sciencetech-blog

comments

Last month the world was stunned as Nasa's Antares rocket experienced a fault shortly after launching, falling back to Earth in an enormous fiery explosion.

Now new footage has been released from up close that shows the demise of the rocket like never before.

Remotely operated cameras recently recovered from the launch pad captured the explosion in incredible detail - and one even reveals footage from inside the resultant cloud of dust and debris.

Scroll down for video 

Cameras recovered from the launch pad in Virginia have shed new light on disaster (still image shown). An OrbitalSciences Antares rocket failed and exploded seconds after launching from Wallops Flight Facility on 28 October. Officials later explained that they detonated the rocket after a fault was spotted

The footage was compiled by websites Zero-G News and America Space.

They explain that, as their cameras were so close to the launchpad, they had not been hopeful of retrieving much, if any, of the data.

And they were also restricted from retrieving their data after lift-off owing to the obviously hazardous conditions.

'The initial liftoff looked flawless. Then, suddenly, the exhaust turned bright yellow and became far brighter than usual. 

'That's when we knew things were about to get bad,' said Elliot Severn, a launch photojournalist for Zero-G News and StarTalk Radio.

'The vehicle seemed to hang in the air and started to burn, it was like watching a train wreck in slow motion.

'It fell in a pillar of fire and exploded on impact, and we could feel the heat on our face from 1.5 miles [2.4km] away.

Seconds later the shockwave hit, and we all ran for the buses to evacuate. We had little hope of any cameras surviving.'

But amazingly four cameras from journalists working for the two websites did survive, 'and the footage is nothing short of spectacular' said AmericaSpace.

Footage of the Antares rocket disaster from the launch pad

The Nasa-funded rocket exploded (previous image shown) on its way to the ISS just six seconds after lift-off from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island in Virginia .The rocket exploded at 6:22pm EDT on 28 October, and was carrying equipment that would have helped hunt for asteroids to mine

Organisations said more than £125 million ($200 million) worth of equipment was destroyed in the huge explosion (previous image shown). Orbital Sciences said it would 'likely' stop using the type of Russian engines that were employed when its unmanned Antares commercial supply rocket exploded

They explained how in the first aerial surveys of the launch pad they could see their cameras, but they had to wait several weeks to get everything back from the Accident Investigation Board.

One of the cameras was even located very close to the middle of the pad and right in the middle of the explosion.

As dust and debris flies around, the camera somehow manages to survive. 

The Nasa-funded rocket exploded on its way to the ISS just six seconds after lift-off from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island in Virginia.

The rocket exploded at 6:22pm EDT on 28 October, and was carrying equipment that would have helped hunt for asteroids to mine and also a number of Earth-observation satellites.

Organisations said more than £125 million ($200 million) worth of equipment was destroyed in the huge explosion.

Orbital Sciences said it would 'likely' stop using the type of old Russian engines that were employed when its unmanned Antares commercial supply rocket bound for the International Space Station exploded moments after liftoff last week.

The company said its investigation of the crash is continuing, but preliminary results point to a failure in one of its two main engines involved in the first stage of launch.

'As a result, the use of these engines for the Antares vehicle likely will be discontinued,' it said.  

But the company still plans to fulfill its contract with Nasa to fulfill all its remaining cargo missions to the ISS by the end of 2016.