It's nice folksy rocketeer wisdom, but is there any real reason to
think there wasn't any detonation at all? That's a lot of fuel and
oxidizer in close proximity on fire, and a simple tank burst from
pressure doesn't make a sharp boom audible and shaking windows from
ten miles away.
And no, it wasn't a BLEVE.
I've also had a detonation on a test stand, and the test stand and
engine were still there. Detonations aren't magic, and it's possible
to have a small one.
On Sun, Sep 11, 2016 at 6:32 PM, Randall Clague <rclague@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
"If you go out to the test stand and the test stand is severely damaged, you
had a case burst. If you go out to the test stand and you can't find the
test stand, you had a detonation." --Dave Hall
On Friday, September 2, 2016, Marcus D. Leech <mleech@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On 09/02/2016 05:01 AM, Aplin Alexander T wrote:
There was a window-rattling kaboom or two. It was an explosion, but what
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FWIW, Elon Musk has tweeted to say it wasn't actually an explosion (and
that Dragon would have been able to save itself):
"@scrappydog yes. This seems instant from a human perspective, but it
really a fast fire, not an explosion. Dragon would have been fine."
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/771479910778966016
it *WAS NOT* was a detonation.
When you have a test-stand explosion you can tell the difference between a
mere explosion, and a detonation easily. In the former case,
there'll be burnt, and perhaps mangled, wreckage. In the latter, you
can no longer find the test-stand :) :)
Alex Aplin
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