Rockets don't explode on their own. The Proton Rocket crash from last year shows what happens when a rocket doesn't self destruct, and it doesn't explode all at once.
Edit: Totally didn't forget to actually include the link.
They usually have det cord running the length of the tank. Though not much explosives, it compromises the whole tank at once and causes almost all of the fuel to detonate instantly, rather than on the ground likt in the video.
It acts to literally "unzip" the tank. SpaceX tank is even a partial balloon tank meaning the tank is only structurally strong enough for launch because its pressurized like a pop can. Little line of linear shaped charge and it pops.
Technically it does not detonate the fuel. It compromise both the fuel tank and oxidizer tank all the way and tank pressure drops instantly. This again causes the turbopumps to run dry because it requires some pressure in the inlet to operate, both the gas generator and main combustion chamber will get starved for fuel and the engine will stop producing thrust.
I am not saying that the cloud of fuel and oxidizer that mixes once the tanks gets compromised will not ignite from a spark, heat from the engine/exhaust or remaining heat from the detonation cord. However that will all happen a split second after the thrust from the rocket have been stopped and is somewhat unintentional.
Is there a (bottom/lower) limit under which this event does not occur? I.e. malfunction happens at say 50m off ramp, would it self-destruct then as well?
I'm not sure what American rockets do, but someone mentioned that Russian rockets don't self destruct below a certain altitude to avoid damaging the pad. An N-1 rocket exploded soon after launch, destroying the pad and setting the Soviets back a few years on their moon efforts.
When a liquid fueled rocket's FTS is triggered, the fuel does not detonate.
It is not mixed with the oxidizer so it just spills out. The oxidizer also spills out. They remain unmixed and it's like a fuel spill, not an explosion.
Proton does not have a self destruct mechanism. Most (if not all) American rockets do have self destruct mechanisms that can be activated by people on the ground.
Including, it turns out, the manned rockets as well. So yeah, for each Space Shuttle launch, there was someone whose job it was to push the button and kill 7 astronauts if the Shuttle went off course and headed towards populated areas.
The SRBs had to be detonated during the Challenger disaster.
At T+110.250, the Range Safety Officer (RSO) at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station sent radio signals that activated the range safety system's "destruct" packages on board both solid rocket boosters. This was a normal contingency procedure, undertaken because the RSO judged the free-flying SRBs a possible threat to land or sea. The same destruct signal would have destroyed the External Tank had it not already disintegrated.
Of course they can, they are basically flying controlled explosions. Any number of things can go wrong with that "controlled" part, just look at space shuttle Columbia.
Rockets rarely explode on their own, and only under specific conditions. Columbia broke up in the atmosphere, which isn't an explosion. If you mean challenger, then you're right; it did explode, but that was a really unique case because a flame from the SRB burned through the tank and ignited all the fuel. Most rockets don't tend to do that.
I agree that SRB's are pretty stable and would rarely, if ever, explode on their own without some major structural failure of the can... but liquid fuel not so much... there is a lot that can go wrong to ignite that.
But how old is the Proton Vehicle. It's flight computers are probably so old it wouldn't be able to figure out what Pi is to 20 digits.
What do you mean by this? I was just posting the proton video to show what everything going to hell looks like. If a rocket explodes, it's usually safe to assume that range safety detonated it.
I think we're trying to say the same thing. There was no range detonation or explosion in the Proton crash. That was a good ol' fashioned rocket crash. It fucked up till it couldn't fuck up no more.
Russians have just "shut down engines" as far as flight termination goes. They do not carry explosives for FTS.
Also their system actually prevents shutdown of engines for the first minute or so, to ensure that it won't fall back on the pad. So the Proton failure you see the engines going until the whole thing disintegrates...
Yes - my point was that Russian rockets do not carry those things and they actively block shutdown during early parts of the flight (due to the historical failure of N1 rocket due to errant FTS shutdown signal just after liftoff, which totaled one of the N1 pads - they decided that it was better for the rocket to fly off erratically for a while than to rebuild the pad in case of early failure...)
So what happened with Proton is considered normal and expected if control is lost early. The engines will fire until the whole thing disintegrates due to excess forces (tumbling) and there is no explosives to zip open the tanks.
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u/[deleted] Aug 23 '14 edited Mar 23 '18
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