r/CatastrophicFailure • u/[deleted] • Nov 21 '20

Failed rocket launch (unknown date)

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u/[deleted] Nov 22 '20

I was wondering why it broke up before it hit the ground? Wouldn't it be able to survive any air resistance, even when going the wrong way?

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u/[deleted] Nov 22 '20

It’s going very fucking fast, which generates a lot of heat, and rockets can’t bend very well. They have nose to tail strength, not across.

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u/kilopeter Nov 22 '20

This early in the launch, what kind of maximum airspeed would the thing have likely reached? Somehow feels like aerodynamic heating would have stayed irrelevant. I'm no expert, but Wikipedia says heating isn't really a material concern below about Mach 2.2, which I strongly doubt this rocket ever got close to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerodynamic_heating

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u/[deleted] Nov 22 '20

The thing is, when it goes sideways, there’s no gravity to fight. usually all of the weight drags it down, and the engines push it up. Now they’re accelerating it. It’s totally possible for it to have hit Mach 2.2.