NASA Releases Harrowing New Photos Of Last Year’s Antares Rocket Explosion

NASA Releases Harrowing New Photos Of Last Year’s Antares Rocket Explosion

A little over a year ago, NASA’s Orbital ATK Antares rocket, with a Cygnus spacecraft onboard, suffered a “catastrophic anomaly” just moments after launch. NASA has now released a stunning new set of previously unseen photos chronicling the disaster.

NASA Releases Harrowing New Photos Of Last Year’s Antares Rocket Explosion

The uncrewed rocket was scheduled to make a cargo run to the International Space Station, but six seconds into the launch, it crashed back into the launch pad on Wallops Island in Virginia. It had been carrying more than 2267kg of supplies, equipment, and scientific experiments.

NASA Releases Harrowing New Photos Of Last Year’s Antares Rocket Explosion

Something went wrong soon after lift-off, causing the flight termination officer to trigger the self-destruct before the rocket hit the ground.

NASA Releases Harrowing New Photos Of Last Year’s Antares Rocket Explosion

A pair of explosions decimated the rocket, the second one releasing the force of 200 tonnes of TNT.

NASA Releases Harrowing New Photos Of Last Year’s Antares Rocket Explosion

The resulting explosion, though spectacular, caused no injuries.

NASA Releases Harrowing New Photos Of Last Year’s Antares Rocket Explosion

The $US15 million repairs to the Wallops Island launch facility were completed last month.

NASA Releases Harrowing New Photos Of Last Year’s Antares Rocket Explosion

The new photos, which can be found at the NASA Flickr account, appeared yesterday without any explanation.

NASA Releases Harrowing New Photos Of Last Year’s Antares Rocket Explosion

Last month, an investigation’s findings revealed no root cause for the Antares failure, though it could have been the result of one or a combination of three different technical causes.

NASA Releases Harrowing New Photos Of Last Year’s Antares Rocket Explosion

On a positive note, the Cygnus spacecraft is back in rotation for cargo runs to the ISS. The cargo craft is expected to launch on an Atlas V rocket in December, while the Antares rocket continues safety upgrades.

NASA Releases Harrowing New Photos Of Last Year’s Antares Rocket Explosion

[ Florida Today | HuffPo ]


All images: NASA/Joel Kowsky


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

It’s the most popular NBN speed in Australia for a reason. Here are the cheapest plans available.

At Gizmodo, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.