug that attached to the base of the missile. A technician had filed off a small bit of one of the two prongs on the power plug, to make it fit better, but that resulted in the plug's prongs disconnecting a few milliseconds apart. It happened at the exact time a mechanical sequencer was sampling the voltages on both sides of the power line, and resulted in the Redstone shutdown. But nothing was wrong with the missile, the fins weren't even bent by it settling back down onto them.
However, the Redstone was *almost* rendered unusable that day. Once the 'chutes had been deployed (and, make no mistake, it was the drogue, the main and the reserve main 'chutes, all deployed at once), there was a great concern that winds could fill the 'chutes and pull the Redstone over, ruining both the missile and the capsule. And none of von Braun's men wanted to go out to the rocket and safe it, because it was still fully fueled -- and the Germans had seen what happens when a fully-fueled rocket tips over.
One of von Braun's men started saying something about having a rifle out in his car. The Americans wanted to know what the hell he was going to do with a rifle, so von Braun explained that, back in the V-2 development days, they had a bird on the pad that was dead but fully fueled, so they took a rifle and punctured the tanks from a safe distance, allowing the tanks to depressurize and vent and making the rocket safe to approach.
Von Braun's deputy (I know the name, I just can't remember it right now) had to be actively dissuaded from getting his rifle and forceably depressurizing the tanks. Fortunately, winds stayed light and they were able to get the missile safed (and the chutes gathered up) before anything really bad happened.
BTW -- that whole episode was later dubbed "The Day They Launched the Escape Tower." Funny thing is, the escape tower jett motor was loud and flashy, and the tower took off REALLY fast -- such that the politicians who had been invited to watch were very impressed at just how fast these rockets flew away! They had to be told that the rocket was still on the pad...
-the other Doug
However, the Redstone was *almost* rendered unusable that day. Once the 'chutes had been deployed (and, make no mistake, it was the drogue, the main and the reserve main 'chutes, all deployed at once), there was a great concern that winds could fill the 'chutes and pull the Redstone over, ruining both the missile and the capsule. And none of von Braun's men wanted to go out to the rocket and safe it, because it was still fully fueled -- and the Germans had seen what happens when a fully-fueled rocket tips over.
One of von Braun's men started saying something about having a rifle out in his car. The Americans wanted to know what the hell he was going to do with a rifle, so von Braun explained that, back in the V-2 development days, they had a bird on the pad that was dead but fully fueled, so they took a rifle and punctured the tanks from a safe distance, allowing the tanks to depressurize and vent and making the rocket safe to approach.
Von Braun's deputy (I know the name, I just can't remember it right now) had to be actively dissuaded from getting his rifle and forceably depressurizing the tanks. Fortunately, winds stayed light and they were able to get the missile safed (and the chutes gathered up) before anything really bad happened.
BTW -- that whole episode was later dubbed "The Day They Launched the Escape Tower." Funny thing is, the escape tower jett motor was loud and flashy, and the tower took off REALLY fast -- such that the politicians who had been invited to watch were very impressed at just how fast these rockets flew away! They had to be told that the rocket was still on the pad...
-the other Doug
"I created a home for all our pyromania..."
When Spacecraft films first got started, I emailed them a suggestion that they produce a "Launch Bloopers Reel". I don't have the Liftoff DVD set yet, but maybe the flagroom content on that resulted from my suggestion (they never replied to my email).
During the CBS News non-stop coverage of Apollo 11 on the moon, during the really slack period, they ran a compilation of launch bloopers. It may have run 20 minutes, maybe less. It had ones I'd never seen before and probably never since. But the climax was beyond belief, LITERALLY.
Somebody took a Saturn 5 launch, and used some nifty film compositng to replace the rocket with a Lighthouse. As the lighthouse is climbing for altitude, somebody runs out of the door on the observation deck and is running around and around the circular deck as the pseudo-rocket hauls a## for space!
R.O.T.F.L.M.A.O.!
When Spacecraft films first got started, I emailed them a suggestion that they produce a "Launch Bloopers Reel". I don't have the Liftoff DVD set yet, but maybe the flagroom content on that resulted from my suggestion (they never replied to my email).
During the CBS News non-stop coverage of Apollo 11 on the moon, during the really slack period, they ran a compilation of launch bloopers. It may have run 20 minutes, maybe less. It had ones I'd never seen before and probably never since. But the climax was beyond belief, LITERALLY.
Somebody took a Saturn 5 launch, and used some nifty film compositng to replace the rocket with a Lighthouse. As the lighthouse is climbing for altitude, somebody runs out of the door on the observation deck and is running around and around the circular deck as the pseudo-rocket hauls a## for space!
R.O.T.F.L.M.A.O.!
QUOTE (BruceMoomaw @ Dec 21 2005, 04:03 AM)
(1) CBS spent 6 straight months following the assembly of one Juno 2 booster that was supposed to launch an Explorer satellite in mid-1959, with the intention of telecasting an hour-long TV show on the subject. The plans were hastily cancelled after said rocket lifted off, instantly started to turn upside down and toward the cameramen, and was blown up in mid-air 5 seconds after launch. (You may have seen the photos of that one; it would have been Explorer 6 had it succeeded, and the satellite type on it was later successfully relaunched as Explorer 7.)
(2) One of the Mercury 7 -- I believe it was Alan Shepard -- said that in mid-1960 NASA invited all the Mercury astronauts to watch the first test flight of a fully detailed unmanned Mercury capsule on an Atlas. The effect was somewhat spoiled by the fact that this launch was Mercury-Atlas 1, which blew up with no warning at all a minute after launch when it hit Max Q -- and, to make the effect even more comforting, this particular capsule was not equipped with an escape rocket and got blown to bits along with the rocket.
(3) Nor should we forget such immortal failures as the first Atlas-Able launch of a lunar Pioneer (nose shroud fell off, followed by the probe and then the third stage), or the first attempt to fly an unmanned Mercury on a Redstone. (The rocket started to lift off, shut down its engine one second later due to a faulty sensor, and bumped still upright back down on the pad without exploding. The capsule, having assumed that the rocket had shut down normally at the end of its burn, immediately ejected its escape rocket -- which took off spectacularly from the top of the rocket while it was still sitting on the launch pad -- then sampled the environment outside and concluded that it was already time to open its parachute and start scattering radar chaff and flashing its recovery light beacon, all of which it did while still sitting on top of the rocket. The capsule itself being undamaged, it was reflown on a replacement Redstone just a month later completely successfully.) I got a whole 10th-grade English composition just out of the accounts of these early failures.
(2) One of the Mercury 7 -- I believe it was Alan Shepard -- said that in mid-1960 NASA invited all the Mercury astronauts to watch the first test flight of a fully detailed unmanned Mercury capsule on an Atlas. The effect was somewhat spoiled by the fact that this launch was Mercury-Atlas 1, which blew up with no warning at all a minute after launch when it hit Max Q -- and, to make the effect even more comforting, this particular capsule was not equipped with an escape rocket and got blown to bits along with the rocket.
(3) Nor should we forget such immortal failures as the first Atlas-Able launch of a lunar Pioneer (nose shroud fell off, followed by the probe and then the third stage), or the first attempt to fly an unmanned Mercury on a Redstone. (The rocket started to lift off, shut down its engine one second later due to a faulty sensor, and bumped still upright back down on the pad without exploding. The capsule, having assumed that the rocket had shut down normally at the end of its burn, immediately ejected its escape rocket -- which took off spectacularly from the top of the rocket while it was still sitting on the launch pad -- then sampled the environment outside and concluded that it was already time to open its parachute and start scattering radar chaff and flashing its recovery light beacon, all of which it did while still sitting on top of the rocket. The capsule itself being undamaged, it was reflown on a replacement Redstone just a month later completely successfully.) I got a whole 10th-grade English composition just out of the accounts of these early failures.
I wonder if CBS or someone still has all that film footage of the Juno 2/Explorer program? Certainly an important historical record of a byegone era.
What was it Chuck Yeager said in The Right Stuff about the Mercury astronauts -
"Monkeys? You think a money knows he's sittin' on top of a rocket that might explode? These astronaut boys they know that, see? Well, I'll tell you something, it takes a special kind of man to volunteer for a suicide mission, especially one that's on TV. Ol' Gus, he did alright."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086197/quotes
The launch failure I'm most fond of is one of my own, when I was a kid doing model rocketry. This was back when both fuses and electrical igniters were considered valid launch systems. Since I didn't have allowance saved up for a fancy electrical system, I stuck with fuses. Besides, I always thought fuses were a much more romantic way to start a rocket on its way 
One day, when I *had* to do a launch with my buddies, I found that the only length of fuse I had left was too wide for the nozzle on the engine. When the flame got up to the engine, there wasn't enough oxygen for it to continue burning. Not knowing any better, I took a screwdriver to the engine's nozzle, making it wide enough to accommodate a new length of fuse.
When the engine did ignite, the chipped, irregular nozzle created all sorts of interesting and chaotic thrust vectors. I don't have any pictures, but it was similar to the one posted by lyford at the start of this thread. Basically, the rocket went everywhere but straight up, scattering the spectators wildly before it crashed to the ground and deployed its parachute.
Luckily nobody got hurt. Upon hearing the news of the failure, my dad helped me finally buy that fancy electrical launcher
One day, when I *had* to do a launch with my buddies, I found that the only length of fuse I had left was too wide for the nozzle on the engine. When the flame got up to the engine, there wasn't enough oxygen for it to continue burning. Not knowing any better, I took a screwdriver to the engine's nozzle, making it wide enough to accommodate a new length of fuse.
When the engine did ignite, the chipped, irregular nozzle created all sorts of interesting and chaotic thrust vectors. I don't have any pictures, but it was similar to the one posted by lyford at the start of this thread. Basically, the rocket went everywhere but straight up, scattering the spectators wildly before it crashed to the ground and deployed its parachute.
Luckily nobody got hurt. Upon hearing the news of the failure, my dad helped me finally buy that fancy electrical launcher
QUOTE (BruceMoomaw @ Dec 21 2005, 10:03 AM)
(3) ... or the first attempt to fly an unmanned Mercury on a Redstone. (The rocket started to lift off, shut down its engine one second later due to a faulty sensor, and bumped still upright back down on the pad without exploding. The capsule, having assumed that the rocket had shut down normally at the end of its burn, immediately ejected its escape rocket -- which took off spectacularly from the top of the rocket while it was still sitting on the launch pad -- then sampled the environment outside and concluded that it was already time to open its parachute and start scattering radar chaff and flashing its recovery light beacon, all of which it did while still sitting on top of the rocket. The capsule itself being undamaged, it was reflown on a replacement Redstone just a month later completely successfully.) I got a whole 10th-grade English composition just out of the accounts of these early failures.
That was a "good" one!
PS: Didn't know that the capsule was reflown.
QUOTE (BruceMoomaw @ Dec 21 2005, 01:03 AM)
The capsule, having assumed that the rocket had shut down normally at the end of its burn, immediately ejected its escape rocket
Is that footage used in the movie The Right Stuff at the end of the blowing up rockets montage, with a champagne cork *pop*?
edstrick, I have never gotten around to ordering that particular DVD of "rocket porn", but I may have to now...
And here's some memories from the Homebrew Club - XPRIZE!
Rubicon 1
Not supposed to do that...
Its "passenger"
Going, going...
Gone!
Armadillo Aerospace
What Goes Up (4.1 MB MPEG video)
Starchaser
Nobody got hurt
And to prove that money is no object - DC-X (accent on the "ex")
2.4 MB Quicktime Movie
Keep 'em coming!
BTW - if anyone is wondering as to the origin of the thread name....
Those are great clips, Lyford. People like things that go booooom.
BTW, I finally got around to googling 'richard courant orion' and yes, that was insane...
--Bill
BTW, I finally got around to googling 'richard courant orion' and yes, that was insane...
--Bill
My own favorite launch blooper concerns a cruise missile, SM-62, # 53-8172. This was the first long-range trial of the supposedly operational Snark D in December 1956.
It was supposed to fly from the Cape to Puerto Rico, then turn back and land at Cape Canaveral, all by its own INS. However after a while it started diverging towards the south and no commands from the tracking stations had any effect. Neither had the self-destruct orders. Fighters were scrambled from Puerto Rico, but too late to catch up.
53-8172 was last heard of crossing the coast of Venezuela and presumably still rests somewhere in the amazonian jungle.
An epitaph from a Florida newspaper:
They shot a Snark into the air
It fell to ground, they know not where
tty
It was supposed to fly from the Cape to Puerto Rico, then turn back and land at Cape Canaveral, all by its own INS. However after a while it started diverging towards the south and no commands from the tracking stations had any effect. Neither had the self-destruct orders. Fighters were scrambled from Puerto Rico, but too late to catch up.
53-8172 was last heard of crossing the coast of Venezuela and presumably still rests somewhere in the amazonian jungle.
An epitaph from a Florida newspaper:
They shot a Snark into the air
It fell to ground, they know not where
tty
QUOTE (tty @ Dec 21 2005, 11:50 PM)
My own favorite launch blooper concerns a cruise missile, SM-62, # 53-8172. This was the first long-range trial of the supposedly operational Snark D in December 1956.
It was supposed to fly from the Cape to Puerto Rico, then turn back and land at Cape Canaveral, all by its own INS. However after a while it started diverging towards the south and no commands from the tracking stations had any effect. Neither had the self-destruct orders. Fighters were scrambled from Puerto Rico, but too late to catch up.
53-8172 was last heard of crossing the coast of Venezuela and presumably still rests somewhere in the amazonian jungle.
An epitaph from a Florida newspaper:
They shot a Snark into the air
It fell to ground, they know not where
tty
It was supposed to fly from the Cape to Puerto Rico, then turn back and land at Cape Canaveral, all by its own INS. However after a while it started diverging towards the south and no commands from the tracking stations had any effect. Neither had the self-destruct orders. Fighters were scrambled from Puerto Rico, but too late to catch up.
53-8172 was last heard of crossing the coast of Venezuela and presumably still rests somewhere in the amazonian jungle.
An epitaph from a Florida newspaper:
They shot a Snark into the air
It fell to ground, they know not where
tty
Wow - it's uncannily like the plot of the movie Lost Continent, which was made only 5 years earlier!
I guess those old B-movies were more realistic than I thought.
This one was almost fireworks - got a nice "Blackened Cajun Coating" to it by the time it left the pad:
Delta IV Heavy BBQ
RocketCam Version! Scroll Down!
APOD gif version
hmmm - mhoward - that's the second MST3K reference in a week - are you hoping Santa reads UMSF? Have you been a good boy this year?
Delta IV Heavy BBQ
RocketCam Version! Scroll Down!
APOD gif version
hmmm - mhoward - that's the second MST3K reference in a week - are you hoping Santa reads UMSF? Have you been a good boy this year?
I lost the link to this when my machine kept going down a couple of years ago, but in keeping with this thread, there was a small group of engineers who wanted to know what would happen if you ladled a nice big spoonful of LOX onto, say, a charcoal grill.
The guy did it right -- he attached a big scoop to a 3-meter pole. His confederates managed to fill the scoop with liquid oxygen, and the guy maneuvered the scoop over the charcoal grill, and dumped.
The flash was rather brighter than the camera could handle, but as the flash abated, you could see the charcoal grill's legs collapse. The entire metal pan that held the charcoal had literally melted through...
-the other Doug
The guy did it right -- he attached a big scoop to a 3-meter pole. His confederates managed to fill the scoop with liquid oxygen, and the guy maneuvered the scoop over the charcoal grill, and dumped.
The flash was rather brighter than the camera could handle, but as the flash abated, you could see the charcoal grill's legs collapse. The entire metal pan that held the charcoal had literally melted through...
-the other Doug
Ever wonder what a cluster of 747 engines would do to a car that got behind it while the jetliner was getting ready for takeoff?
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/47116/747_jet_blast/
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/47116/747_jet_blast/
QUOTE (dvandorn @ Dec 22 2005, 02:37 AM)
I lost the link to this when my machine kept going down a couple of years ago, but in keeping with this thread, there was a small group of engineers who wanted to know what would happen if you ladled a nice big spoonful of LOX onto, say, a charcoal grill.
-the other Doug
-the other Doug
I think that particular video is now gone from the interweb but this one is a very simillar re-enactment done by some (obviously drunk) undergrad chemistry fun group (VERY non dialup-friendly). For a group of chemistry students, some of the demos are done with a surprisingly stupid lack of regard for safety. In one part, the guy actually manually directs the stream of liquid O2 on to the grill standing mere inches away. Also they do another one where they drop thermite into a beaker of water, where, if you ask me, they got away extremely lucky. If that configuration is just so it will explode with EXTREME violence blowing liquid metal everywhere because the metal is hot enough to lyse the water into O2 and H2. Nonetheless highly amusing. I particularly like the last one where they set off a huge amount of thermite, the massive gush/splash of liquid Fe is spectacular.
Then, though it's about as far as you can get from OUTER space, the internet geek's #1 all time favorite explosion:
http://www.theexplodingwhale.com/
http://www.theexplodingwhale.com/
QUOTE (edstrick @ Dec 22 2005, 05:44 AM)
Then, though it's about as far as you can get from OUTER space, the internet geek's #1 all time favorite explosion:
http://www.theexplodingwhale.com/
http://www.theexplodingwhale.com/
Is it just me, or can you tell that this forum is dominated by guys.
QUOTE (dvandorn @ Dec 21 2005, 06:37 PM)
I lost the link to this when my machine kept going down a couple of years ago, but in keeping with this thread, there was a small group of engineers who wanted to know what would happen if you ladled a nice big spoonful of LOX onto, say, a charcoal grill.
I think you mean George Goble. His official Purdue page was removed, for some reason
9 MB MPEG here
Has more on his site -
And not that I have anything against exploding whales, to be on topic they should be doing so upon launch or reentry, and perhaps with a bowl of petunias?
EDITED to fix movie link
For a hilarious story on WHY a rocket could go off in the wrong direction, read "The Missile that Couldn't Fly Straight" by Hal Hardenbergh. It can be found in the September 1983 issue of his "DTACK Grounded" newsletter, writing under the pen name of "Feldercarb N. Eloi." (It was supposed to be about 68000 programming, but he usually wrote about whatever he felt like writing.)
Though it claims to be a "fictional story," it's strongly hinted to be based on real problems with the guidance system for a missle he calls "a Secondperson" (Hmmm, any relation to the Minuteman?) with the names changed.
The short version:
[Obviously the problem is with the guidance gyroscopes, built by a company here called "Almalgametics."]
For the whole hilarious story (including why the Almagametics manager responsible couldn't be punished and was even rewarded), the whole (long) newsletter is in the "DTACK Grounded Archive" at:
http://linux.monroeccc.edu/~paulrsm/dg/dg23.htm
and scroll over halfway down to the "Page 17, Column 1" heading.
John D.
Though it claims to be a "fictional story," it's strongly hinted to be based on real problems with the guidance system for a missle he calls "a Secondperson" (Hmmm, any relation to the Minuteman?) with the names changed.
The short version:
QUOTE
Finally, enough missiles were in place that one could be safely expended for test purposes. It was pulled from its hole, trucked to Vandenberg AFB, and aimed due west. That's north of Hawaii and south of the Great Circle trade routes to Japan. When they launched the Secondperson the engines performed flawlessly as the missile flew on a straight line for Kansas City. The launch officer had to destroy it, of course. Regrettably, Kansas City is east, not west, of Vandenberg AFB. Oh, well, you can't expect missiles to perform perfectly every time.
General Rattlesword decided that the next random test would be with two missiles, and would be performed as soon as practicable....
Two new test-firings of production Secondperson missiles occurred on consecutive days at Vandenberg AFO under the personal supervision of General Rattlesword and a coterie of lesser officers, including Colonel Crudcutter. Although both were aimed west, one flew north and the other north-west. The engines of both missiles were performing flawlessly when the launch officer destroyed them.
A private conversation took place shortly after the second (third in all) test-firing. It was between General Rattlesword, seated, and Colonel Crudcutter, standing at attention. We do not know the details of this conversation but it is possible that Rattlesword called Crudcutter's attention to the fact that he was the resposible officer in charge of the inertial guidance portion of the Secondperson missile program.
It was decided to test additional missiles. In all, twelve production Secondperson missiles were pulled from the ground and test-fired. All twelve engines performed perfectly. The direction the missiles flew was random, one missile heading almost in the direction it was pointed....
General Rattlesword decided that the next random test would be with two missiles, and would be performed as soon as practicable....
Two new test-firings of production Secondperson missiles occurred on consecutive days at Vandenberg AFO under the personal supervision of General Rattlesword and a coterie of lesser officers, including Colonel Crudcutter. Although both were aimed west, one flew north and the other north-west. The engines of both missiles were performing flawlessly when the launch officer destroyed them.
A private conversation took place shortly after the second (third in all) test-firing. It was between General Rattlesword, seated, and Colonel Crudcutter, standing at attention. We do not know the details of this conversation but it is possible that Rattlesword called Crudcutter's attention to the fact that he was the resposible officer in charge of the inertial guidance portion of the Secondperson missile program.
It was decided to test additional missiles. In all, twelve production Secondperson missiles were pulled from the ground and test-fired. All twelve engines performed perfectly. The direction the missiles flew was random, one missile heading almost in the direction it was pointed....
[Obviously the problem is with the guidance gyroscopes, built by a company here called "Almalgametics."]
QUOTE
Ten days into the investigation, a young Lieutenant knocked on Crudcutter's ofice. "Colonel," he said, "here are two sets of test data which I took, personally, on the same gyro. The first one here is well within our requirements. But this second set shows that the same gyro is a piece of garbage!"
"This first set," the Lieutenant continued, "were taken using the standard test setup Amalgametics has been using. This second set shows the same gyro and the same power supply except that I changed the wheel supply to operate at a constant frequency."
"What do you mean, changed to operate at a constant frequency?" snapped Crudcutter.
"Well, the standard Amalgametics test setup uses something called a phase-locked loop," the Lieutenant explained patiently to his (very) superior officer. "What that does is keep the gyro spinning at a constant frequency. But it also means that the output frequency of the wheel supply is not constant, but rather changing continuously to accommodate the gyro."
Now, the fact is that Colonel Crudcutter had no education in electronics and did not understand the explanation. He annoyedly snapped back, "So?"
"So the power supply in the missile flight package runs at a constant frequency," replied the Lieutenant."
"This first set," the Lieutenant continued, "were taken using the standard test setup Amalgametics has been using. This second set shows the same gyro and the same power supply except that I changed the wheel supply to operate at a constant frequency."
"What do you mean, changed to operate at a constant frequency?" snapped Crudcutter.
"Well, the standard Amalgametics test setup uses something called a phase-locked loop," the Lieutenant explained patiently to his (very) superior officer. "What that does is keep the gyro spinning at a constant frequency. But it also means that the output frequency of the wheel supply is not constant, but rather changing continuously to accommodate the gyro."
Now, the fact is that Colonel Crudcutter had no education in electronics and did not understand the explanation. He annoyedly snapped back, "So?"
"So the power supply in the missile flight package runs at a constant frequency," replied the Lieutenant."
For the whole hilarious story (including why the Almagametics manager responsible couldn't be punished and was even rewarded), the whole (long) newsletter is in the "DTACK Grounded Archive" at:
http://linux.monroeccc.edu/~paulrsm/dg/dg23.htm
and scroll over halfway down to the "Page 17, Column 1" heading.
John D.
QUOTE (jrdahlman @ Dec 22 2005, 02:00 PM)
For a hilarious story on WHY a rocket could go off in the wrong direction, read "The Missile that Couldn't Fly Straight" by Hal Hardenbergh. It can be found in the September 1983 issue of his "DTACK Grounded" newsletter, writing under the pen name of "Feldercarb N. Eloi." (It was supposed to be about 68000 programming, but he usually wrote about whatever he felt like writing.)
Though it claims to be a "fictional story," it's strongly hinted to be based on real problems with the guidance system for a missle he calls "a Secondperson" (Hmmm, any relation to the Minuteman?) with the names changed.
The short version:
[Obviously the problem is with the guidance gyroscopes, built by a company here called "Almalgametics."]
For the whole hilarious story (including why the Almagametics manager responsible couldn't be punished and was even rewarded), the whole (long) newsletter is in the "DTACK Grounded Archive" at:
http://linux.monroeccc.edu/~paulrsm/dg/dg23.htm
and scroll over halfway down to the "Page 17, Column 1" heading.
John D.
Though it claims to be a "fictional story," it's strongly hinted to be based on real problems with the guidance system for a missle he calls "a Secondperson" (Hmmm, any relation to the Minuteman?) with the names changed.
The short version:
[Obviously the problem is with the guidance gyroscopes, built by a company here called "Almalgametics."]
For the whole hilarious story (including why the Almagametics manager responsible couldn't be punished and was even rewarded), the whole (long) newsletter is in the "DTACK Grounded Archive" at:
http://linux.monroeccc.edu/~paulrsm/dg/dg23.htm
and scroll over halfway down to the "Page 17, Column 1" heading.
John D.
No doubt this was the same kind of "logic" that had those Thiokol engineers who blew the whistle on the Shuttle SRB O-rings back in 1986 treated as pariahs rather than heroes for trying to do the right thing.
No good deed goes unpunished.
lyford: "And not that I have anything against exploding whales, to be on topic they should be doing so upon launch or reentry"
Wellllllll....... As Controlled Demolictions Inc. says of their competetion when they use too much explosive: "They Launched the building".... They certainly put quite a bit of the whale on 1/4 mile suborbital trajectories!
Wellllllll....... As Controlled Demolictions Inc. says of their competetion when they use too much explosive: "They Launched the building".... They certainly put quite a bit of the whale on 1/4 mile suborbital trajectories!
Found that Mercury pic....
from Arizona High Power Rocketry Assoc.
Now there are some folks with toys....
Click to view attachment
from Arizona High Power Rocketry Assoc.
Now there are some folks with toys....
Click to view attachment
Well I guess that the MER scientists were very happy about the launchvehicles, as the one used right after MER B ... blew up!
I've not read that any Delta II's have blown up recently. iirc, the Delta II after MerB was SIRTF, and that was fine.
Are you thinking of a Delta II back in '97 I think, the one after the MPF launch?
Doug
Are you thinking of a Delta II back in '97 I think, the one after the MPF launch?
Doug
Slightly OT but marginally related: Have you guys heard of Punkin Chunkin? It's an annual event to (1) drink a lot of beer and (2) test devices that can throw/shoot pumpkins horrendously long distances. This year's winner lobbed a pumpkin over 4,300 feet (that's more than 1.3 km to you dimensionally-challenged Europeans).
Check out Punkin Chunkin. There are free videos from the 2004 competition at the bottom of the Gallery page.
Check out Punkin Chunkin. There are free videos from the 2004 competition at the bottom of the Gallery page.
QUOTE (lyford @ Dec 22 2005, 06:51 PM)
I think you mean George Goble. His official Purdue page was removed, for some reason
9 MB MPEG here
Has more on his site -
And not that I have anything against exploding whales, to be on topic they should be doing so upon launch or reentry, and perhaps with a bowl of petunias?
EDITED to fix movie link
9 MB MPEG here
Has more on his site -
And not that I have anything against exploding whales, to be on topic they should be doing so upon launch or reentry, and perhaps with a bowl of petunias?
EDITED to fix movie link
That man is famous - he got an igNoble for Stupid Chemistry!
On his site, he describes LOX as 'light blue, like the sky' and 'slightly magnetic'. These are news to me...
Bob Shaw
Amazing... I would have expected him to have gotten a Darwin Award long ago. _Gallons_ of LOX?
--Bill
--Bill
Well, maybe not the Darwin Award, but he seems to have attracted the local fire department's attention:
He needs to get a house out in the desert somewhere to continue his "research."
QUOTE
Two years after the act, the local fire dept was not very happy with the fact, after seeing this web page. They now consider it "use of explosives", therefore I am not lighting any more grills.
He needs to get a house out in the desert somewhere to continue his "research."
Yep, I do imagine that his experimentation was met with uneven enthusiasm by the local authorities.
When I was a budding mad scientist as a young teen I made a plasma torch of a 110VAC carbon arc lamp and used freon as the gas. Did it once and only once.
--Bill
When I was a budding mad scientist as a young teen I made a plasma torch of a 110VAC carbon arc lamp and used freon as the gas. Did it once and only once.
--Bill
QUOTE (ilbasso @ Dec 29 2005, 03:49 PM)
Slightly OT but marginally related: Have you guys heard of Punkin Chunkin? It's an annual event to (1) drink a lot of beer and (2) test devices that can throw/shoot pumpkins horrendously long distances. This year's winner lobbed a pumpkin over 4,300 feet (that's more than 1.3 km to you dimensionally-challenged Europeans).
Check out Punkin Chunkin. There are free videos from the 2004 competition at the bottom of the Gallery page.
Check out Punkin Chunkin. There are free videos from the 2004 competition at the bottom of the Gallery page.
Did you notice that most of these people are young, single males with lots of time on their hands who enjoy blowing things up? Terrorist recruits seem to run in similar categories.
QUOTE (Bill Harris @ Dec 29 2005, 09:31 PM)
When I was a budding mad scientist as a young teen I made a plasma torch of a 110VAC carbon arc lamp and used freon as the gas. Did it once and only once.
--Bill
--Bill
Do you still have eyebrows?
QUOTE (ljk4-1 @ Dec 30 2005, 03:47 AM)
Did you notice that most of these people are young, single males with lots of time on their hands who enjoy blowing things up? Terrorist recruits seem to run in similar categories.
It's the guys that *don't* drink the bheer that we have to worry about - the drunken sort are more of a risk to themselves than to the rest of us.
A Modest Proposal: *FREE* and *LEGAL* Terrorist Training Camps - Inebriation Compulsory, Explosives *FREE*!
(ducks and runs, this time because something just went BANGaaaarghWHOOSH!)
Bob Shaw
I tried to burn sodium nitrate indoors.
Once.
I succeeded in setting a rug on fire. The NaNO3 melted through the aluminum container I thought would contain the 'reactants'.
Once.
I succeeded in setting a rug on fire. The NaNO3 melted through the aluminum container I thought would contain the 'reactants'.
QUOTE (tasp @ Jan 10 2006, 09:37 PM)
I tried to burn sodium nitrate indoors.
I succeeded in setting a rug on fire. The NaNO3 melted through the aluminum container I thought would contain the 'reactants'.
I succeeded in setting a rug on fire. The NaNO3 melted through the aluminum container I thought would contain the 'reactants'.
That's it?!?
I have expected more from a guy that have that "Radioactivity danger" avatar
Click to view attachment
Once I poured half bucket of "fuel oil" on to the big pile of still shining furnace ash...
WHY???
It was dark and I thought it was water....WWWHHHHAAAAUUUUUSSSSHHHH!!!!!...
Boy, was I surprised when FIRE WALL (instead of steam) appeared of 4-5 meters high up in front of me...ARGH!!!
QUOTE (Toma B @ Jan 10 2006, 12:51 PM)
That's it?!?
I have expected more from a guy that have that "Radioactivity danger" avatar
Click to view attachment
Once I poured half bucket of "fuel oil" on to the big pile of still shining furnace ash...
WHY???
It was dark and I thought it was water....WWWHHHHAAAAUUUUUSSSSHHHH!!!!!...
Boy, was I surprised when FIRE WALL (instead of steam) appeared of 4-5 meters high up in front of me...ARGH!!!
I have expected more from a guy that have that "Radioactivity danger" avatar
Click to view attachment
Once I poured half bucket of "fuel oil" on to the big pile of still shining furnace ash...
WHY???
It was dark and I thought it was water....WWWHHHHAAAAUUUUUSSSSHHHH!!!!!...
Boy, was I surprised when FIRE WALL (instead of steam) appeared of 4-5 meters high up in front of me...ARGH!!!
Well, that was one of the scariest things I did indoors.
I burned the backyard off a few times, and a cornfield once . . . .
And there was the steel manhole cover incident . . . .
We won't go into the oven cleaner and bleach poison gas 'learning' experience.
Me, at several occasion I used sodium chlorate and sugar to make little rockets. Some exploded, some went well.
But today sodium chlorate is forbidden, as it was used in some terrorist attacks.
Bloody Ben Laden and company, why they don't like children playing.
But today sodium chlorate is forbidden, as it was used in some terrorist attacks.
Bloody Ben Laden and company, why they don't like children playing.
I thought 'blowed up real good' referred to Bob Shaw's posting record.
Phil
Phil
QUOTE (Richard Trigaux @ Jan 11 2006, 11:27 AM)
Me, at several occasion I used sodium chlorate and sugar to make little rockets. Some exploded, some went well.
But today sodium chlorate is forbidden, as it was used in some terrorist attacks.
Bloody Ben Laden and company, why they don't like children playing.
But today sodium chlorate is forbidden, as it was used in some terrorist attacks.
Bloody Ben Laden and company, why they don't like children playing.
I tried sodium chlorate and sugar too, once. The stuff is too unstable to be safe.
It was fairly widely used as a weedkiller back in the 60's and I once heard a story about a boy who walked over a meadow treated with the stuff on his way to a soccer match. It had been raining and his shoes and stockings got wet. Halfway through the match they had dried out and one of his shoes exploded! I don't know if it's true, but it might well be, practically any organic compound mixed with sodium chlorate becomes explosive.
tty
?? really? I used to mix it w/sugar all the time when I was a kid and never had a problem. It always burned very smoothly and cleanly no matter the ratio. It certainly never detonated. I wouldn't even describe it as a deflagration, just a rapid burn really. (like this) (and provided of course that you dont confine the reaction in any way to cause an explosion from the buildup of hot gasses). It always behaved very predictably and stably for me. perhaps I was using sodium chlorITE?
I had a pint-plus jar of potassium chlorate when I was a kid. Left over photochemicals from when my dad was doing photography when he was in college and afterwards.
I tried making pseudo-estes rocket engines with it and sugar, rolling adding machine tape with a thin glue layer (there's an obsolete product) on a cylinder, and then packing it with chlorate. Plaster of Paris plugs in both ends, one with a hole. They'd hiss and try to move, then blow up, not violently enough to be worth it as home made firecrackers.
I got lazily inventive and ended up flying single-stage Estes rocket engines.
No rocket. Just the engine.
Hot-melt glue a 2 foot thin wooden dowel to the engine. and a 2 inch plastic soda straw beside it. Fill the top cavity with chlorate and sugar, then cap it with a 1/3 inch plaster of paris plug. Pack a little chlorate and sugar in the engine-hole. Slide it onto the launch rail and light the sucker with a MATCH!...
hiss-fizzle..... SWOOOOSH!...... ...... ..... *BANG!*
better than any bottle rocket you can buy in Texas.
I tried making pseudo-estes rocket engines with it and sugar, rolling adding machine tape with a thin glue layer (there's an obsolete product) on a cylinder, and then packing it with chlorate. Plaster of Paris plugs in both ends, one with a hole. They'd hiss and try to move, then blow up, not violently enough to be worth it as home made firecrackers.
I got lazily inventive and ended up flying single-stage Estes rocket engines.
No rocket. Just the engine.
Hot-melt glue a 2 foot thin wooden dowel to the engine. and a 2 inch plastic soda straw beside it. Fill the top cavity with chlorate and sugar, then cap it with a 1/3 inch plaster of paris plug. Pack a little chlorate and sugar in the engine-hole. Slide it onto the launch rail and light the sucker with a MATCH!...
hiss-fizzle..... SWOOOOSH!...... ...... ..... *BANG!*
better than any bottle rocket you can buy in Texas.
Saturn's fury: effects of a Saturn 5 launch pad explosion
---
It was the worst-case scenario for the Apollo program: a Saturn 5
rocket blowing up on the pad. Dwayne Day explains how NASA studied
the risks of such an explosion and what could be done to save the
Apollo crew.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/591/1
---
It was the worst-case scenario for the Apollo program: a Saturn 5
rocket blowing up on the pad. Dwayne Day explains how NASA studied
the risks of such an explosion and what could be done to save the
Apollo crew.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/591/1
Me four on sodium chlorate and sugar!
And yes also I noted the instability and moved over to powder explosives, experiments in which I did loose my eyebrows.
I smiled when reading
Yes same here, just the engine, about 6 inch long if I remember correctly and I test fired it only twice.
I must have been around 10 years old or so, quite amazing what ideas I had as a child.
And yes also I noted the instability and moved over to powder explosives, experiments in which I did loose my eyebrows.
I smiled when reading
QUOTE
edstrick: No rocket. Just the engine.
Yes same here, just the engine, about 6 inch long if I remember correctly and I test fired it only twice.
I must have been around 10 years old or so, quite amazing what ideas I had as a child.
QUOTE (tty @ Jan 12 2006, 05:34 PM)
I tried sodium chlorate and sugar too, once. The stuff is too unstable to be safe.
It was fairly widely used as a weedkiller back in the 60's and I once heard a story about a boy who walked over a meadow treated with the stuff on his way to a soccer match. It had been raining and his shoes and stockings got wet. Halfway through the match they had dried out and one of his shoes exploded! I don't know if it's true, but it might well be, practically any organic compound mixed with sodium chlorate becomes explosive.
tty
It was fairly widely used as a weedkiller back in the 60's and I once heard a story about a boy who walked over a meadow treated with the stuff on his way to a soccer match. It had been raining and his shoes and stockings got wet. Halfway through the match they had dried out and one of his shoes exploded! I don't know if it's true, but it might well be, practically any organic compound mixed with sodium chlorate becomes explosive.
tty
Just as well he didn't sit down ...
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cf...jectID=10362358
QUOTE (tty @ Jan 13 2006, 12:34 AM)
I tried sodium chlorate and sugar too, once. The stuff is too unstable to be safe.
You think that's unstable ? Try sodium chlorate with red phosphorus. A tiny spark will make it go off. Been there, done that, garden full of instant smoke
The joys of being young and ignorant
I believe <may be quite wrong, but I'm too lazy at 5:21 am to google it> that cap-gun explosive caps use teeny chlorate and red phosphorus paste under the paper.
Of course, my favorite home brew explosive is soaking tiny pieces of iodine in household ammonia for an hour to form nitrogen tri-iodide.... contact explosive when dry.. and not very safe when still damp. I recommend making samples no larger than rice grains.
Of course, my favorite home brew explosive is soaking tiny pieces of iodine in household ammonia for an hour to form nitrogen tri-iodide.... contact explosive when dry.. and not very safe when still damp. I recommend making samples no larger than rice grains.
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