Why NASA self-destructed the recently launched Antares rocket

Captured by NASA's Joel Kowsky

Tuesday night, October 28, 2014, a 139-foot-tall (43 meters) Antares rocket was scheduled to take-off and reach the International Space Station in one of the many periodic resupply missions that regularly occur. This time, however, something went wrong and the rocket exploded; the kill signal was given and the mission was aborted, causing the rocket to detonate before it hit the ground. 

Every time NASA launches a rocket, two safety officers have to decide whether or not to push the self-destruct button. In an industry where the slightest bit of details can have an impact on failure or success, triumph or tragedy, making the wrong call will have a dire impact. A misdirected rocket can potentially endanger the lives of people on the receiving end, whether that end be the ISS or a populated area on Earth. It becomes difficult to project flight trajectories once a malfunction has occurred.

The exact reasons behind the erratic behavior that sentenced the rocket to a smoldering grave are still behind investigated, “’it is far too early to know the details of what happened,” said a Frank Culbertson, an executive vice president at Orbital Sciences Corporation, the private company whose rocket was being launched.  

The Antares rocket was intended to propel a Cygnus cargo craft into orbit carrying a total of 5,000 pounds of supplies and experiments to the ISS; this was the fourth Cygnus craft to launched since September 2013. In light of the outcome, the space station has ample supplies to last into the new year, stated NASA officials in a recent press conference. The agency urges civilians to call 757-824-1295 and report any discovered debris, as it could be dangerous.

Source: National Geographic