Seconds after liftoff, the ORB-3 Antares rocket fell near the launch pad due to an apparent failure in the turbopump supplying fuel to one of the two first-stage
engines. Range Safety Officers engaged the Flight Termination System to stop the remaining engine. Credit: Elliot Severn
Behind the scenes of launch control
By Tony Rice
Space flight is dangerous and
not just for the astronauts. Over the
hundred plus years of rocket technology and space flight growth, many
have died just working on rockets or
even testing them, from engineers to
flight pad crew to even spectators.
Progress comes with a price and with
that, measures have been taken and
improved over the years to try and
prevent such events from happening
again.
With all the advancements we’ve
made, launching rockets is still a
risky business. We were reminded of
this on Oct. 28, 2014 when Orbital
Science’s third resupply flight to the
International Space Station came to
a fiery end moments after liftoff. The
first fifteen seconds of the launch was
uneventful before one of the two
Aerojet Rocketdyne AJ26 engines in
the Antares rocket’s first stage failed,
robbing the thirteen story tall Antares
rocket of the thrust needed to overcome Earth’s gravity. Early analysis of
telemetry points to a failure in the turbopump providing fuel to the engine
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according to a statement released
by Orbital days after the accident.
Along with the Antares rocket, a
Cygnus spacecraft carrying 2,215 kg
(4,883 lbs) of cargo for the astronauts
aboard the ISS was lost. This included
crew supplies (food and clothing),
another third included spare parts for
equipment aboard the station, and
the remainder was science experiments.
Among those experiments were
some created by students from
around the United States and
Canada participating in the Student
Spaceflight Experiments Program
(SSEP). These fourth graders though
undergraduate students were studying everything from creating soil for
growing food in space to muscle
development in microgravity. That’s
the bad news.
The good news is that only property was damaged or lost. No one
was injured because the Range
Safety System and the people who
run it did their job.
Each launch site has a range
safety system designed to protect
people and property both near the
site and under the path the rocket
overflies known as downrange.
Launches from the Wallops Flight
Facility in Virginia are monitored
from the launch site itself as well
as another site on North Carolina’s
Outer Banks not far from where the
Wright Brothers first took flight over
100 years ago. That second view of
the rocket’s path allows controllers
to better monitor the vehicle without
interference from the rocket’s plume.
As the flight continues, tracking stations further downrange in
Bermuda or the Bahamas take over
providing a continuous view as the
rocket heads to orbit.
Spacecraft and the rockets that
carry them are relatively fragile.
Overcoming Earth’s gravity isn’t
easy. About 90% of a rocket’s weight
on the pad is highly explosive fuel.
Should a flight go wrong, Range
Safety Officers have a very powerful
tool available to help protect people
and property on the ground: flight
termination. Also known as self-destruct, the Flight Termination System
www.RocketSTEM .org