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NASA's Space Balloon Smashes Car In Australia

Posted by samzenpus on from the wrong-turn dept.

Humunculus writes "Of more worldly issues, NASA's latest multimillion-dollar stratosphere-bound balloon launch has gone horribly wrong and crashed into a car, turning it over and narrowly missing two elderly people who were observing the launch. The payload fared worse, reportedly being smashed into a 'thousand pieces.'"

27 of 174 comments (clear)

  1. First by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    First splat

    1. Re:First by twistedsymphony · · Score: 5, Funny

      The director of the Balloon Launching Centre, Professor Ravi Sood, says no one was hurt.
      But he says the scientists involved in the NASA-sponsored project are crushed.

      Rather harsh punishment don't you think?

      --
      Collector's Edition
  2. No one was hurt? by AnonymousClown · · Score: 4, Funny

    The director of the Balloon Launching Centre, Professor Ravi Sood, says no one was hurt. But he says the scientists involved in the NASA-sponsored project are crushed.

    It says right there, some NASA scientists were crushed in the accident.

    I think the old couple needs to sue, sell chunks of their car on eBay, and retire rich!

    --
    RIP America

    July 4, 1776 - September 11, 2001

  3. NASA forgot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    that Australia is upside down

  4. Re:humm? by chalkyj · · Score: 5, Informative

    Quite high if you had a car parked next to the launch rig. Which is what happened. If you bothered to click the link.

  5. In related news... by Stenchwarrior · · Score: 4, Funny

    The lead baloon engineer, known for his cocky attitude and general air of superiority, had his ego severely deflated.

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    1. Re:In related news... by bwcarty · · Score: 5, Funny

      The lead baloon engineer....

      Why was he trying to engineer a lead balloon? Didn't he watch that episode of MythBusters?

  6. could someone translate from australian for me? by circletimessquare · · Score: 5, Funny

    He said the balloon was then seen lying partially-inflated above a paddock "like a white Uluru".

    what's a paddock?

    and what is with the reference to an albino version of a star trek character?

    i know you australians typically speak german like your neighbors to the north, but if you are going to write a story in the american language, try to more precise

    thanks

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    1. Re:could someone translate from australian for me? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      > Rife with typo's

      Ah, the ireny.

    2. Re:could someone translate from australian for me? by static416 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Exactly. I can't understand any of this:

      "That balloon was as large as the Melbourne Cricket Ground when fully inflated, carried a two-tonne payload and travelled in the outer edge of the atmosphere at 50 metres per second."

      They should know that in the US the standard units of measurement are football fields for length or area, elephants for mass, lightning strikes for probability, NASCARs for speed, DVDs for data, and swimming pools for volume.

      "Outer edge of the atmosphere"? How many Empire State Buildings up is that?

    3. Re:could someone translate from australian for me? by Dishevel · · Score: 3, Funny
      Data is described in LOC.

      Please turn in your card at the door.

      --
      Why is it so hard to only have politicians for a few years, then have them go away?
  7. Re:CRIKEY MATE by tumutbound · · Score: 4, Funny

    I find this response insulting. Australians do not drink Fosters! It's for export only. Nothing is too bad for the rest of the world.

  8. Is it OK to laugh? by Slash.Poop · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I know we lost, what I assume is, millions. (Probably $150 per screw) Someone's car got smashed. We almost killed people. We probably set the program back X amount of time. X amount of time is going to cost, what I assume is, millions. But still...

    We laugh at Fail Blog so...can't we laugh at this a little? Or maybe at least chuckle?

    --
    I'll try anything once. Twice if it tastes good
  9. massive miscalculation by Katchu · · Score: 3, Informative

    After watching the video, I can't help but think there was a massive miscalculation of the lift. And ignorance of real launch conditions, consisting of a mild breeze.

    --
    Keep Doing Good.
    1. Re:massive miscalculation by hornblower65 · · Score: 3, Informative

      The answer lies in the fact that your assumption is wrong. The vehicle is not used as a conventional crane.

      In order to stop the payload swinging like a pendulum into the ground (as we just saw), you need the payload to be right underneath the balloon when you release it. There is usually some amount of wind, even if very slight, and so to satisfy the first condition, you have to have a vehicle at the bottom to drive the payload along at the same vector as the wind, right underneath the balloon which is also moving along with the wind. When you achieve this, it is safe to let go, as the resultant force on the payload should be purely vertically up.

      In this case, it was clearly a premature release. You can see the vehicle moving, but it looks like the wind conditions were midjudged, resulting in the crane vehicle having to make a maneuver that over-strained the release mechanism, forcing it to give. As expected, given the very large off-vertical angle between payload and balloon, it crashed straight into the ground.

      The documentary 'BLAST!', about a very similar project, is worth watching if you can. The trailer [1] has enough footage for you to see a launch more clearly. Launching these things is not easy, as you can tell.

      [1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebJglJaMBnA

      As an asside: yes, I'm new here, but why do people declare things so confidently when it's quite clear they don't have even the vaguest comprehension? It's baffling. There should be some kind of cost function attached to it.

  10. oh yeah? what have you aussie's given the world? by circletimessquare · · Score: 3, Funny

    freud, schwarzenegger, mozart, schrodinger...

    ok, that's respectable

    respect to you australians then

    but you really should stick with your native german language

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  11. Is this piece of junk costing NASA millions? by V!NCENT · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Is this piece of junk costing NASA millions?

    Or is the R&D costing millions and does this thing itself cost a lot less to reproduce?

    Just a minor question, of course...

    --
    Here be signatures
  12. +1 for the Idiocracy by kenp2002 · · Score: 3, Funny

    I remember when NASA could sling shot a satellite 40,000+ miles looping around a planet 32 times, ricochet of an asteroid and drop a golf ball in a cup of coffee in the middle of Denver blindfolded with both hands behind their back.

    Now they can't remember to convert metric to imperial (and back again) and can't launch a ballon...

    Damn NASA used to be the best and the brightest. I worry if we'll be able to feed ourselves by the end of the year :P

    NASA's performance was once the measure of the USA's intellectual success... I'm worried... apparently more money on education doesn't = smarter people...

    I mean come on it's not rocke...errr wait...

    --
    -=[ Who Is John Galt? ]=-
    1. Re:+1 for the Idiocracy by brainboyz · · Score: 4, Insightful

      NASA's performance was once the measure of the USA's intellectual success...

      Sadly, it still is.

  13. Another hoax! by Jetrel · · Score: 3, Funny

    Was there a little boy in it? Is he OK??

    --
    If it isn't broke, tinker with it till it is!
    1. Re:Another hoax! by dave420 · · Score: 4, Funny

      He was until a dingo got to him.

  14. Re:Who authorized go on launch? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    I don't think that was a planned release, it seems more like an accident.

    It looks as if the crane was rotating when the accident happened. The force of the balloon and the rotation of the crane seemed to have put a torque on the apparatus that was holding the rig in place. The apparatus snapped, releasing the rig and hijinx ensued.

    Also, never part downwind of space balloon launches.

  15. you're so ignorant of history by circletimessquare · · Score: 3, Funny

    austria before world war ii was known as the empire of austria-hungry

    this was solved by the invasion of turkey

    turkey is a delicious country, especially on thanksgiving day, which is the day turkey was able to remove the hungry part of the austro-hungryian empire

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  16. How's my driving? Call 1-800-FUC-KYOU by Alsee · · Score: 3, Informative

    If you don't like the way I drive, stay the hell off the sidewalk.
    If you don't like the way I fly, keep your damn car the hell out of the field.

    P.S.
    He said the balloon was then seen lying partially-inflated above a paddock "like a white Uluru".

    What the hell is an Uluru?
    I guess it's something that kinda looks like a partially-inflated balloon over a paddock, except it's not white.

    Ah... yeah... something like that.

    -

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    - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
  17. Whoosh? by Pteraspidomorphi · · Score: 5, Funny

    It may be a bad day for balloon launches, but at least jokes seem to be flying right past some people.

    1. Re:Whoosh? by Registered+Coward+v2 · · Score: 3, Funny

      It may be a bad day for balloon launches, but at least jokes seem to be flying right past some people.

      Yup, unfortunately for NASA this story may yet balloon out of control or at least blown up out of proportion. Then again, I may just be full of hot air.

      --
      I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
  18. Conflicting articles. by Eevee · · Score: 3, Informative

    According to the BBC, the equipment was not damaged.