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Explosion at Scaled Composites Kills 2, Injures 4
Animats writes "Details are scant at this time, but a explosion at the Scaled Composites rocket test facility has killed two people and seriously injured four more. The Los Angeles Times reports that the explosion was 'ignited by a tank of nitrous oxide.' This is Burt Rutan's facility, and the home of SpaceShip One and Virgin Galactic spacecraft development."
My condolences as well. I know that Rutan has done everything he could think of in the design to prevent any kind of explosion, and the purposely doesn't light the rocket until they're 10 miles away from almost everybody, just in case something unexpected does happen.
Among the safety innovations of this rocket is that a single fiber optic cable is wound around and around the tank, so that if it ruptures anyplace it will cut the cable, and the rocket will be shut down immediately.
That said, in a cold-flow test, there shouldn't be anything burning.
I am sure that Burt and Richard Branson are terribly distressed by this. My deepest sympathies go out to the families of the killed and injured.
Thad Beier
I love Mondays. On a Monday, anything is possible.
Context is everything...
Why does the needless death of a beautiful baby in a war torn nation touch us or tug harder at our heart strings than the equally tragic death of an old man in a traffic accident? Part of it is the loss of possibility, a life unfulfilled. Part of it is the sadness of losing something innocent to something so depraved and heartless as a snipers rifle or terrorists bomb.
In the same way, we are especially touched by the loss of heroes. Heroes of the mind who force back the darkness, heroes of the will who challenge what's possible for people, and heroes of the heart who throw themselves fiercely at life's dare. Along the way we lose some of these heroes and a little piece of us dies with them, and that's why we mourn, that's why their passing is something special.
It doesn't diminish the humanity or worth of others, it doesn't diminish the depth or breadth of the trajedy of losing others. It is however a special loss, and these men and women deserve our acknowlegement, our respect, and our tears at their passing. It will always be hardest when we lose that which is the best of ourselves.
Who we make heroes... and how we mourn there passing more than anything else says something about who we are.
Actually, this is standard in a lot of rocketry situations. On the space shuttle, the electrical wire that controls the hydrazine valve to the thruster is wrapped around the thruster bell. If something goes wrong, and the bell fails, it will cut power to the control valve, causing it to close, and thus shutting down the thruster.
This is the basic principle of "Fail Safe" design. To me, the problem with the fiber optic cable is that the fiber cable is just a data control. It would be better if they wrapped the power line around it, so that a failure would cut the power, and thus cause it to go safe.
...si hoc legere nimium eruditionis habes...