Explosion at Space X Facility, Cape Canaveral

a reply to: jadedANDcynical

Yep. That's what caught my attention there.

That doesn't look right at all. But, I'm certainly no expert on static fire testing.

originally posted by: Zarniwoop
@ at about 1:10

Wow...

Holy hell that's some explosion. Talk about a major setback for SpaceX.

Just curious, in the video, do you guys see something shooting at the rocket right at 1:10/1:11 mark. its right to left, and seems to hit the rocket right as it blows... Maybe I'm seeing something.. Anyone else notice?

Ok, I watched it very slowly.. Definitely something coming from the right side of the screen to the left.. I wish I could take a screen shot

a reply to: Zarniwoop

Holy barbecue grill!

That came from the second-stage LOX tank. Looks like a leak between it and the second-stage fuel tank.

I found a layout of the Falcon 9 on page 10 of the user manual (pdf format).

I am not familiar with the exact procedure for this testing, but they weren't testing stage 2 were they? That would seem a little... ridiculous... to me?

TheRedneck

a reply to: jhn7537

I saw that too and made this...



I really hope that is a fly.

Very spooky at full speed

CNN said they were fueling the rocket.

You know they have signs for 'No Smoking'.
Now they need some for 'No Exploding".

originally posted by: Zarniwoop
a reply to: jhn7537

I saw that too and made this...

I really hope that is a fly.

Very spooky at full speed

Maybe some kind of drone camera? It did catch my attention, which had me pulling still shots and I caught the same exact thing you did..

a reply to: jhn7537

There are a bunch of examples of flies and birds throughout the video. I"m pretty sure it is one of those two

just the timing looked really spooky.

ETA: here is a different one tracking the critter. My first one I think was tracking different objects

a reply to: TheRedneck

I am not familiar with the exact procedure for this testing, but they weren't testing stage 2 were they? That would seem a little... ridiculous... to me?

Yeah that would seem ridiculous.

Something very strange and unexpected happened methinks.

a reply to: Zarniwoop

It gets to the rocket a good two or three frames after the explosion starts. Can't be the cause.

Were they fueling the second stage? Why? That engine should never fire until after separation... it's pointing toward the first stage fuel and LOX tanks!

TheRedneck

a reply to: TheRedneck

Straight from the horses twitter mouth.

a reply to: jhn7537

1.

2.

3.

You have to slow it down, its very fast moving and linear in track, right to left. very clear. Great pickup!

a reply to: TheRedneck

the usual speculation: if it's a true UFO, then there are the usual implications. UFO's have been seen at launchpad explosions before, possibly causal.

If it's a drone - then the source would be terrestrial, with nefarious intent?

a reply to: drphilxr

I"m pretty sure it's a fly close the camera. You can see examples of flies and birds throughout the vid that look similar. This one just happens to appear right around the explosion.

a reply to: Zarniwoop

did you not notice how fast that was travelling? pretty fast for a "critter" - i had to slow the loop down by 1/4 speed to even catch it.

a reply to: drphilxr

yep. that's why I'm going with "fly close to camera" rather than bird close to pad.

a reply to: Zarniwoop

just leaving you with a thought on the bird close to camera idea - doesn't the object look like it's receding?

away from blast? and behind the cone? it just doesn't look too "close". But you could still be correct.

a reply to: drphilxr

It is a true UFO. It's obviously an object, it's moving through the air, and we haven't definitely figured out what it is yet.

TheRedneck

a reply to: drphilxr

Nah I see a little black spot going right past from right to left. there are other little black spots that confused me when I was putting my sequence together. But I think the fly in question exits stage left after it blows up the Falcon.

ETA: The more I look at it, it looks like a bird, not a fly.

originally posted by: Zarniwoop
a reply to: drphilxr

Nah I see a little black spot going right past from right to left. there are other little black spots that confused me when I was putting my sequence together. But I think the fly in question exits stage left after it blows up the Falcon.

ETA: The more I look at it, it looks like a bird, not a fly.

That's an awfully convenient coincidence though. At least to me, It looks like some sort of projectile. And the way it blows up right were the object shows it's going threw. I duno man. Just seems a bit off doesn't it?