SpaceX Falcon 9 - AMOS-6 - (Pad Failure) - DISCUSSION THREAD (2)

[pobermanns]

Can we keep the conspiracy posts, even if they come from SpaceX on the conspiracy thread?

That said, aliens

Oh, I too do so hate to hear conspiracy theories! Such sad stuff, hearing how X did something to Y because of Z. Like a big game of CLUE. Sooo tedious to listen to!

But the problem is, if he can't find a simple explanation for some strange event, an educated person would be negligent to overlook even such bizarre theories - until a rational explanation is found.

So, do we have a rational explanation yet for the AMOS-6 explosion?

[Jim]

So, do we have a rational explanation yet for the AMOS-6 explosion?

Yes, there was a failure in the helium system

[Rocket Science]

They might want to look at some of the "helium pressurization manifolds" they have in the fab shop for issues...

[rsdavis9]

any word on the s2's they are testing at mcgregor?

[spacekid]

It seems that sabotage is seriously considered
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/implication-of-sabotage-adds-intrigue-to-spacex-investigation/2016/09/30/5bb60514-874c-11e6-a3ef-f35afb41797f_story.html

It seems incredible that someone might try to sabotage a rocket, especially on the Cape Canaveral launch complex. Maybe there will be a simple cause found; from my background in Naval Aviation, I could cite various examples where strange accidents were ultimately explained by obscure causes. So, probably the idea of sabotage as the cause of the AMOS-6 explosion is just BS.

BUT, what if it's not?

This is just an entry in their fault tree they have to run down.

[CyndyC]

Seems some have forgotten something. Jeff Bezos bought the Post in 2013. Maybe he or one of his employees saw how popular the conspiracy thread here has been, but no one needed to in order to guess the idea would grab attention. A 2016 article on his ownership
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-the-washington-post-changed-after-jeff-bezos-acquisition-2016-5/

[Stan-1967]

It seems that sabotage is seriously considered
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/implication-of-sabotage-adds-intrigue-to-spacex-investigation/2016/09/30/5bb60514-874c-11e6-a3ef-f35afb41797f_story.html

It seems incredible that someone might try to sabotage a rocket, especially on the Cape Canaveral launch complex. Maybe there will be a simple cause found; from my background in Naval Aviation, I could cite various examples where strange accidents were ultimately explained by obscure causes. So, probably the idea of sabotage as the cause of the AMOS-6 explosion is just BS.

BUT, what if it's not?

The post article was pretty much devoid of information.  Sounds like whatever was going on was just SpaceX going through their fault tree scenarios. ==> enter wild speculation.

Gaetano Morono was commenting.  Move it all to the wild and wacky thread.

Sp

[Ben the Space Brit]

Ironically, Gaetano (with whom I've had many a fascinating debate... well, I've been debating and he's been accusing me of being a tool of the Vast Conspiracy to silence him) is voting strongly against any possibility of sabotage in the comments thread.

Then again, he's long argued that SpaceX are a bunch of amateurs completely out of their depth and has decried Dragon-2 as a suicide pod for the stupid. His theory is probably that low production standards and irresponsible levels of ignored safety protocols mean that this could happen to any SpaceX rocket and they should be closed down.

[slavvy]

No need for a vast conspiracy theory. All you need is a disgruntled individual with access to a sniper rifle. Not unthinkable among the population affected by ULA lay-offs.

[Aerospace Dilettante]

No need for a vast conspiracy theory. All you need is a disgruntled individual with access to a sniper rifle. Not unthinkable among the population affected by ULA lay-offs.

No need for a specialist sniper rifle, just a bog-standard bolt action hunting rifle from Walmart and the will to crawl through alligator-infested swamp would be sufficient. 

[mfck]

No need for a vast conspiracy theory. All you need is a disgruntled individual with access to a sniper rifle. Not unthinkable among the population affected by ULA lay-offs.

No need for a specialist sniper rifle, just a bog-standard bolt action hunting rifle from Walmart and the will to crawl through alligator-infested swamp would be sufficient.

Are you implying alligators are in on the conspiracy?

[Rocket Science]

Those gators are part of Cape security but seriously there is a dedicated thread for all the recent comments that are non-technical about the LV or pad infrastructure...
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=41119.0

[IanH84]

I'm chatting with a friend about this and he proposed a much more reasonable and non-conspiratorial explanation for the visit to ULA. This happened several weeks ago, while SpaceX were still looking for as much audio and video as possible, and they were hoping to find cameras on the roof that ULA hadn't mentioned and directly ask for any recordings of the explosion. No conspiracy, no sabotage, just big companies doing what big companies do and trying to keep a step ahead of the competition.

[DragonRider]

End of the day it could be a number of things and you can't rule out industrial espionage, it's a possibility, a remote one, but frankly the answer will eventually be a remote possibility of some sort, just a question of what we land on.

[woods170]

Grasping for straws comes to mind

More likely explanation is bad journalism.

[Jim]

Grasping for straws comes to mind

More likely explanation is bad journalism.

That was in response to Spacex asking to look on top of the SMARF.

[Darkseraph]

If we're going to entertain conspiracy theories,  what if it was an inside job ? A disgruntled SpaceX employee sabotaging part of the rocket seems to be more likely than the grassy knoll sniper theory. I doubt it is either,  that this was simply an overlooked manufacturing defect in some part of rocket, but employees sabotaging a business internally has been known to happen.

[DMeader]

Are you implying alligators are in on the conspiracy?

[Barrie]

If we're going to entertain conspiracy theories,  what if it was an inside job ? A disgruntled SpaceX employee sabotaging part of the rocket seems to be more likely than the grassy knoll sniper theory. I doubt it is either,  that this was simply an overlooked manufacturing defect in some part of rocket, but employees sabotaging a business internally has been known to happen.

Or there is plain misadventure, like someone trying to get something done quickly using a helium fitting as a step 'just for a second'?  I don't know how plausible that is, but no malice necessary.

[spacekid]

No need for a vast conspiracy theory. All you need is a disgruntled individual with access to a sniper rifle. Not unthinkable among the population affected by ULA lay-offs.

All it takes is someone posing or becoming a ULA or support employee with the purpose to gain access to the roof. Easily run down but only if you check.