** The Official Space Flight Thread - The Space Station and Beyond **

Just seen the video on the news of the huge explosion. Good news that no-one was near it as that looked unsurvivable.

I haven't actually heard much about Blue Origin's progress with their space vision, but comparing it to Space X they seem to be woefully behind.
 
Usually humans would not be anywhere within like a few km of a rocket when it's being tested unless they are inside a blast proof bunker, so it's not unusual to hear there are no injuries during this static fire test, if there were then something with health and safety had gone very very wrong
 
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Wow; that must have caused significant damage to the launch platform and any other periphery buildings. Looks huge too; presumably other partner launch sites (spacex) are kept 3+ km apart from each other?!
 

oof that's going to set them back a while and maybe the NASA lunar mission wise as well.

Yeah they're fully aware rockets can do this sometimes and have a safety zone. Some of the COPVs went way further than the explosion as well. The 2 towers and the water tower were completely engulfed. Once it's daylight we'll have more of an idea. They really should design the test sites for a worst case scenario.
 
Semple said:
Just seen the video on the news of the huge explosion. Good news that no-one was near it as that looked unsurvivable.

I haven't actually heard much about Blue Origin's progress with their space vision, but comparing it to Space X they seem to be woefully behind.
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I wonder how much BO are hurrying to catch up with SpaceX and in the process of rushing are being a bit reckless and making dangerous mistakes instead of taking their time. But then they also have the pressure of honouring NASA contracts within a time frame.

Grim5 said:
Usually humans would not be anywhere within like a few km of a rocket when it's being tested unless they are inside a blast proof bunker, so it's not unusual to hear there are no injuries during this static fire test, if there were then something with health and safety had gone very very wrong
Click to expand...

Could any blast proof bunker survive that explosion? :eek:
 
Merlin5 said:
Could any blast proof bunker survive that explosion? :eek:
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A bunker could but that is not practical for much of the above ground equipment like the launch tower, lightning protection and water tower. The cost of making them blast proof would be prohibitive and make future upgrades extremely difficult and given the sail area of such thi8ngs even then it might not stop the damage. Better to build light so you can repair quickly I think, in the battle between armour and warhead, the warhead always wins eventually.
 
Merlin5 said:
I wonder how much BO are hurrying to catch up with SpaceX and in the process of rushing are being a bit reckless and making dangerous mistakes instead of taking their time. But then they also have the pressure of honouring NASA contracts within a time frame.



Could any blast proof bunker survive that explosion? :eek:
Click to expand...

i thought i saw the apollo astronauts had a bunker under the launch pad for just such cases and could survive down their for around a week.
so its not unheard of or unusuall.
 
Merlin5 said:
I wonder how much BO are hurrying to catch up with SpaceX and in the process of rushing are being a bit reckless and making dangerous mistakes instead of taking their time. But then they also have the pressure of honouring NASA contracts within a time frame.



Could any blast proof bunker survive that explosion? :eek:
Click to expand...

It's certainly possible they've sped up R&D and are hastily rushing through testing. I bet Bezos isn't happy as unlike Space X he's personally bankrolling all the R&D. That's probably 100mil gone up in a fireball.
 
Apparently LC36 is the only launch pad that New Glenn can use?
Why?
Obviously Rockets come in different sizes etc, but why is there not some commonality in the various designs or flexibility between launch pads?
 
ajf said:
Apparently LC36 is the only launch pad that New Glenn can use?
Why?
Obviously Rockets come in different sizes etc, but why is there not some commonality in the various designs or flexibility between launch pads?
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Well if you look at the changes that each company makes to their pad they are very bespoke. The quick disconnects and hold down arrangements being the first things to consider. Some rockets will want early release and engines throttle up some want the engines flat out before release. The rockets will have different resonances, rigidity, slosh arrangements that call for different release arrangements. Also Methane Oxygen used by New Glen and StarShip is not common and historically the kerosene oxygen of Flacon 9 isn't mega common without going into hypergolic propellants. Until very recently rockets have been ultra bespoke low use items highly optimised for their own profile and hence ground arrangements.

Edit: Ultimately any commonality is a constraint on innovation. These companies are each trying to make a vehicle that is their vision of the best solution with the technology they have.
 
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