Happy to be alive...

[alexpgp]

The Federal launch this morning ended poorly. Almost immediately, it was apparent that something was wrong, and within several seconds, this huge rocket was flying pretty much upside down in the sky.



The flight ended a few seconds later.



The shock wave took out windows locally. The images above were taken from the video I shot, which will likely get posted once I get somewhere where there's connectivity.

Impromptu "armchair" analysis—while seated on a bus—of photos taken by various campaigners suggests a problem occurred with one of the engines shortly after liftoff. (This is speculation, of course... it'll take some time for a failure commission to determine what actually happened.) Still, the thought crosses one's mind: whatever it was, it could have as easily occurred in a different spot on the rocket, and as a result, the rocket might well have headed in our direction instead of out into the desert.

Something to think about, or to try not to, as we contemplate the likelihood of going home (as in "home-across-the-ocean") early...

Comments

[bandicoot.livejournal.com]

Ack!

[connie]

Holy crap.

[tamaraland.livejournal.com]

Was wondering which direction that went. Glad to hear you're safe!

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

Yikes! I saw this on Boing Boing first thing in the morning. It was quite a fire before it hit the ground.

[alexpgp.livejournal.com]

The Proton was on fire before it hit the ground, but the explosion when it did hit the ground made the fire seem insignificant by comparison.

[allie63.livejournal.com]

That's terrible. I can't imagine how you must have felt while watching that. How many people were aboard?

[alexpgp.livejournal.com]

Fortunately, there were people aboard, just some satellites. Nor were there any people in the vicinity of where the Proton came down.

[velvet-granat.livejournal.com]

Oops...