mfb
Mentor
- 37,470
- 14,345
Daylight pictures (very high resolution, zoom in!)
The launch pad is a big mess of steel from the collapsed tower, remains of the transporter/erector and soot. The rocket is just gone. Looks like the integration facility (big white building) is fine overall but the tents near it are damaged. Not sure why the next booster is outside.
Yield estimates are somewhere from 1000 to 3000 tonnes of TNT equivalent total, although not everything reacted simultaneously so it wasn't as destructive as a single explosion with that yield. It's in the top 10 largest unplanned explosions in history.
Discussion of impact on US spaceflight
If this is an engine problem then Vulcan is affected, too. If it was caused by the ground infrastructure then Vulcan can fly again once it solved its booster issues. Either way, for now SpaceX is the only one with available medium- and heavy-lift launch capability (ULA can fly its remaining Atlas rockets but they are all booked out).
The launch pad is a big mess of steel from the collapsed tower, remains of the transporter/erector and soot. The rocket is just gone. Looks like the integration facility (big white building) is fine overall but the tents near it are damaged. Not sure why the next booster is outside.
Yield estimates are somewhere from 1000 to 3000 tonnes of TNT equivalent total, although not everything reacted simultaneously so it wasn't as destructive as a single explosion with that yield. It's in the top 10 largest unplanned explosions in history.
Discussion of impact on US spaceflight
If this is an engine problem then Vulcan is affected, too. If it was caused by the ground infrastructure then Vulcan can fly again once it solved its booster issues. Either way, for now SpaceX is the only one with available medium- and heavy-lift launch capability (ULA can fly its remaining Atlas rockets but they are all booked out).