Boom!

[billroper]

A friend pointed me to this footage of a failed Delta launch. It's very impressive.

And luckily, no one was injured.

Comments

[jdonat.livejournal.com]

Wow!. I seem to remember this one. It's been a long time since we've had one blow up that close to the pad. If you look at the very end of the video, the small SRB nearest to the camera is not firing. Wonder if that's the one that had the 17' crack -according to the video, that's what caused the 'anomoly'
That's the problem with SRB's... they either run or go KABOOM!

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Yowzah. That's frickin' scary. When was that?

[peteralway.livejournal.com]

I'm on dialup, so I can't see the video, but often they stagger the ignition of the solid boosters--six at launch and three later in flight--so it's entirely possible that the one you see not firing wasn't supposed to fire until later.

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

Googling didn't find an exact answer, but several sites said "13 have been launched since 1997 (though the first one was lost in a launch explosion)" so I'd guess this one was in 1997.

Given that nobody got hurt; damn, that was cool. I noticed the non-firing SRB as well.

[beige-alert.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, that one. That's why everyone stands way back when they light those suckers up.

[billroper]

The friend who posted it said ten years ago, so 1997 sounds about right.

[peteralway.livejournal.com]

I finally got to view this video. The unlit SRB has a larger nozzle which is used for low-pressure (high-altitude) burning. So yes, it was designed to be ignited later.