SpaceX is considering sabotage as cause of Falcon 9 explosion

Dear readers and followers,

As SpaceX’s investigation of a Falcon 9 rocket explosion on September 1st drags into its second month, rumors are flying that this may have been more than a random technical failure. According to a Washington Postreport, SpaceX is considering the possibility of sabotage.

In a Holmesian twist to the investigation of the sudden fireball that eviscerated a Falcon 9 rocket, a $95 million internet satellite, and a chunk of Cape Canaveral’s launch pad 40, a SpaceX employee recently requested rooftop access to a building owned by competing rocket consortium United Launch Alliance. As industry officials who spoke on condition of anonymity told the Washington Post, SpaceX was following up on “something suspicious” it had seen while reviewing video footage of the rocket explosion—a weird shadow and a white spot on the roof of the ULA building, which sits about a mile from the launch pad.

According to the Washington Post’s unnamed experts, SpaceX was denied access to the rooftop, which was instead investigated by Air Force officials who found no evidence of a connection to the September 1st explosion. 

SpaceX’s official line—that it’s simply trying to leave no stone unturned—may well be true. But that hasn’t stopped the internet from offering up its own conspiracy theories, including that maybe a guy with a rifle shot the rocket from a mile away. (After all, Musk did say his company is trying to figure out the source of a “quieter bang sound” a few seconds before the fireball!)

Then again, as Elon Musk noted during his Martian colonization speechlast week, SpaceX has already investigated all obvious possibilities. “What remains are the less probable answers,” he said.

A ULA spokesperson responded to Gizmodo’s request for comment in an email, stating that “ULA cooperated with the Air Force’s 45th Space Wing, and nothing associated with the SpaceX accident was found.”

Source: Fortune

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Antares rocket failed during its launch to ISS and exploded

Dear readers and followers,

The +Orbital Sciences and Technologies, Inc.'s Antares rocket lifted off to start its third resupply mission to the International Space Station, but suffered a catastrophic anomaly shortly after liftoff at 6:22 p.m. EDT. The Orbital Sciences team is executing its contingency procedures, securing the site and data, including all telemetry from the Antares launch vehicle and Cygnus spacecraft. Before launch the Orbital team was not tracking any issues.No injuries have been reported, and Orbital reports that all personnel around the Wallops Flight Facility launch site have been accounted for.

Credit video: +NASA Wallops 

"Launching rockets is an incredibly difficult undertaking, and we learn from each success and each setback. Today's launch attempt will not deter us from our work to expand our already successful capability to launch cargo from American shores to the International Space Station.” said William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator of +NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Directorate, regarding today's Orbital Sciences Corp's launch mishap.

Credit image: +Orbital Sciences and Technologies, Inc. 

Damage was contained to the hazard area, but there may have been a scattering of debris. Public safety is our number one priority. If people find debris in the vicinity of the launch tonight, please stay away & call the Incident Response Team at 757-824-1295.

Source: +Orbital Sciences and Technologies, Inc. and +NASA


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Dramatic lost of Proton-M rocket launching Russian navigation satellites

Dear followers,

today, the Proton-M rocket carrying three satellites for Russia's Global Navigation Satellite System, or Glonass, exploded after few second of its lift-off. Glonass is the Russian equivalent to the United States' Global Positioning System, or GPS. This fail is terrible for Russian space program, while the India agency performed yesterday a successful lift-off of their first navigation satellites.

Credits: Russische raket stort neer par Zoomin_Nederland

Seconds later, the space rocket changed its course, and burnt into flames and dove nose-first into the ground.

In 2010, another Proton-M rocket carrying three satellites crashed in the Pacific Ocean.

Authorities have suspended further launches of the rockets as they investigate what caused the explosion.

Bright explosion ever observed on the Moon

Dear followers,

+NASA astronomers have been monitoring the Moon for signs of explosions due to meteorites hitting the lunar surface. This phenomenon is called "Lunar meteor showers"; and it have turned out to be more common than anyone expected. Actually hundreds of impacts are detected every year.

Credit: Nasa

"On March 17, 2013, an object about the size of a small boulder hit the lunar surface in Mare Imbrium," says Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. "It exploded in a flash nearly 10 times as bright as anything we've ever seen before."

Dear follower, you should know that anyone looking at the Moon at the moment of impact could have seen the explosion; no telescope required.

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