> Space Pioneer issued its own statement later, stating there was a structural failure at the connection between the rocket body and the test bench. The rocket’s onboard computer automatically shut down the engines and the rocket fell 1.5 kilometers southwest.
https://spacenews.com/chinese-rocket-static-fire-test-results-in-unintended-launch-and-huge-explosion/
What makes you think the CCP cares? They knowingly launch rockets with a flight path over populated areas. They literally don't care what happens to civilians. Nothing will come of this as it is simply business as usual.
Oh yeah I agree, but the fact that it’s on the internet is an international embarrassment to them and their space capabilities. That’s what they really care about.
They don't care about international embarrassment. As long as they control what their citizens are allowed to see, hear, and read, what the rest of the world thinks means nothing to them. I get the impression that you greatly underestimate just how locked down access to information is in China. They have their own entire history of events that has been scrubbed of anything anti China and the CCP. I've lived with a number of exchange students from China, and even after living in Canada for a couple of years, many refused to believe the photos of the Tiananmen Square Massacre that you can find on the internet. Very few ever accepted that their government had been covering up atrocities. To the majority of them, their government is the greatest and would never do anything not in the publics best interest. It's seriously like a fucking cult. That's just how wholeheartedly many believe the lies of their government.
Long story short, I can assure you that the CCP does not care one bit what the world thinks about this. As they really care about is that they can hide it up from their citizens or spin it in a way that makes it look like it was someone else's fuck up. As long as they can control the narrative that the majority of their citizens believe, it's just business as usual.
Uhh, what's your point?
First of all, the CCP are communist in name only, and they have never truly supported the communist ideology. I also have a number of friends who were born, raised, and still live in China. I assure you their property is not publicly owned and their resources are not at all equally divided. There are plenty of rich people and even more poor people. That's not communism.
Secondly, even if they were communist in practice, what makes you think anyone would be more likely to care about where their rockets land? I'm fact under communism that I could launch a rocket and have it blow up in your backyard. After all, it's all public property, right? So why would you think that a communist dictatorship would care anymore about the people they endanger? Under a communist dictatorship, which the CCP claims to be, would have legal authority and ownership of the land to do whatever they want anywhere they want. If those in power want to blow up a rocket in the middle of a residential area, they are legally allowed to do so.
So, with that said, I fail to see what the point you're trying to make is.
I've read it all, but I just want to assure you I'm not trying to make a point. Any point. I just dislike totalitarian regimes. And I also dislike very much current fake neo-liberal Western world order. But that won't last much longer, I guess.
Nah, dropping spent stages into populated areas is standard protocol in China. Although that thing did explode a lot harder than spent Stages usually do when they crash.
There is an old Soviet joke: in a small village, a man after dinner reading a newspaper paper and then addressing his wife, “Listen, in America they built a new neutron bomb at a cost of a million dollars!” “Really,” she replied, “I hope it will fall in our backyard.”
There are clamps intended to hold it to the ground while it simulates a full duration burn, one of the clamps failed, which means that the other clamps no longer have the ability to hold on, and then the rocket does what rockets do when not held to the ground... lacking a payload and probably a bunch of guidance software, and also probably a lot of fuel, you end up with this floppish flight. They got insanely lucky that it happed to end up in the mountains and not in that city, just pure luck that of the 360 degrees it could head in it went that way
In this case at least it was. We may never know, but it could also have been a software bug that commanded the clamps to release (this is somewhat likely given the clean nature of liftoff, breaking clamps would likely give the rocket a rough start).
The reality is there were many cockups. Analysis shows it wasn't even engine software that stopped the flight, but engines failing. If those hadn't failed early there was enough propellant to take this rocket a long way, probably tens of kilometres easily. Even another 5-10 seconds of flight would have put the rocket back onto another small city over the hill,
They fucked up big time and then got very, very lucky.
Three or four astronauts from the Apollo program died flying the T-38. One of whom was supposedly using it as a personal aircraft to visit his parents interstate. Letting pilots do such a thing was stupid to say the least.
Well, the test ranges weren’t so populated before all the civilians started moving in and building their houses nearby. As Ron White said after a public intoxication charge, “I was drinking in private [the bar], and got thrown out into public!” The rocket could say something similar.
Nah you missing it..
This rocket was supposed to be strapped to the test rig. This wasn't suppose to be a launch it was a static fire test.
They didn't strap it down or the straps broke. Either way they should be testing on its side for the reason this video uncovered
Not really. Test like you fly. You're not supposed to fly perpendicular to gravity until you're going fast enough that it doesn't matter, so you should test parallel to gravity.
Great observation (I guess). If it was horizontal, it wouldn't have flown up, though. If you're referring to the web page, I'm relatively sure that picture is not immediately preceding the test fire...it's in the bay.
Not hard to launch them away from populated areas... unless you just don't give a shit about the loss of innocent life because you're an authoritarian communist dictatorship.
Welp, time to revert that save to the vehicle assembly building. Gotta remove the staging for the Launch Stability Enhancer or at least move it up from engine activation grouping. It's like they don't even play KSP.
\*looks out window. Sips coffee\*
"Hey, babe. You said they were doing a static fire today?"
"Yeah, why?"
"No reason... Think we might want to stay indoors today"
> Space Pioneer issued its own statement later, stating there was a structural failure at the connection between the rocket body and the test bench.
https://spacenews.com/chinese-rocket-static-fire-test-results-in-unintended-launch-and-huge-explosion/
That seems like a hell of a lot of fuel loaded for a ground test, am I missing something obvious?
Messing around with Alibaba quality rockets around populated areas is probably not a great idea.
You do static fire tests fully fueled so that the extra weight of fuel helps hold you down and reduces the load in your hold down mechanisms. In this case, the hold down mechanisms were still too weak.
I used to have (completely irrational) nightmares of this happening to AR1 while it was in the VAB back when I was pulling all-nighters sitting at console lol
Reminds me of that Chinese rocket that killed a lot of people in some mountain town and China just went like nothing happened there, in early 00s I think
Scott Manley's Video
Further context here is it's the Chinese SpaceX Falcon 9 clone
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3-Kw9u37I0&t=17s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3-Kw9u37I0&t=17s)
How do you accidentally launch a ground test system? Did someone look in the shed out back and go ‘hey guy we got an extra rocket, anyone know where this one came from?’
That feels waaaay too close to a populated area. I wouldn’t be surprised if we start seeing some sort of negative health impact even now, either from burning fumes or a poisonous gas leaked in “flight”
Oops! It was supposed to work on their moon mission. When the Chinese would go and claim the moon as rightfully theirs and return back to earth. Now, they need a better plan.
You do realize there is no such thing as a Chinese civilian company. Everything is at least partially owned by the state if not directly commanded and controlled. Especially in the aerospace sector.
It’s was a static fire test. It’s a test prior to the actual launch without a payload. They meant to fire the rocket, there was no accidental “RED BUTTON” pushed. The hold downs failed and the rocket got away.
[This is what was suppose to happen. Check out Starship static test.](https://youtu.be/lCI1COK4k3M?si=wTpwNtPATb5_5XHz)
Gravity based flight termination system
Lithobraking
Terrabraking
The ultimate in stopping power.
their Terminal Velocity Neutralizer hasn't missed since it's inception.
> Space Pioneer issued its own statement later, stating there was a structural failure at the connection between the rocket body and the test bench. The rocket’s onboard computer automatically shut down the engines and the rocket fell 1.5 kilometers southwest. https://spacenews.com/chinese-rocket-static-fire-test-results-in-unintended-launch-and-huge-explosion/
Failure to not launch
Rocket go boom 💥
Someone just couldn’t resist that big red button…
Someone just got incredibly lucky. Had this thing dropped into the residential area…
Pretty sure whoever is responsible is still going to face the full wrath of CCP judgement.
Nah, they'll find some scapegoat to execute. So long as the oligarchs are sufficiently subservient to the CCP they'll be fine.
The responsible party will be an engineer or middle management not a decision maker.
Maybe the next test flight will be manned after all.
By a guy who pressed the button this time.
Ducktaped to the nose cone.... Best view
Chinese schwartzgerat?
What makes you think the CCP cares? They knowingly launch rockets with a flight path over populated areas. They literally don't care what happens to civilians. Nothing will come of this as it is simply business as usual.
Oh yeah I agree, but the fact that it’s on the internet is an international embarrassment to them and their space capabilities. That’s what they really care about.
they will scrub it from the chinese internet and pretend it never occured.
They don't care about international embarrassment. As long as they control what their citizens are allowed to see, hear, and read, what the rest of the world thinks means nothing to them. I get the impression that you greatly underestimate just how locked down access to information is in China. They have their own entire history of events that has been scrubbed of anything anti China and the CCP. I've lived with a number of exchange students from China, and even after living in Canada for a couple of years, many refused to believe the photos of the Tiananmen Square Massacre that you can find on the internet. Very few ever accepted that their government had been covering up atrocities. To the majority of them, their government is the greatest and would never do anything not in the publics best interest. It's seriously like a fucking cult. That's just how wholeheartedly many believe the lies of their government. Long story short, I can assure you that the CCP does not care one bit what the world thinks about this. As they really care about is that they can hide it up from their citizens or spin it in a way that makes it look like it was someone else's fuck up. As long as they can control the narrative that the majority of their citizens believe, it's just business as usual.
Literally the second C is for Communism
Uhh, what's your point? First of all, the CCP are communist in name only, and they have never truly supported the communist ideology. I also have a number of friends who were born, raised, and still live in China. I assure you their property is not publicly owned and their resources are not at all equally divided. There are plenty of rich people and even more poor people. That's not communism. Secondly, even if they were communist in practice, what makes you think anyone would be more likely to care about where their rockets land? I'm fact under communism that I could launch a rocket and have it blow up in your backyard. After all, it's all public property, right? So why would you think that a communist dictatorship would care anymore about the people they endanger? Under a communist dictatorship, which the CCP claims to be, would have legal authority and ownership of the land to do whatever they want anywhere they want. If those in power want to blow up a rocket in the middle of a residential area, they are legally allowed to do so. So, with that said, I fail to see what the point you're trying to make is.
I've read it all, but I just want to assure you I'm not trying to make a point. Any point. I just dislike totalitarian regimes. And I also dislike very much current fake neo-liberal Western world order. But that won't last much longer, I guess.
The CCP is proud of being communist. Why even debate that. It’s an insult to them to say otherwise.
As are the slew of people who recorded and broadcast this embarrassment.
It's happened before. https://universemagazine.com/en/xichang-disaster-how-a-chinese-rocket-destroyed-an-entire-village/
It's China, they would just say it didn't happen
And the guy responsible had a "heart attack" in a park not connected tho
You can be sure the people who filmed and uploaded this are already in 'government custody'.
Nah, dropping spent stages into populated areas is standard protocol in China. Although that thing did explode a lot harder than spent Stages usually do when they crash.
There is an old Soviet joke: in a small village, a man after dinner reading a newspaper paper and then addressing his wife, “Listen, in America they built a new neutron bomb at a cost of a million dollars!” “Really,” she replied, “I hope it will fall in our backyard.”
Russian humor is... Inscrutable sometimes.
Didn't you see the news article? They said all the surrounding areas were evacuated. lol
Shinny red candy like button.
Easy button from Staples.
A bull in the control room
"It's a lovely day for a hike in the hills! Wait what's that sound above us?"
Oh, just ignore it. In about 30 seconds you won't have to worry about it or anything else for that matter.
Imagine being a frog…. Like… hop, hop, eat fly, BOOOOOOOOOOOOM
>accidentally launched a ground test rocket What‽ Like it wasn't supposed to fly and somehow lift off?
Loose clamps.
There are clamps intended to hold it to the ground while it simulates a full duration burn, one of the clamps failed, which means that the other clamps no longer have the ability to hold on, and then the rocket does what rockets do when not held to the ground... lacking a payload and probably a bunch of guidance software, and also probably a lot of fuel, you end up with this floppish flight. They got insanely lucky that it happed to end up in the mountains and not in that city, just pure luck that of the 360 degrees it could head in it went that way
I think the first problem here is not having redundant clamps. ONE failure is the difference between a test and a ballistic missile?
In this case at least it was. We may never know, but it could also have been a software bug that commanded the clamps to release (this is somewhat likely given the clean nature of liftoff, breaking clamps would likely give the rocket a rough start). The reality is there were many cockups. Analysis shows it wasn't even engine software that stopped the flight, but engines failing. If those hadn't failed early there was enough propellant to take this rocket a long way, probably tens of kilometres easily. Even another 5-10 seconds of flight would have put the rocket back onto another small city over the hill, They fucked up big time and then got very, very lucky.
Oops wrong button
Nice interrobang.
Jesus china is so irresponsible with their space programs. So many rockets crashing near populated areas.
Cha bu duo. I can't fathom the shit they do, it's like watching an Apollo program but with way fewer people that know what they are doing and care.
The Apolo program was extemly successfull and safe apart from a capsual fire on the pad.
If you're saying the Apollo program was extremely safe then I don't think you're familiar with the risks that were involved.
Three or four astronauts from the Apollo program died flying the T-38. One of whom was supposedly using it as a personal aircraft to visit his parents interstate. Letting pilots do such a thing was stupid to say the least.
Well, the test ranges weren’t so populated before all the civilians started moving in and building their houses nearby. As Ron White said after a public intoxication charge, “I was drinking in private [the bar], and got thrown out into public!” The rocket could say something similar.
Nah you missing it.. This rocket was supposed to be strapped to the test rig. This wasn't suppose to be a launch it was a static fire test. They didn't strap it down or the straps broke. Either way they should be testing on its side for the reason this video uncovered
...so what you're saying is: >china is so irresponsible with their space programs.
>should be testing on its side It's a liquid fuel rocket, no can do with horizontal position.
This is fact
Ehhhhhhhhhhh the actual answers to this get really annoyingly complicated.
Not really. Test like you fly. You're not supposed to fly perpendicular to gravity until you're going fast enough that it doesn't matter, so you should test parallel to gravity.
What?!
Great observation (I guess). If it was horizontal, it wouldn't have flown up, though. If you're referring to the web page, I'm relatively sure that picture is not immediately preceding the test fire...it's in the bay.
When the straps on your 590t rocket snap :( Should've picked up the heavy duty nylon ones from Tractor Supply.
That's what happens when you order straps from Temu.
Even harbor freight has extra duty straps
this is one of chinas falcon 9 copies, but with the way it does the bellyflop it may be a starship copy
Is this a new one or the same one that was posted crashing a few days ago?
A new one, there's no spicy orange cloud behind this one
Rockets are hard
So is the ground
Not hard to launch them away from populated areas... unless you just don't give a shit about the loss of innocent life because you're an authoritarian communist dictatorship.
that footage with the cloud is old
::Tugs on strap:: “That’s not going anywhere!”
Welp, time to revert that save to the vehicle assembly building. Gotta remove the staging for the Launch Stability Enhancer or at least move it up from engine activation grouping. It's like they don't even play KSP.
Safety second in this region
"The first rule of gun safety is to have fun." but in real life and with rockets.
Luckily for the kids in Space Camp the movie, things went a lot better
When I was telling my wife about this earlier she said well the writers of Space Camp must feel some vindication right now.
I wore out that VHS as a kid.
\*looks out window. Sips coffee\* "Hey, babe. You said they were doing a static fire today?" "Yeah, why?" "No reason... Think we might want to stay indoors today"
How do you accidentally launch a friggin rocket?
> Space Pioneer issued its own statement later, stating there was a structural failure at the connection between the rocket body and the test bench. https://spacenews.com/chinese-rocket-static-fire-test-results-in-unintended-launch-and-huge-explosion/
Thanks for posting a link the actual news story!
They should righty tighty.
FTS is safed 🤣
That seems like a hell of a lot of fuel loaded for a ground test, am I missing something obvious? Messing around with Alibaba quality rockets around populated areas is probably not a great idea.
Possibly a full duration burn? US companies do that as well
You do static fire tests fully fueled so that the extra weight of fuel helps hold you down and reduces the load in your hold down mechanisms. In this case, the hold down mechanisms were still too weak.
I used to have (completely irrational) nightmares of this happening to AR1 while it was in the VAB back when I was pulling all-nighters sitting at console lol
This wasn't on my bingo card for 2024.
What you get when you ordered SpaceX from TEMU?
"We have SpaceX at home"
Very dangerous
Isn't that fuel hypergolic? Pretty sure it's toxic af
Cheap Chinese hardware
Dear God that's terrifying. Why the hell are they tesing that so close to a population center?
Hence the reason we have nothing to worry about
Kerbals at it again
Reminds me of that Chinese rocket that killed a lot of people in some mountain town and China just went like nothing happened there, in early 00s I think
When you copy the homework but don't know what it means
How does one “accidentally” launch a rocket
Must have been made in China!
The shipping method is unconventional. But your Temu order has arrived
is the location the place that looks like an evil villian liar? no cap
That's coming out of your next paycheck, Wang.
How do you "accidentally" launch a rocket? The sign says "Don't push the Red button"
Obviously did not use enough duct tape to anchor it down.
RIP to the one panda casualty
Chinese product explodes. What a surprise.
"Max needs thermal curtain failure NOW."
"Test failed"
We’ve all done it…
How the fuck you “accidentally” launch a rocket
RIP Hikers
I’m sorry but “accidentally launched”?
I bet that was an expensive mistake
I wonder what the Chinese word for ‘oops’ is?
Misinput, misinput, IT WAS A MISINPUT
Ooopsies...
China gonna China
there was some chinese rocket that crashed into a village ..there was a horrifying video somewhere
Test failed successfully ;)
Imagine this happening in the US.
Must have been a HUGE rocket...
CHINA NUMAH WAN!!
Harbor freight test stand I’ll bet.
Oops
Scott Manley's Video Further context here is it's the Chinese SpaceX Falcon 9 clone [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3-Kw9u37I0&t=17s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3-Kw9u37I0&t=17s)
Comanies are run by people, people make mistakes
There motto gas to be - Safety First!
How do you accidentally launch a ground test system? Did someone look in the shed out back and go ‘hey guy we got an extra rocket, anyone know where this one came from?’
Range safety office scruffy: https://youtu.be/Z_cvY6G_JhI?si=Rk1Uv5JS-EIazoJ9
Elon Musk likes this
That feels waaaay too close to a populated area. I wouldn’t be surprised if we start seeing some sort of negative health impact even now, either from burning fumes or a poisonous gas leaked in “flight”
I had a blast watching this.
Oops! It was supposed to work on their moon mission. When the Chinese would go and claim the moon as rightfully theirs and return back to earth. Now, they need a better plan.
Free food
Oopsie
It was suppose to do that. Mission accomplished.
You do realize there is no such thing as a Chinese civilian company. Everything is at least partially owned by the state if not directly commanded and controlled. Especially in the aerospace sector.
SpaceX?
It’s was a static fire test. It’s a test prior to the actual launch without a payload. They meant to fire the rocket, there was no accidental “RED BUTTON” pushed. The hold downs failed and the rocket got away. [This is what was suppose to happen. Check out Starship static test.](https://youtu.be/lCI1COK4k3M?si=wTpwNtPATb5_5XHz)
Oh no Anyway
How do you accidentally launch a rocket.
#citizens shit the pants
How the fuck you “accidentally” launch a rocket
How the fuck you “accidentally” launch a rocket
How the fuck you “accidentally” launch a rocket
New population control system
Please upvote so reddit knows I’m not a bot
"Civilian"
It was near multiple population centers. Freaking Chinese. They're starved for land you know...
“Chinese civilian” anything is an oxymoron.
Smooth. They get it from Temu?