VIDEO: NASA, We Have a Problem! Unmanned Rocket Explodes Just Six Seconds After Taking Off For the International Space Station, Wiping Out Equipment Worth $200Mil

VIDEO: NASA, We Have a Problem! Unmanned Rocket Explodes Just Six Seconds After Taking Off For the International Space Station, Wiping Out Equipment Worth $200Mil

The Antares rocket was launched last night with cargo bound for the International Space Station after a sailboat forced the launch to be rescheduled. Unfortunately for NASA, the launch was a catastrophic failure, with the rocket exploding six seconds after takeoff.

antares-explosion

New video of the $200m Orbital Sciences Antares rocket blowing up has revealed the terror of onlookers who had hoped to see a unique night launch.

Footage of the event reveals children screaming, journalists sobbing and even a pilot nearby witnessing the huge fireball.

A full investigation into the launch was underway today, with Orbital Sciences working with Nasa and the FAA to find the cause of the explosion.

… The investigation is expected to focus on fact the Antares rocket that blew up on the launchpad on its way to the International Space Station last night was using a 40-year-old Russian engine of a similar design to those used during the Soviets’ disastrous attempts to beat America to the moon in the 1960s, it has emerged.

Dulles-based Orbital Sciences, which has a $1.9 billion contract to make eight supply missions to the international space station, purchased a number of the engines which had been mothballed by Russia in the 1970s, the Washington Post reports.

‘They were in fact built in Russia about 40 years ago and stored in plastic bags after their Moon program was cancelled,’ Jonathan McDowell, of the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, told NPR.

Thankfully, the rocket was unmanned and no one was hurt, although there was serious property damage. But knowing that the rocket was unmanned, it does make you wonder why exactly these journalists were sobbing — mourning the waste of millions of dollars, perhaps?

Share this!

Enjoy reading? Share it with your friends!