Author Topic: On-Pad Explosions  (Read 75477 times)

Offline ZachS09

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Re: On-Pad Explosions
« Reply #80 on: 04/12/2017 04:56 am »
Because the Foton M-1 failure was technically not an on-pad explosion since it was hit by only one booster, here's a simulation of what it would look like if all went wrong at engine ignition. Orbiter 2010 is used.

Liftoff for St. Jude's! Go Dragon, Go Falcon, Godspeed Inspiration4!

Online Alter Sachse

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Re: On-Pad Explosions
« Reply #81 on: 04/12/2017 06:12 am »
When you saw this one video, did you see the strap-on boosters stripping off moments before impact?

If so, that would be the 1982 Zenit accident. An old thread here from a couple years ago had identified that video clip as the '82 failure. Otherwise the April 2, 1969 Proton accident is a possibility.

In the case of the '88 accident, the core stage engines malfunctioned almost immediately at liftoff, but the booster computer system was blocked from sending a shutoff command until T+20 seconds so as to prevent a pad fallback. When the 20 second mark was reached, the command was unblocked and the core and strap-ons shut down. This turned out to not be enough time to get the booster away from the pad, which was severely damaged. According to a translated document I read, it seems like the core stage suffered a control rather than a propulsion system failure.

The same document also noted that the '87 accident would not have been survivable on a manned launch, and apparently necessitated improvements to the Soyuz SAS abort system (at least that's what I could discern from the translated text).
Video clip from the launch failure on 15.05.1982
http://www.kosmonavtika.com/lancements/1982/15051982/15051982photos.html
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Offline The_Ronin

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Re: On-Pad Explosions
« Reply #82 on: 04/12/2017 03:24 pm »
Wow.  I'm surprised how it remained mostly intact all the way down.  That was surreal.

Online Alter Sachse

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Re: On-Pad Explosions
« Reply #83 on: 04/12/2017 05:38 pm »
Wow.  I'm surprised how it remained mostly intact all the way down.  That was surreal.
Emergency shutdown T+28,26 (sec)
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Offline WallE

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Re: On-Pad Explosions
« Reply #84 on: 04/13/2017 04:56 am »
Emergency shutdown T+28,26 (sec)

Not quite. According to a translated Russian site I'd check out, the core stage shut down at T+28 seconds due to "the formation of false commands due to the ingress of extraneous metal particles in the cam mechanism of the program time device of the control system". Meaning the shutoff was unintentional and not deliberately commanded.

I believe the video clip linked here is in fact the 1988 failure, not the '82 one because the entire propulsion system shuts down, not just the core stage. We also don't have a list of Baikonur R-7 failures, so some of them remain a mystery and there could have been more crashes in the pad area for all anyone knows.
« Last Edit: 04/13/2017 05:05 am by WallE »

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Re: On-Pad Explosions
« Reply #85 on: 04/13/2017 06:20 am »
A real on-pad explosion (Nicolas' website)
http://www.kosmonavtika.com/lancements/1990/04101990/04101990photos.html
4.10.1990 pad 45/2 destroyed and never rebuilt
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Online Alter Sachse

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Re: On-Pad Explosions
« Reply #86 on: 04/13/2017 01:26 pm »
Emergency shutdown T+28,26 (sec)

I believe the video clip linked here is in fact the 1988 failure, not the '82 one because the entire propulsion system shuts down, not just the core stage.
27.07.1988 launch took place 09:05:00 (12:05:00 Moscow time)
the video clip shows darkness (?)
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Re: On-Pad Explosions
« Reply #87 on: 04/13/2017 02:10 pm »
launch failures (on-pad or near the pad)
possibly not completely
16.04.1960 (Luna)     exploded near the pad
01.06.1962 Zenit 2    emergency shutdown T+1,8 sec /fell down 300m next to pad
10.07.1963 Zenit 2    emergency shutdown T-1,5 sec /exploded / pad damaged - next launch 10/63
18.03.1980 Tselina    exploding when refueling / next launch April 1983 ! (43/4)
15.05.1982 Zenit 6U  failed T+28.26 crashed in the forest                       (41/1)
26.09.1983 Sojus (T10) fire/exploded / next launch 11.06.1984               (1/5)
18.06.1987 Resurs    ex/pad damaged/next launch 12/88                      (43/3)
27.07.1988 Resurs    fell down 50 m near the pad/pad damaged/ next launch 6/89 (43/4)
04.10.1990 Tselina 2  ex T+2,44 sec                                                     (45/2)

30.01.2007 NSS 8     ex shortly after liftoff                                            (Odyssey)
« Last Edit: 04/13/2017 03:23 pm by Alter Sachse »
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Offline kevin-rf

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Re: On-Pad Explosions
« Reply #88 on: 04/13/2017 04:09 pm »
Was Intelsat 27 to far from the pad to count?
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Offline B. Hendrickx

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Re: On-Pad Explosions
« Reply #89 on: 04/13/2017 04:12 pm »
At least one other I can add is the explosion of a Soyuz rocket carrying the second unmanned Soyuz vehicle on 14 December 1966 (Baikonur - Site 31).

Anatoly Zak recently summarized what is known about this accident :

http://www.russianspaceweb.com/soyuz-7k-ok-no1-explosion.html

Offline WallE

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Re: On-Pad Explosions
« Reply #90 on: 04/13/2017 04:16 pm »
launch failures (on-pad or near the pad)
possibly not completely
16.04.1960 (Luna)     exploded near the pad
01.06.1962 Zenit 2    emergency shutdown T+1,8 sec /fell down 300m next to pad
10.07.1963 Zenit 2    emergency shutdown T-1,5 sec /exploded / pad damaged - next launch 10/63
18.03.1980 Tselina    exploding when refueling / next launch April 1983 ! (43/4)
15.05.1982 Zenit 6U  failed T+28.26 crashed in the forest                       (41/1)
26.09.1983 Sojus (T10) fire/exploded / next launch 11.06.1984               (1/5)
18.06.1987 Resurs    ex/pad damaged/next launch 12/88                      (43/3)
27.07.1988 Resurs    fell down 50 m near the pad/pad damaged/ next launch 6/89 (43/4)
04.10.1990 Tselina 2  ex T+2,44 sec                                                     (45/2)

30.01.2007 NSS 8     ex shortly after liftoff                                            (Odyssey)

An R-7 ICBM test on July 10, 1958 failed when one strap-on shut down at liftoff and broke away from the stack. The strap-on fell onto the pad while the rest of the vehicle crashed nearby. According to some sources, it carried some of the avionics intended for the Luna 8K72 booster, and the failure was caused by high frequency combustion chamber vibration which would end up being a nagging problem over the next two years.

The two Zenit failures in 1962-63 were caused by the strap-ons shutting down at liftoff, and the first one delayed Vostok 3's launch by a month. They were eventually found to be liftoff-induced vibration accidentally flipping a power switch designed to cut electrical power to the strap-ons at staging.

Two Kosmos 11K65Ms blew on the pad. The first happened on December 22, 1970 when the first stage engine cut off a few seconds after liftoff. The other was on June 26, 1973 during an aborted launch attempt. A fire started while attempting to drain the propellant from the booster, which exploded and killed nine people. The culprit turned out to be high frequency combustion instability in the RD-216 engine, but it took an entire decade and two more first stage failures before the engine was redesigned.

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Re: On-Pad Explosions
« Reply #91 on: 04/13/2017 04:17 pm »
Was Intelsat 27 to far from the pad to count?
I have a note: 3 km south of the launch pad
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Re: On-Pad Explosions
« Reply #92 on: 04/13/2017 04:51 pm »
To the last posts
Some forgotten:
14.12 1966 yes!
10.07.1958 I did not know any details
22.12.1970 yes!
26.06.1973 yes!
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Offline WallE

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Re: On-Pad Explosions
« Reply #93 on: 04/13/2017 05:28 pm »
A launch of a Zenit satellite from Plesetsk's LC-43/4 on December 3, 1971 failed when the core stage ingested loose debris and shut down almost immediately at liftoff. The booster continued to climb for about 20-30 seconds before breaking up, and according to a translated account of the launch, the weather that day was overcast with thick clouds, so it was soon out of visibility. One strap-on fell out of the clouds (literally) and impacted near the pad. The rest of the booster crashed a few miles away. The next launch from LC-43/4 took place three weeks later, so no serious damage occurred.

Offline Jim

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Re: On-Pad Explosions
« Reply #94 on: 04/13/2017 07:29 pm »

An R-7 ICBM test on July 10, 1958 failed when one strap-on shut down at liftoff and broke away from the stack. The strap-on fell onto the pad while the rest of the vehicle crashed nearby. According to some sources, it carried some of the avionics intended for the Luna 8K72 booster, and the failure was caused by high frequency combustion chamber vibration which would end up being a nagging problem over the next two years.


Are you going to cite your sources or just blatantly cut and paste from wikipedia and bypassing its sources?

Offline WallE

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Re: On-Pad Explosions
« Reply #95 on: 04/13/2017 08:42 pm »
Are you going to cite your sources or just blatantly cut and paste from wikipedia and bypassing its sources?

If you wanted that list of Plesetsk R-7 failures, it's right here.

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=17286.235

Offline JAFO

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Re: On-Pad Explosions
« Reply #96 on: 04/13/2017 09:54 pm »
When you saw this one video, did you see the strap-on boosters stripping off moments before impact?

If so, that would be the 1982 Zenit accident. An old thread here from a couple years ago had identified that video clip as the '82 failure. Otherwise the April 2, 1969 Proton accident is a possibility.

In the case of the '88 accident, the core stage engines malfunctioned almost immediately at liftoff, but the booster computer system was blocked from sending a shutoff command until T+20 seconds so as to prevent a pad fallback. When the 20 second mark was reached, the command was unblocked and the core and strap-ons shut down. This turned out to not be enough time to get the booster away from the pad, which was severely damaged. According to a translated document I read, it seems like the core stage suffered a control rather than a propulsion system failure.

The same document also noted that the '87 accident would not have been survivable on a manned launch, and apparently necessitated improvements to the Soyuz SAS abort system (at least that's what I could discern from the translated text).
Video clip from the launch failure on 15.05.1982
http://www.kosmonavtika.com/lancements/1982/15051982/15051982photos.html

That's the one.

-Wonder what the uphill velocity was when the engines cut out was vs the downhill velocity at impact?

-Must of been scary as heck to be near the pad and see the rocket suspended in mid-air, juuuuuust before it started down.
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Offline WallE

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Re: On-Pad Explosions
« Reply #97 on: 04/14/2017 12:14 am »
http://kik-sssr.ru/IP_4_Turatam_old_Razdel_1.htm

This site (use Google Translate) also has some nice bits of info about various R-7 failures. I had intended to post the link earlier but forgot.

http://cosmopark.ru/r7/prig8.htm

This one describes the 1962-63 Zenit accidents and the cause of them.
« Last Edit: 04/14/2017 12:21 am by WallE »

Offline WallE

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Re: On-Pad Explosions
« Reply #98 on: 04/14/2017 03:54 am »
A real on-pad explosion (Nicolas' website) http://www.kosmonavtika.com/lancements/1990/04101990/04101990photos.html
4.10.1990 pad 45/2 destroyed and never rebuilt

The Zenit booster got off to a bit of a rough start since the RD-171 engine was new technology and understandably had teething problems, however, it was the only survivor out of an ambitious series of next-generation Soviet LVs and manned spacecraft planned for the 1980s and beyond. Under original plans, it would have launched Zarya, the intended successor to Soyuz.

That 1990 disaster is easily one of the top ten rocket crashes of all time and the total devastation of the pad was largely due to a poor design that resulted in the blast wave having nowhere to disperse. If I remember correctly (and I could be wrong about this), there was only a small flame trench under the launch stand as opposed to the giant flame pit on R-7 pads.

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Re: On-Pad Explosions
« Reply #99 on: 04/14/2017 04:09 pm »
http://kik-sssr.ru/IP_4_Turatam_old_Razdel_1.htm

3.12.1971:Block A failed T+0.5
rocket continued the flight and crashed at the village Karasye (7...8 km north of launch complex 43)
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