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Unmanned Russian Soyuz Blows Up On Launch

Posted by timothy on from the what's-russian-for-nader dept.

adagioforstrings writes "CNN reports that a 300-tonne unmanned Soyuz-U launch vehicle exploded 29 seconds after take-off from Russia's Arctic Plesetsk cosmodrome late on Tuesday, its blazing debris showering onto the launchpad and its blastwave killing one and injuring eight others. A modified version of this same kind of rocket will be used to carry cosmonauts to the ISS later this month."

5 of 34 comments (clear)

  1. Facts are EVERYTHING by stevew · · Score: 4, Informative

    Look folks - the simple fact is that space travel isn't for tourists yet! Remember the Challenger?!? Rockets blow up ALL THE TIME. We take great care to make sure it doesn't happen, but it does. I saw statistics back in the late 80's that stated a failure rate of something like 1 in 25 launches. Now - that is from a 12 year old memory, but it's in the ballpark.

    Consider also that the Soyuz hasn't had any accidents (admittedly - that we know of) for like a decade. They have a pretty good safety record for launches. Their launch success record is to e admired!

    --
    Have you compiled your kernel today??
    1. Re:Facts are EVERYTHING by WolfWithoutAClause · · Score: 3, Informative
      There's a big difference between manned and unmanned vehicles though.

      I think the accident rate for a manned vehicle is nearer to 1 percent. Space Shuttle has had one accident in about 100 launches for example- that's a 1% failure rate. The Russian record for manned launches in recent times is better if anything.

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      -WolfWithoutAClause

      "Gravity is only a theory, not a fact!"
  2. Re:Sabotage? by 0x69 · · Score: 2, Informative

    The rocket was essentially a giant controlled firecracker with a half-jillion complicated parts that all had to work just right. Just one little oversight, part failure, or unforeseen way for something to go wrong, and ka-BOOM! is the natural result. Look at rocketry's failure history. Rocket launch facilities spread things far out, shelter people in blockhouses, etc. in ways that would be considered crazy overkill at a munitions dump. They've learned the hard way.

    Not to say that the investigation of a disaster this big shouldn't consider sabotage, but long history suggests a vastly more likely alternative.

    --
    It's easy to make up & spread cool- and credible-sounding stuff. Finding & checking hard facts is hard work.
  3. The R7 family still the most reliable booster by steve.m · · Score: 5, Informative

    As it says here, the R7 family is "..the most often used and most reliable launch vehicle in history".

    The unmanned versions are built to a lower spec, as the cargo isn't as important as human life. Manned soyuz boosters continue to be the safest way into orbit.

  4. Re:Last thing they needed. by Klox · · Score: 3, Informative
    Without Soyuz craft the ISS can only be run at a maintenance level--i wonder how long before they'll be back in full operation, or if the Russians don't suspend their programs the way we do when we lose an orbiter b/c of an O-ring.

    From the article:

    "There are no plans as yet to postpone the [next] flight," Sergei Gorbunov, spokesman for Russia's top space authority Rosaviakosmos told Reuters.