...shit blows up. It's not rocket science you know. No wait.

I was really looking forward to reading that high-speed flight data for fundamental boundary layer transition flow physics

Good one!

...goes the weasle!

Mines the one with matching tinfoil hat....

"debris being sighted on land. This debris could be hazardous"

Damn right the debris could be hazardous - if it fell on your head it would be hazardous. Sounds like they're trying to guard some secret military tech... cue lots of dead cows (and people making model volcanoes out of mashed 'tata)

How long before some of this turns up on ebay?

So, how much more unique do they want it?

I'd love to see 'em mashed.

Mebbe then I can get a job in the UK.

It looks like the experiment to study the physics of exploding rocket parts in an oxygen rich atmosphere kicked off a little prematurely!

Nasa rockets blowing up is not Unique.

Work then...

It's a good job NASA already got a rocket to the moon and back otherwise I'd be sorely tempted to suggest that they are a bunch of overfunded, under-educated, useless tw@s and that this "space" malarky is all new to them.

I believe there's a substantial section dedicated to this on eBay.

Occasionally also listed under "souvenirs"

Please tell me there's a good reason for a debris emergency hotline being called this...

seems to me that this would be the most ideal way to cover up a very large budget scientific project gone totally wrong...

or indeed to steal the money that was supposed to have been spent on the 'devices' in that rocket, then put a bunch of scrap in the rocket and have it blow up on or shortly after takeoff.... then claim insurance too ;)

That was careless of them

Mine's the one with Fireball XL5 in the pocket

Actually the problem is likely that they're UNDER funded. After all, we have to have our useless little war first, health care, exploration and research are way, way down the list somewhere.

No doubt, stupid NASA. The innocent victim in this case, and I'll take this directly from the article and bold it for you, is "THE ROCKET'S MAKER ALLIANT TECHSYSTEMS"

I'll forgive the obvious misguided attempt to bash a US government organization on the internet because it is so rarely done, and because NASA does have its failures (some colossal at that!).

Reducing their funding and increasing the bureaucracy over the past 50 or so years couldn't have helped.

Just remember, there are guys just like you who work at NASA. Lucky lucky NASA.

As opposed to all the successful rocket launches by your own esteemed island?

I thought that was the transition from solid matter to hot flames to dust.

in other news, NASA prepares another test launch from it's new launch rig "Charliefoxtrot". This was after launching from the town of Murphy, Ala was considered tempting fate too much...

It was aliens I tells ya! Alien overlords afraid Earthlings would get hyperspace technology....or was that hypersonic technology...well..close enough since Earth isn't their primary language...

"..then put a bunch of scrap in the rocket and have it blow up on or shortly after takeoff.... then claim insurance too.."

That is a very serious implied allegation. (It's a damn good idea though!)

You fool! NASA never went to the moon - it was all faked, I thought everyone knew that. That's why they are unable to replicate the experience now and have to build (almost identical) equipment, but for real this time. Jeez.

Erm, as someone's pointed out, it wasn't a NASA rocket, it was an Alliant Techsystems rocket.

But most importantly, you've neglected to point out that it was a deliberate explosion. The rocket didn't follow its predetermined course and had to be detonated remotely to ensure it didn't do any proper damage. The failure they're investigating is why it veered off course, not why it unexpectedly blew up.

As for videos, try nasa.gov -> news

a sonic screwdriver was left inside the rocket, too close to an O-ring.

AC @ 14:40 - got the joke - good expansion on my theme ;o)

Jesse didn't ... the reason NASA are useless is because they DON'T have people like me.

AC @ 15:22 - doesn't even warrant a mention and I see a fellow of my septic isle got there first - cheers Zmodem

Bryce Prewitt - good point, well made, I stand corrected

Solomon Grundy - yes mate... the comment was supposed to be loaded with a good dollop of sarcasm - sorry you missed it. Fool? I think not. ZEEJ.

AC 17:32 - thanks for the update - it's nice to know that this particular waste of public funds was deliberate.

n ... regarding "HMS Camden Lock", eh? No other country in the world has such big lunatic asylums... I wouldn't go shouting that out either.

...you'd think they could get a simple rocket launch right by now. Come on guys, how hard can it be? Just pointbit skywards, light the blue touchpaper, and stand well back.

<XtremeProgramming BUMP>

Maybe they needed more (any?) unit tests on the rocket control code; whoops! TDD style!

</XtremeProgramming BUMP>

hmmm , those old AIM56'S rocket motors have been just a tad too long in storage I see !

But some things don't age well if kept in storage and out of circulation for too long !

... wernher von braun, wenn man ihn so dringend braucht...

Sorry, I couldn't resist

:-)

Of course old Blighty has a proud space history...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b4WzWFKQ20

And no, no one has ever answered the question: How are we going to reuse it?

But to be fair, the rocket was designed and built by ATK. NASA only paid to put two experiments on it. Of course, are not ATK the same people who make the polaris and other solid rocket nuke missles???!! Hmmm......

As opposed to all the successful rocket launches by your own esteemed island?

Well the UK IS part of ESA which in turn has the highest launch succes rate.

(none UK person here)

Where is *your* photograph of the incident, showing the rocket was infact a Transformer .....

Mine's the one with a Transformer icon in the pocket because there isn't one here

1)You've never been here have you?

2)You'll notice customer service here the second you lose the irritating accent and arrogance.