For a Hollywood definition of black-powder+kerosene
boiling-cloud-of-flame explosion, perhaps so. From where I sit, much of
it just ruptured and burned. Deflagrated.
Now, the distinction between explosion and deflagration isn't as
clearcut as between explosion (subsonic) and detonation (supersonic),
true. (A distinction I've been careful to indicate here - why then
accuse me of treating them as synonyms? In this subthread, Elon was
quoted saying "explode".) I tend to draw the line between fire and
explosion at whether it's expanding fast enough to produce/propel
dangerous shrapnel. Which some of the recent event was, but much of wasn't.
On 9/11/2016 9:02 PM, John Schilling wrote:
Careful here - "detonate" and "explode" are not synonyms. It remains to
be seen whether there was a detonation at LC40. But the rocket
exploded. All of it, unambiguously.
John Schilling
john.schilling@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
(661) 718-0955
On 9/11/2016 7:07 PM, Henry Vanderbilt wrote:
Nah. Not absurd. Just a necessary marketing oversimplification.
"Most of it didn't explode" may be technically more accurate than "it
didn't explode", but would end up being made fun of by late night TV
comic and be bad for the company. Elon's in the business of selling
rockets, not educating the public on the finer points of what is and
isn't an explosion.
On 9/11/2016 5:53 PM, Ben Brockert wrote:
I didn't say it all detonated, or even a large portion, that's
obviously not the case. But it's absurd to say that none of it did.
On Sun, Sep 11, 2016 at 8:22 PM, Randall Clague <rclague@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
It was a million pounds of propellant. It doesn't need a detonation
to make
a lot of noise. If it had been a detonation, given that it was half a
kiloton and LOX/kerosene is more energetic than TNT, the strongback
and the
lightning towers would be gone.
-R
On Sunday, September 11, 2016, Ben Brockert <wikkit@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
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
Classification: UK OFFICIAL
Handling Instruction: DISCLAIMER - this is a personal e-mail and
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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://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__twitter.com_elonmusk_status_771479910778966016&d=DQICaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=rPTfWqtJdrL0Ber-yr0E_hSjRXuvJH6ZmQx03u8-2as&m=TP5qxLQN33eMUz9HCMQMm3u8iXPQjMqk10NzvZni9dY&s=jhk8SAnTr9gF7J0zksUYv2iztIg4bYkFTsBlCdX_mSI&e=
what
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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