 The Orbital ATK Antares rocket, with the Cygnus spacecraft onboard suffers a catastrophic anomaly moments after launch from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pad 0A, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2014, at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The Cygnus spacecraft was filled with supplies slated for the International Space Station, including science experiments, experiment hardware, spare parts, and crew provisions. Image courtesy NASA and Joel Kowsky. |
Launching rockets is dangerous work. A reminder of that fact arrived this week in the form of a Flickr photo album, uploaded by NASA and featuring fiery close-ups of last year's Antares rocket explosion.
On October 29, 2014, just six seconds into flight, NASA's Orbital ATK Antares rocket exploded unexpectedly. The rocket was unmanned and no one was hurt, but the Cygnus cargo ship was obliterated by the force of the blast and 5,000 pounds of supplies, equipment and scientific experiments went up in flames.
The explosion also did $15 million worth of damage to the Wallops Island launch facility in Virginia. Repairs were only recently completed.
Rocket and cargo ship maker Orbital Sciences blamed the failure on Russian-designed rocket engines. Orbital Sciences has been criticized for repurposing engines originally designed for the Soviet Union's ultimately failed N-1 moon mission.
Orbital Sciences announced it would discontinue use of the Russian engines by 2016.
The new NASA slideshow on Flickr features a variety of photos documenting the frightening and surreal scene before, during and after the catastrophe.
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