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On 17th January 1997 a Delta II rocket exploded seconds after launch and scattered burning debris over the surrounding area, it’s one of the most spectacular rocket failures, and it was caused by a solid rocket motor splitting while under pressure.
I’ve talked about enough exploding rockets in recent years that I wanted to start a series of videos about historic rocket failures. This isn’t just going to be talking about the impressive RUD’s but the nature of the failure and the hardware involve.
Images & Video:
USAF
ULA
Boeing
NASA
KSC
Northrom Grumman / Orbital / ATK
Delta II ICESAT-2 image by Brady Kenniston
https://www.bradykennistonphotography.com/
News Article from Aviation Week
https://aviationweek.com/
Carbon Fibre test video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aH9vcV7jzG0
More strap on boosters for better atmospheric penetration, but beware of explosive warts. OK it was easy.
Ultrasonic testing for the win!
I’m Scott Manley, I’m making a series about rockets not flying safe.
I actually like this. Keep this one
Wow that was an amazing explosion!
Well told story, much enjoyed!
Wooo! A series about booms! Looking forward to more!
5:16 Most badass bird under rocket motor
oof the audio on this video <3 you scotttttt
What’s the glowing light at the right hand side in the SRB test? Is it some sort of reflectiion in the camera equipment?
Crazy eye movement during the intro
I would like to see a video on how the self destruct system works
When you haven’t watched Scott Manley in about 8 years (whenever I last watched ksp), you’re so outdated about the rocket stuff and you get blasted with a whole bunch of rocket terminology which you have no clue about.. That’s me..
Absolutely awesome video, Scott!
That’s a rather pricey firework. The normal ones cost about a tenner.
I’ve been watching this guy for three years and I only just now realized he has a monobrow
Professor Manley, we’d love to hear your take on the Chinese sci fi blockbuster, The Wandering Earth, now on Netflix. Thanks
I wonder if you can get an automobile insurance policy that covers rocket explosions? 😊
Great new series!
If all the worlds ICBMs were launched what do you think the failure rate would be?
Any chance of getting ‘lucky’?
Basic question…
Why have we shifted from multiple first stage boosters to only 2 of them…
Other than the increase in efficiency and twr of engines such as the Merlin are there other reasons…
Plus why is the two booster configuration flown the way it is..
Looking forward to more like this!
Another awesome and informative video! Thanks Scott!
You’re so reliably good, u may not even know. Thanks!
AKA: “Why You Will Not Go To Space Today”
Looking forward to more in this series, thanks!
Informative and entertaining, nice work. 👍
I think something similar happened to the SpaceX Dragon craft.
The most expensive fireworks display in history.
I new APCP was rubbery, but damn! That stuff bounces when it hits the ground!! Now that’s CONTENT.
Is like you to talk about the aluminum scam NASA recently figured out.
Love you his channel so much it hurts my brain
“at 1600ft”
Uzi killed this rocket
I like this new series Scott.. Keep ’em coming!
LOVE THE IDEA! I get back from work tired and needing some good/ interesting videos; EVERY time I come back and see a new video by Scott Manley on my feed I watch first and am NEVER disappointed!
Rockets fail because they don’t work well after exploding.
All failures can be eliminated by only launching in the USA on the 4th of July.
[humor]
Mr Manley your skill as a video producer is very impressive indeed. You did such a great job with this video. I found it to be immensely entertaining and informative.
Can’t wait for a video (maybe?) on the spectacular proton rocket crash. It is perhaps the only crash that can give this firework display a run for it’s money!
I like this new format! I´m looking forward to the next episodes.
1:35 – I hope their insurance covered that…
Should be an interesting series. Looking forward to it.👍🚀💥
Great idea Scott.
I love seeing your comments under other yourubers videos, I special like the ones about the toaster and star citizen
Here I thought my Estes rocket doing a CATO was impressive.
Why rockets fail:
7 seconds after launch their license expired.
Hey just wanted to say love what you do and thanks for the video
Oh I remember!
*We have had an anomaly*
That’s a bit of an understatement
Delta II : Designed by Kerbals.
And how about on the next one we do the Proton -M that crashed..
(The one where the Internal Guidance was installed Upside down!
12.58 seconds before the rocket exploded?
Sounds like my last date. 😅
I like the name of this new series, ahahahah. High quality clickbait
A great idea for a new series! Looking forward to more episodes of this. Thanks for your content and being such a cool guy.
@6:11 Interesting to look back at what effectively would be a Scott Manley video in paper form, and that’s only 22 years ago.
Looking forward to more in this series! Thanks for the great content Scott!
I was still developing in the womb when this exploded
You always have great perspectives and a gift of simplifying for us some complex Tech.
I am massively looking forward to the continuation of this series!
Loving this new series Scott! Keep it up, would love to hear the technical side of more failures!
Great choice of series. As always your video is both interesting and informative. Cheers
6:50 in….”despite this violence” so darn funny. Simply fantastic descriptions.
Keep up the great work Scott!
This should have been called: Big OOps Moments, which is an acronym for BOOM.
That was a really expensive firework.
Awesome idea for a new series. I don’t want to see rockets explode, but it is fascinating to watch and learn about. Keep the great videos coming Scott.
3:23 – The Kerbal solution for getting an oversized rocket off the ground: MOAR SRBS!
Two many parts and everything saposta work, I think not.
All rocketry is, essentially, a controlled explosion. We’re so accustomed to success we forget that they occasionally go kaboom.
How late am I on the strap-on jokes?
Hey Scotty. Thanks for beaming me up again!
Fantastic series idea! Looking forward to future episodes!
They should have launched on new years… awesome firework
that was one expensive firework
[Revert to VAB]
Imagine going to your car insurance after this happened.
Agent: I’m so sorry your car burned. Did everyone get out of your car alright?
Engineer: What do you mean? Nobody was in the car.
Agent: Oh, that’s good. So did your house catch fire and spread to your car?
Engineer: Actually burning solid rocket fuel rained down after a rocket explosion and hit my car.
Agent: *confused staring*
Something I’ve been noticing in your videos is that when you put up any sort of predominantly white screen, it seems to lose brightness within a second (I’ve seen it happen on 3 different platforms and screens).
If this is done on purpose in your editing, I really appreciate it. I tend to watch mostly at night so it’s quite nice to not have my retina fried away by an unexpected bright point in the video.
I was there!!! I was 10 years old and I still remember the noise and the incredible explosion that rocked the building I was in… we were getting ready to board the big red boat and they said if that boat wasnt between us and the explosion, all the glass in this glass wall facing the ship would have shattered!!!
I remember the sliding doors coming off their tracks and the security guards running around not knowing what had just occurred… when we got on the boat we could see the smoke and fires still on the grounds…
I remember the LEGO set of that rocket, its what got me interested in rocketry from the beginning. Sad that it will never fly again
I thought the explosion and the showering brought 3 ideas forward.
1. It’s pretty cool and spectacular.
2. There is a reason why observers are kept a long way, away fron the launch.
3. They should blow up more often and,
4. Can I come watch when it does?
Love the new series, Scott! Very entertaining, you are awesome, sir.
Instructions unclear, where am I flying my safe to?
“It would be bad if these boosters failed. We better test them so that doesn’t happen.”
“Good thinking, Jim.”
Awesome. Great idea for series of videos. Thanks. That slow motion shot of SRB was super cool.
I’m shocked the engineering team didn’t mandate a full-up NDI (using ultrasonics) of the composite structure after loading it up to 95% ultimate. Sometimes you learn things the hard way.
My friend Marc was a member of the launch team in the blockhouse during this event. He manned the instrumentation bay and after the explosion they noticed that noxious fumes were leaking in through the cable conduits. They rammed rags, paper and their shirts into the conduits to block the fumes. Marc’s car was one of the severely damaged.
Scott, contact me if you do a report on the Delta 3000 #134 failure of Sept. 13, 1977. I was a solid propellant consultant for the McDonnell Douglas failure review team. That failure resulted in a major change in solid propellant formulation.
I saw a documentary on this failure once where one of the engineers described making an insurance claim about is totally destroyed car. Apparently the insurance company was skeptical when he said that “a rocket fell on it.”
They also described jumping under the desks in the blockhouse as the debris came down. I’m not sure that doing that would’ve helped.
Clearly, this could’ve been much worse.
Thor became fat. It got heavier and heavier and became the delta; the tanks have been stretched, a second stage was added. It then blew up.
If you’re covering rocket failures, you absolutely have to include the Ariane 5 launch. The integer overflow part is my favorite.
It’s amazing how far a rocket can get in 12.4 seconds.
They are so large but the scale throws off perceived velocity.
I giggled at “9 strap ons”
That first shot of the propellant falling from the sky reminds me of some of the explosions in the original Thunderbirds TV show
Nice firework.
The second stage and payload flying of the disaster is so Kerbal.
But kerbals would probably have tried to ignite the second stage to softland the payload
How did you not title this something like “Stories of Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly” or something like that?
Its not played out for everyone.
Or “Great explosions in space travel history!”
Can you make a video on thrust vectoring systems and their differences?
My favorite part of this particular rocket failure was mission control:
*rocket explodes*
*Everyone gasps
“Uuhhh. We have had an… anomaly?”
As we all know cause they had an Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly!
Imagine the car insurance claim — burning rocket fuel and debris landed on my car.
Rockets don`t fail, they sometimes just make alternative live choices. Think about a spectacular end everyone can see instead of burning up over the ocean where nobody notices.
[revert to vehicle assembly building]
Would be super awesome if you could cover the failures of the first rockets/rocket motors. I’m very curious what went wrong in the early days
Very good report. You did your research.
I worked for McDonnell Douglas Delta program back in 1997. It was a sad day.
Steely eyed missile men get misty eyed when one of their birds fail.
Funny story; Once at Vandenberg one of the solid boosters was out of storage and sitting outside to get some testing. People were standing around near the nozzle. A plastic protective cap on the nozzle popped off with a good loud pop sound. I think the people standing by the nozzle had to go clean their shorts after that.
I assume the air heated up in the nozzle expanded enough to pop the cover off.
If your SRB has a hairline crack, you will not go to space today.
My brother in law was in the blockhouse that day. Everyone had parked their cars right up close and consequently had them destroyed by falling debris. He used to have a lump of melted glass on his desk that was all that remained of his windshield.
I worked on the upgrade of Delta RS-27 engine to Delta II back in ’87. I discovered a flaw in the engine analysis, in that they had failed to perform a fracture analysis on the turbopump main shaft. They had done a long duration durability analysis but that was insufficient for the cryogenic conditions to which the shaft was subject. They knew they had a flaw in the engine as they were losing one flight in 23 and half of those were due to engines going “boom”, but they had not been able to find the cause. After I pointed out the flaw, they changed the design and the reliability doubled.
“What doesn’t kill you, only makes you stronger”.
Composite material: “Well actually…”
Because they didn’t buy winrar after 40 days so they have problems with unzipping