Space news and analysis from Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral 
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Space news and analysis from Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral
3 comments:
@Margaret: it seems likely that the kerosene fuel line leading to the rocket did not properly detach at liftoff. It ruptured instead, spraying some kerosene into the air which then provided that brief fireball. Probably not a serious issue: the fireball probably left a lot of soot on the pad but wasn't nearly as hot as the actual exhaust of the Falcon 9, so probably didn't cause any actual harm. I'm sure they'll try to fix it for the next launch, though. (They had a similar problem on the first launch -- looks like their fix wasn't totally successful.)
Scott: You think the rocket went into orbit with the kerosene line connection still attached to the rocket? If the line ruptured like you suggest, could that not have resulted in kerosene flowing back out of the line during assent? Hard to think of having a manned crew on board with leaking kerosene on launch...
Rick Steele
Sarasota, Florida
A second theory has a GOX vent line doing the same thing but GOX wouldn't cause the heavy black smoke seen during this event. It also looked as if the failed QD and attached line slammed into the umbilical tower? My question is even if there was a large fuel leak from the ground side what triggered the ignition. The Merlins exhaust was still well below the leaking fuel. If the leakage sprayed downward then the Merlins may have been the ignition source but the video just doesn't show that. Also note it keeps burning (thick black smoke) after the rocket has cleared the tower. That verifies it was only the ground half Fuel QD failing to check.
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