Last month , one of SpaceX ’s rockets blew up while awaiting an railway locomotive test , the lawsuit of which remains occult . Predictably , conspiracies and speculationabout what happen have since , of class , appeared everywhere on the Internet , with the troupe yet tofind the cause .
And a new piece of information has just total out will definitely fan the flames . TheWashington Postreports that after viewing footage of the explosion , SpaceX call for for access to the roof of farseeing - fourth dimension rival company United Launch Alliance ( ULA ) , as part of the rocket fireball investigating .
An anonymous SpaceX source report that they met with representatives of the ULA and , in a " cordial , not accusive way " , asked for access to the roof of SMARF , the facility used by ULA for the refurbishment of Eruca vesicaria sativa motors . SMARF is locate just under 2 kilometre ( just over a mile ) aside from the SpaceX launch pad .
ULA , which is collectively owned by Lockheed - Martin and Boeing , deny access to the SpaceX employee but permit Air Force investigators to inspect the roof . They find nothing link SMARF to the rocket plosion .
As for why the check was necessary , in an emailed instruction SpaceX said :
" The Accident Investigation Team has an obligation to consider all possible causes of the anomaly , and we are n’t commenting on any specific potential cause until the investigation is concluded . A preliminary review of the data and debris suggests a breach in the second stagecoach ’s He system of rules , but the cause of the breach is still strange . We have sought all usable data to support the investigating in a well timed personal manner follow the anomaly , as expected for any responsible for investigation . ”
The investigation by SpaceX into the September 1 plosion is on-going , with the assistance of NASA , the Air Force , and the Federal Aviation Administration . The explosion happened during a mundane filling operation when the engines were n’t on and there was no heat source uncommitted .
The Accident Investigation Team released astatementindicating that the preliminary investigation points towards a breach in the second stage cryogenic arrangement , which maintain oxygen cool . How the rift form remains unclear , though .
In atweet , SpaceX CEO Elon Musk stated that the probe is “ turning out to be the most hard and complex failure we have ever had in 14 years . ” A few 24-hour interval after the tweet , he asked for people to commit in videos and pic of the bolide , hoping to estimable understandwhat occur .
In footage bewitch of the effect , there ’s a quiet clap before the explosion , and an unidentified object ( likely to just be a bird ) is seen flying over the garden rocket as it explodes . Although no fundamental interaction are seen between the object and the rocket , some have suggest that the rocket was sabotaged from rival troupe , the US political science , or even foreigner .
Although these hypotheses have a certain lure , rocket engine are literally volatile joystick . External agent , especially of extraterrestrial origin , do n’t incline to cause as many rocket explosions as some might think .
Footage of the SpaceX explosion on September 1 , with the orphic object that ’s probably a bird flying over the rocket . USLaunchReport
[ H / T : Washington Post ]
