Blog SpaceX Considered Possibility a Bullet Caused 2016 Rocket Explosion

After a SpaceX rocket exploded on a Cape Canaveral launch pad in 2016, the company considered the possibility that a malicious rifle shot was the cause.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tells the story in a forthcoming book, “The Space Barons: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and the Quest to Colonize the Cosmos.” The Washington Post published an excerpt of the book Monday.

Early indications were that something caused an upper-stage helium bottle to explode. SpaceX tried to replicate the explosion at the SpaceX test site in McGregor, Texas. After having trouble blowing the bottles up, they tried a rifle and got the same forensic signature as the bottle recovered after the explosion.

“We literally thought someone had shot the rocket,” Musk said in an interview for the book. “We found things that looked like bullet holes, and we calculated that someone with a high-powered rifle, if they had shot the rocket in the right location, the exact same thing would have happened.”

Ultimately, SpaceX concluded there was a problem with a pressure vessel in the second-stage liquid oxygen tank. An FAA investigation ruled out sabotage.

“It was a self-inflicted wound,” Musk said in the interview. “It took us a long time, but we were able to re-create the failure.”

The book’s author Christian Davenport is a staff writer at the Washington Post covering the space and defense industries for the financial desk. The book will be released March 20.

 

[Troy]

If TMC purchased a bot to write this low-quality tabloid magazine-style article, they should ask for their money back because this is too spam-like. This doesn't deserve to be a separate article or thread.

 

[malcolm]

Low-quality tabloid?

May I present Exhibit A

 

[Cosmacelf]

What’s interesting is that this book excerpt was written in the WaPo, and the author of the book is a WaPo journalist. He is a random journalist covering the financial beat. Coming out at the exact same time, with almost the same title, is a competing book written by a different journalist who has been covering SpaceX since 2011. Anyone know which one is going be more legit and better?

https://smile.amazon.com/Rocket-Bil...TF8&qid=1519751244&sr=8-16&keywords=Elon+musk

 

[Uncle Paul]

This theory was posted right after the disaster. They were open minded as to what could have been the cause, and had not ruled out that it could have been sabotage.

 

[Doug_G]

This theory was posted right after the disaster. They were open minded as to what could have been the cause, and had not ruled out that it could have been sabotage.

Exactly.

Nothing to see here. Move along.

 

[Matias]

This theory was posted right after the disaster. They were open minded as to what could have been the cause, and had not ruled out that it could have been sabotage.

Yes. When i saw this blog post, I thought that there is something new developement in the story. This was all published right after the accident.

Pure clickbait.

 

[Drewflux]

I remember reading something about this when it happened. I think the gist of clickbait at the time, was their competition had a building with direct line of sight from the launch. Didnt believe it then or now.