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Space Forum / Space History / May 2004Rocket explosions
Hello I am making a small research on rocket explosions that have caused victims all over the world, and I have a few questions on some ot them. Maybe someone can help: - China, january 25, 1995. A CZ-2E launcher carrying an Apstar satellite explodes a few seconds after lift off. According to Mark Wade's Encyclopaedia, this killed at least 20 people on a nearby village, but this is the only place where I have read about victims for this accident (the rest of the information I have read on it, does not mention any victim). How reliable is it? - China, april 2, 1994. Launcher explosion during final checkout for launching satellite Fen Yung 2. One person killed. I need details on this (type of launcher, details and causes of the accident ) - USA, Titan IV explosion. According to a report dated on 1993, "A person was killed at Edwards Air Force Base not too long ago as the result of the explosion of a Titan IV solid motor segment that dropped from 80 feet". I need more info on this (date, details, causes...) - India, Japan: Two countries with their own space programs, with their own launch vehicles. However, I have never read about accidents with victims in these countries. Good luck, good security programs, or simply lack of information from my side? - Europe: Similar to above. There have been several explosions of Ariane launchers, but I have never read about victims. Right? - USA-general: Apart from the Titan IV explosion mentioned above, the only explosions causing victims I have read about are related to Titan II ICBMs, not space launchers. Is this right? Thank you, and regards Javier Casado Madrid, Spain > Hello > [quoted text clipped - 34 lines] > Javier Casado > Madrid, Spain I have heard of no deaths from exploding Titan rockets used as space launchers. Here is a listing of the Titan II ICBM accidents that resulted in deaths: -Aug 9 1965 - Accident at Titan 2 Silo 373-4, Little Rock AFB, AK. kills 53 men. A fire started in the silo during construction work. The resulting smoke and fire killed 53 workers. Two workers survived. The Titan 2 missile was fueled and in the silo but did not explode. The RV/Warhead had been removed from the site prior to construction starting. Complex off alert for next 13 months during accident investigation and repairs. The URL below has the story of a survivor of the Titan II 1965 fire: http://www.rootsweb.com/~arwhite/wchs/Silo_Fire_Survivor_Tells_His_Story.html This page has the story of one of the victims of the Titan II 1965 accident: http://www.reynoldsarchives.com/aubrey.reynolds_2.htm -Aug 24 1978 - Accident at Titan 2 Silo 533-7 McConnell AFB, KS kills 2 men and 25 more are injured. Large scale oxidizer spill during fueling operation causes extensive damage to silo and results in death and injuries to personnel. Repairs were started but the silo complex was never returned to alert status. -Sep 19 1980 - Titan 2 explodes in silo. At Little Rock AFB, Silo 574-7 destroyed by explosion. An Air Force repairman doing routine maintenance in the Titan 2 silo dropped a wrench socket, it hit the missile causing a fuel leak that resulted in an explosion. One Air Force specialist was killed and 21 others were injured. The 740-ton silo lid was blown open, the Mk.6 reentry vehicle and nuclear weapon were blown out of the silo and landed 600-ft away. The Mk.6 RV was intact with a few dents. Brazil also suffered a fatal rocket explosion in August 2003 that killed 21 people: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3175131.stm http://www.sciencedaily.com/encyclopedia/brazilian_rocket_explosion http://www.detnews.com/2003/nation/0308/24/nation-251986.htm http://www.detnews.com/2003/nation/0308/24/a10-252351.htm India also had a fatal rocket accident in Feb 2004 that killed 6 people: Fatal explosion rips through India Space Center http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-02-24-space-blaze_x.htm http://www.spacedaily.com/2004/040223193255.1kw0v43g.html http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/02/23/india.fire.ap/ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3513841.stm - Rusty Barton >-Sep 19 1980 - Titan 2 explodes in silo. At Little Rock AFB, Silo >574-7 destroyed by explosion. An Air Force repairman doing routine [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >were blown out of the silo and landed 600-ft away. The Mk.6 RV was >intact with a few dents. Oh, I remember that one....I also remember that they couldn't find the RV for quite some time. (Cut to scene of gasmasked and anti-contamination suited troops wandering about..."Okay...there's a hydrogen bomb around here somewhere....you find it, you don't touch anything on it until you talk to me...no, Pvt. Simpson- you don't cut the red wire on it...no, you don't cut the _green_ wire either....no...it's not going to have flashing red LEDs on it counting down to zero...at least I think it won't...these things are classified...") Pat > -Aug 9 1965 - Accident at Titan 2 Silo 373-4, Little Rock AFB, AK. Minor correction: Little Rock AFB, AR, not AK. Arkansas, not Alaska. > -Sep 19 1980 - Titan 2 explodes in silo. At Little Rock AFB, Silo > 574-7 destroyed by explosion. An Air Force repairman doing routine [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > were blown out of the silo and landed 600-ft away. The Mk.6 RV was > intact with a few dents. That was one I remember myself, but is my memory correct that this incident was later dramatised for tv? I seem to remember quite a lot of scenes about the cleanup operation.  Signature+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+ | Dave Downing, Somerset U.K. | +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+ > > -Sep 19 1980 - Titan 2 explodes in silo. At Little Rock AFB, Silo > > 574-7 destroyed by explosion. An Air Force repairman doing routine [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > was later dramatised for tv? I seem to remember quite a lot of scenes about > the cleanup operation. Yes, it was the subject of a 1988 made-for-TV docudrama called "Disaster at Silo 7". Here's a page with a bit more information: <http://www.conelrad.com/testimony/index.html> SignatureHerb Schaltegger, B.S., J.D. Reformed Aerospace Engineer Columbia Loss FAQ: <http://www.io.com/~o_m/columbia_loss_faq_x.html> > Hello > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > for this accident (the rest of the information I have read on it, does > not mention any victim). How reliable is it? Here is a report to the U.S. Congress that mentions deaths from China's rocket launches in January 1995 and February 1996: Congressional Research Service - Report for the U.S. Congress China's Space Program: A Brief Overview Including Commercial Launch of U.S.-Built Satellites - September 3, 1998 By Marcia S. Smith http://www.ceip.org/files/projects/npp/pdf/chinaspace.pdf Page 7- "In January 1995, a more tragic failure beset the Long March 2E program. Once again, the rocket exploded shortly after launch, but this time falling debris killed six people and injured 23 in a nearby rural area...." Page 8- "The question of China's openness arose again following another significant launch failure in February 1996. A new version of the Long March 3, CZ-3B was used for launch of the Intelsat 708 satellite. Seconds after liftoff, the rocket inverted itself and crashed to Earth in a village near the launch site. Officially, China reported that 6 died, 57 were injured, and 80 homes were destroyed. Western observers who were present at the launch (and whose hotel also was severely damaged) insist that many more must have died. An Israeli attending the launch visited the village the next day and captured the ruin on videotape which was later shown in the West, buttressing the view that more devastation was incurred than China was ready to admit." - Rusty Barton Thank you very much, Rusty. Your info on the Indian accident and the report on China space activities have been very useful. I knew the explosion of the VLS-1 V03 last year in Brasil, for those interested there is good info on the Brasilian Space Agency web page (www.aeb.gov.br). You can even found the investigation report on the accident. Unfortunately, it is in portuguese. If anybody has info on the rest, I would be very grateful. Javier Casado > Thank you very much, Rusty. Your info on the Indian accident and the > report on China space activities have been very useful. [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Javier Casado This is a message that I (tried) to send to some newsgroups when the report was made public available. Maybe it can be useful: Subject: VLS-1 003 Mishap - 22/08/2003 - Final Report Date: Mar 16 2004 22:32:07 Today was announced the final report of the VLS-1 003 accident at Alcantara/Brazil. The accident cause was traced to the intempestive activation of the 1st stage's booster A. They found strong evidences that this activation was due an intempestive activation of the booster ignition's detonators. They could not found an exact reason to this but they the most probable causes were: 1) eletric current in the "line of fire" 2) eletric-static discharge inside the detonator The second was the more probable one. There is some protection for the first possibility but not for the second. The "line of fire" cables are unshielded and somewhat near other electric cables. Laboratory test's showed that the detonators could be activated under this situation but futher investigation about exactly how this (could had) happened is necessary. The pages 54 and 55 (or 66 and 67 if you count the pages since the first one) explain these in detail. Besides that, the investigation board found many problems related to operational and management. Better plans, a much improved personnel control. Actually, there were many sugestions and improvements that should be made. Although the local government expressed the desire to (sucessfuly) launch a new vehicle till 2006, I really think this would be somewhat risky. Astronautics isn't the country top priority and its current funding isn't confortable to do the demanding changes. Not only we need to rebuild some infrastructure but also reformulate old procedures, create new ones and adopt them. And this take time. The full report, in portuguese, can be found at http://www.magsilva.dynalias.net/~marco/Projects/VLS/VLS-1_V03_RelatorioFinal.pdf SignatureMarco Aurélio Graciotto Silva LABES/SCE/ICMC/USP JotaC? <buzondejc@mail.com> a écrit dans le message : 4397fea.0405240143.e4ac00b@posting.google.com... > Hello > > I am making a small research on rocket explosions that have caused > victims all over the world, and I have a few questions on some ot > them. Maybe someone can help: snip > - Europe: Similar to above. There have been several explosions of > Ariane launchers, but I have never read about victims. Right? AFAIK, the Ariane explosions have never made any victim, most likely because they launch toward the sea and over uninabited land only. There have been some death at GSC due to people not following the security rules during rocket preping, but these didn't relate to an explosion. I have no idea about the earlier european programs. Has anyone information on this? esp about Hamagir? There were one or two deaths in Japan's programs due to explosions during either engine testing or the testing of individual engine components. I don't think there have been any injuries or deaths as a result of launch activities. --Damon > Hello > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > for this accident (the rest of the information I have read on it, does > not mention any victim). How reliable is it? It hit and demolished a fully-occupied hotel. Eyewitness reports were of large numbers of amublances and other emergency vehicles. Official death toll was triple that of the Tiananmen Square events. Check out Aviation Leak for that week. SignatureDavid M. Palmer dmpalmer@email.com (formerly @clark.net, @ematic.com) |
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