A reusable rocket prototype built by the private spaceflight company SpaceX exploded over the firm's Texas proving grounds Friday (Aug. 22) after an anomaly forced the destruction of the craft.
The SpaceX rocket detonation occurred over McGregor, Texas, where SpaceX has been testing reusable rocket technology using its prototype Falcon 9 Reusable (or F9R) vehicle. One observer video shows debris falling from the sky just after the explosion.
"During the flight, an anomaly was detected in the vehicle and the flight termination system automatically terminated the mission," SpaceX representatives said in a statement.
"Throughout the test and subsequent flight termination, the vehicle remained in the designated flight area."
"There were no injuries or near injuries. An FAA representative was present at all times."
On Friday, SpaceX was testing a three-engine version of the F9R rocket when the incident occurred. The vehicle, which is the successor to SpaceX's Grasshopper reusable rocket, began single-engine test flights earlier this year.
An anomaly occurred during a test flight of SpaceX's Falcon 9-R Dev1 rocket at their development site in McGregor, Texas. The Flight Termination System ended the mission as it was designed to. More information to follow.
Why does Russia seem to get so many bright meteors?
Well at 6.6 million square miles it's by far the largest country in the world plus, with dashboard-mounted cameras being so commonplace (partly to help combat insurance fraud).
Statistically it makes sense that Russians would end up seeing more meteors, capture the event on video and share the experience with the rest of the world!
This is exactly what happened early this morning, April 19 (local time), when a bright fireball flashed in the skies over Murmansk, located on the Kola Peninsula in northwest Russia near the border of Finland.
Luckily not nearly as large or powerful as the Chelyabinsk meteor event from February 2013, no sound or air blast from this fireball has been reported and nobody was injured.
Details on the object aren't yet known… it could be a meteor (most likely) or it could be re-entering space debris.
The video above, some of which was captured by Alexandr Nesterov from his dashcam, shows the object dramatically lighting up the early morning sky.
One Russian astronomer suggests this bolide may have been part of the debris that results in the Lyrid meteor shower, which peaks on April 22-23.
An unmanned Russian carrier rocket exploded Tuesday on takeoff at the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, releasing tonnes of highly toxic fuel into the air in the space programme's latest disaster caught on live television.
Spectacular footage showed the Proton-M rocket veering off its trajectory just seconds after its 6:38 am (0238 GMT) launch, before falling apart in mid-air, erupting into a ball of flames and unleashing clouds of noxious black smoke.
"It seems something is going wrong," said a Russian television commentator during the live coverage of the launch at the Baikonur cosmodrome in the Central Asian state of Kazakhstan.
"Something is wrong. It seems it will be a catastrophe," said the presenter, his voice trembling, shortly before the rocket exploded.
President Vladimir Putin had been informed of the accident, the Kremlin said in a statement.
The rocket, which fell back into the area of the Baikonur cosmodrome which Russia leases from ex-Soviet Kazakhstan, was supposed to take three Russian Glonass-M navigation satellites into space.
The rocket carried 600 tonnes of kerosene, heptyl and amyl which are highly poisonous components of rocket fuel, said the head of the Kazakh space agency, Talgat Musabayev.
The Russian space agency Roskosmos, citing preliminary information, said the accident caused no damage or casualties but the crash site was immediately cordoned off and residents of nearby towns including Baikonur were told to stay indoors and keep their windows shut.
Heptyl is a highly poisonous component of rocket fuel and is known to be more toxic than the chemical weapon sarin.
Kazakh officials played down the immediate danger to people, saying a lot of the fuel had burned in the air but some experts suggested the fumes may find their way into drinking water.
Locals said the explosion sounded like thunder and that they were not unduly concerned about their safety.
"They asked us to stay indoors and not to open windows," said Mukhtar Umurzakov, a 46-year-old driver, who lives in the town of Kyzyl-Orda some 300 kilometres (185 miles) from Baikonur.
"They also said you cannot release cattle out to pasture but no one paid attention," he told AFP.
Officials in Kazakhstan said earlier Tuesday that a cloud of fumes that had formed over the cosmodrome could move beyond the area.
Head of the emergencies ministry in Kazakhstan, Vladimir Bozhko, was quoted as saying that early indications showed the accident was caused by a malfunction of a first-stage engine.
Experts say the disaster is a major blow to the reputation of the reliable Proton-M rocket.
"Proton is our main workhorse for commercial use," space analyst Vadim Lukashevich told AFP. "Businessmen will now start thinking whether they should look for another carrier."
He added that Russia would likely come under more pressure from Kazakhstan to increase rental payments for the cosmodrome.
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