Christina James, Staff Writer
The explosion of the Dulles, Va. built Antares rocket, part of a $1.9 billon dollar contract between Orbital Sciences and NASA, exploded only six seconds after its scheduled launch at 6:22 p.m. from Wallops Island, Virginia on Tuesday October 29, 2014.
The cause of the explosion was not identified until later that week; however, the source of the problem was investigated thoroughly. The Antares rocket that is currently putting Russian space craft trade in the spotlight uses a AJ26 engine from Aerojet Rocketdyne, originally used Russian N-1 rockets during the early 1970s. The AJ26 is a refurbished 40-year-old Soviet engine that is currently used in the Antares rocket considering NASA turned to commercial providers to send rockets to the space station soon after the retirement of the space shuttles around 2011. Later that Tuesday, Orbital Science’s vice president Frank Culbertson told Fox News his knowledge on the topic:
“We don’t know whether the engine was involved in this or not,”Culberston stated. “That’s something that we will try to determine as quickly as possible.”
One day later, there was a confirmed report referring to the cause of the explosion. “Preliminary evidence and analysis conducted to date points to a probable turbopump-related failure in one of the two Aerojet Rocketdyne AJ26 stage one main engines, as a result, the use of these engines for the Antares vehicle likely will be discontinued,” The Orbital Space Company then went on to state, during a press conference with Fox News. The AJ26 from Aerojet Rocketdyne is currently being examined and will likely result in the discontinuation of Soviet-era rocket engines due to the latest explosion.
No injuries were reported, however, the rocket was carrying some 5,055 pounds of scientific materials for experiments as well as supplies for the International Space Station. It also managed to destroy the NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, which is currently scheduled to be repaired as soon as possible for the continuation of space craft launches including a new, upgraded Antares rocket that will have its debut around 2016. The new Antares rocket will be built and upgraded to support the upmost safety protocols. David W. Thompson, the current CEO of Orbital Science’s gave a statement to Fox News ensuring these important aspects:
“The company is already implementing a contingency plan to overcome this setback. We intend to move forward safely but also expeditiously to put our CRS cargo program back on track and to accelerate the introduction of our upgraded Antares rocket” Thompson explained.
This explosion also ensured that Orbital Science’s rival – SpaceX – spoke highly about themselves while stating that their rocket engines are designed and developed within their own company, unlike Orbital Sciences soviet-era space technology. This is due to the fact that SpaceX has been able to accomplish its multibillion dollar contract with NASA to send Cygnus crafts to deliver supplies to the international space station, whereas Orbital Sciences has currently been experiencing setbacks.
Much to extent on NASA’s lack or engineering, local NHS science teacher, Trent Harrison, spoke out about his opinion when asked about this:
“Unfortunately here in America put more emphasis, it seems, on to making money and running the businesses rather than building stuff. We’ve lost our edge in terms of mechanical engineering” Harrison stated.
Currently, all Antares launches are halted in anticipation of Orbital Sciences striking a compromise regarding the new engines that will eventually run the innovative Antares rockets. Due to restrictions of the twin-engine figuration of the rocket, the best option was the Russian designed RD-181, considering it is the most reliable of its class and its similarity to the original AJ26 duel engine.
Overall, despite the dispute, the Orbital Sciences Corporation came to a consensus that Russian built engines are still an unsurpassed option for America’s space equipment, as well as the most successful option to the program overall.
Photo Credit; www.americaspace.com