Launch Mishaps - Early Rocket Failures at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

[@frankpinmtl]

What I find absolutely amazing, is that after an explosion that shatters the rocket into thousands of pieces, engineers are able to piece together what went wrong.

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

Yes it really is amazing. The process also involves looking at the telemetry data received via radio as well as high speed camera footage if it's low enough. Thanks for your comment.

[@s1lv3rbordeaux47]

Yes even without the humble computer no less. Prehaps the faults were known previous to test? It is known that these tests were pushed in time restraint almost always..... crazy to think all of this was well before 1960, even crazier that somehow we humans of today in 2024 consider ourselves future advanced. So what really has changed since 1960, what exactly have we innovated or achieved beyond this in all that time spanning many years?? Be honest with yourself, it's far less than we perceive isn't it??

[@marcop1563]

@@s1lv3rbordeaux47 If we are talking space exploration, there have been a lot of huge advancements. Of course computers and guidance nowadays is lightyears ahead of what they had at the time, but there is better tech in basically every aspect. For examples the staged combustion engines in use today are much much more efficient than what they had at the time.

[@garymccammon6696]

​​@@s1lv3rbordeaux47A lot of just plain rocket motors blow up while testing fuels. You're basically taking liquids that are really finicky to begin with, putting them in thin metal tanks (to save weight), and sending them through complicated machinery to make what's essentially a controlled explosion out the back of the rocket. I'm sure back in the early days the engineers were surprised when the rocket DIDN'T explode. That said, there hasn't been a lot of innovation (beyond things like self guided reusable boosters) because there's only so many chemicals suitable for fuels and only so many ways to use them. There's not a lot of ways to improve them because the chemistry and physics were established back in the 50s-60s. You might as well ask why bicycles are pretty still the same as they were in 1900.

[@feelincrispy7053]

@@AmericanSpaceMuseum it’s cool when creators are still active and replying on older videos. Good work

[@sturmovik1274]

Press conference, just after Allan Shepard's first spaceflight. Reporter: "What was on your mind in the last minutes before launch?" Shepard: "The fact that every part of the ship was made by the lowest bidder."

[@wrightmf]

I like to think how Shepard was portrayed in the movie, "Dear Lord don't let me F--- this one up."

[@penka7855]

He also clearly regretted that he didn't have a toilet on the ship. Because of this, he flew a little wet...

[@dougball328]

Sheppard didn't say that. John Glenn did.

[@sturmovik1274]

@@dougball328 Which quote are you referring to?

[@dougball328]

@@sturmovik1274 every part made by the lowest bidder. Glenn's quote even stated 40,000 parts, all made by the lowest bidder.

[@theobster]

Amazing to think that just a few years after most of these failures something as majestic and reliable as Saturn 5 was built and flown, what an astonishing achievement!

[@kenkirchhevel4177]

Sometimes when something seems too good to be true, it is.

[@theobster]

@@kenkirchhevel4177 Slightly confused Ken the Saturn 5 was launched 13 times with very few issues and no catastrophic failures. If I’m correct non of the mighty F1 first stage engines failed or were even shut down.

[@imEden0]

⁠​⁠@@theobstertheyre saying it was faked (it wasnt). but yeah, f1 never failed in flight. however apollo 13 had the s-II early inboard cutoff, and there were major pogo issues on early saturn v flights.

[@borntoclimb7116]

​@@kenkirchhevel4177 true

[@steves2694]

It's a wonder there are any birds or fish left alive within 100 miles of KSC.

[@ThatBoomerDude56]

My dad was a flight test engineer for Convair, mostly wiring the instrumentation for and flying on their commercial airplane test flights. But he also worked on wiring the telemetry for the Atlas test launches. His brother, also an electrical engineer for Convair brought back from the cape in 1962 a film reel of all the early Atlas test launches. My cousins & I sat on the floor watching the spectacular work of the Range Safety Officer.

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

You don't by any chance still have that film do you?

[@ThatBoomerDude56]

@@AmericanSpaceMuseum I was just thinking about that. I'll ask my cousins sometime. I'll subscribe to your channel and keep track and let you know if anyone finds it around.

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

Thank you so much! You never know when something is an only copy and her goal is to preserve what we can.

[@Riteaidbob]

"Sir. Launch pad 9C will need to be replaced." "What part?" "All of it sir."

[@homerp.hendelbergenheinzel6649]

"What part?" "9C, sir." (:

[@NickelC]

They really tried to drop the tower into the ocean instead of the first stage on that one

[@homerp.hendelbergenheinzel6649]

@@NickelC this was a ground engine test ( the rocket was hold down). Nothing was supposed to lift off =b

[@NickelC]

@@homerp.hendelbergenheinzel6649 yeah, but I think the folks who designed the test didn't understand this concept of a rocket firing, and NOTHING ending up in the ocean! Like... What? Is it even an American rocket if nothing falls in the water? It was probably just such a new concept - firing a rocket engine without lifting off - that they still assumed for a rocket to be successful SOMETHING needed to end up in the ocean. So they decided that if the rocket doesn't end up in the ocean then maybe the tower should? Of course static fires and spin primes where nothing ends up in the water are commonplace nowadays, so people know that large structures ending up in large bodies of water isn't necessarily always the desired outcome. But back then those guys were pioneers, so they didn't really know any better. Hope this clears up any confusion :)

[@homerp.hendelbergenheinzel6649]

@@NickelC I see xD

[@jpatrickmoore5158]

It's worthwhile to note that a rocket is essentially a controlled explosion, until it's not controlled. I remember my parents waking us up (west coast) to watch rocket launches on TV when I was very young. I ended up watching every launch I could.

[@dantyler6907]

The first astronauts saw ALL this... and STILL got on for their ride! Talk about huevos!!!

[@telx2010]

If you say so bud 😆

[@reduggan]

Talk about cojones!

[@sturmovik1274]

Press conference, just after Allan Shepard's first spaceflight. Reporter: "What was on your mind in the last minutes before launch?" Shepard: "The fact that every part of the ship was made by the lowest bidder."

[@andrewtaylor940]

They generally wanted a few successful launches before getting in the chair. It's also worth noting that the launch mishaps rapidly diminished over time. I think the peak problem "manned" rocket was Atlas? Titan had its problems, but most of them were teething in its initial ICBM role. The big one being fuel oscilation. Saturn was as close to a flawless program as you could have.

[@WilliamJones-sf5pt]

Indeed, all the astronauts would fight over going to the moon, but then refuse to visit Detroit in order to give speeches about doing so.

[@reduggan]

@AmericanSpaceMuseum I am impressed with every aspect of this history-catching document. My father was an RAF officer and chief engineer at Scophony who came here from England after WWII. He had top secret INSMAT clearance. Dad designed camera systems for the TIROS-1 weather satellite and 360º projection systems for LOLAS, the Lunar Orbiting and Landing Approach Simulator that trained Aldrin and Armstrong to land on the moon among other projects. Our family went to Cape Canaveral with him when he went there for work in 1961; it was a trip I'll never forget. Since then, I've been a serious follower of spaceflight technology and NASA endeavors. I love the well timed music score to these spectacular trials and fails as well as the straightforward facts about the particular rocket's class. I've seen many launches, but never a compendium of well orchestrated failures that you've produced. BRAVO! Rocket science is hard and dangerous to explore.

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

Thank you so much for the feedback!

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

Bob Pearson was a friend of our museum. He taught the Apollo astronauts to fly the simulator. He still has the handle from the simulator. I have a photo of the handle along with another photo of me with Bob. He used to say that he had more landings on the moon than the astronauts. :-) Bruce

[@Cydonia2020]

I wish there was better footage of the Soviet N-1 launch failures. The loss of one test flight was believed to be one of the largest conventional (non-nuclear) explosions ever caused by man and resulted in the loss of the vehicle, launch pad, damage to an adjoining pad and the deaths of dozens, including important scientists and personnel. Pieces of these wrecks can still be found laying about in the steppes around Baikonur.

[@MarsFKA]

There were no casualties when the second N-1 rocket fell back on to the pad in July 1969. True, ears are still ringing from that explosion and the pad was wrecked, but, because it was a launch, all personnel were at a safe distance.

[@chrisjones3375]

Grew up in the 80s and 90s on the space coast. I vividly remember watching the Delta and Titan explosions in 97 and 98, my step mother worked at the Cape at the time and i got to witness a lot of great launches growing up

[@jimheimerl1637]

LOL "Snark-infested waters." I cracked the hell up in the first minute. Gonna finish the rest after I catch my breath.

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

It also makes me laugh. Bruce

[@dougball328]

And that launch looked more like a a Mace or Matador and not a Snark.

[@bob19611000]

Interesting fact, on the Atlas ABLE 9c explosion the block house staff used the underground escape tunnel to get out due to all the debris. When they got to the end there were snakes resting in the cool shadows of a hot Florida day. Some of the staff went back and got fire extinguishers to "freeze" them so they could get past to the outside.

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

Thank you for the interesting story. I (Bruce) had not heard about that. (To our audience... the story is not verified but no reason to think it's not true.)

[@meesalikeu]

@@AmericanSpaceMuseumwell you know what they say about interesting asides like that one … print the legend 😂

[@SumNumber]

My Father worked for Nasa then as Security and we would sit on the beach and watch the test launches of which many blew to smithereens . We lived right on the beach not to far from the cape . We had a dune buggy we would cruise the vacant beaches with and sometimes find chunks of rocket washed up on shore. My Father would gather them up and return them . The night launches and explosions were the best . Thanks for the share . :O)

[@Zapheteroped]

Didja see a big one, one fall evening in about 1970?

[@johnnyjohnn281]

Hey Dad, did ye bring the popcorn? 😂

[@sixstringedthing]

"If at first you don't succeed... keep blowing shit up until you get it right." - traditional proverb

[@dcerame]

Sounds just like SpaceX and Starship...

[@Reblwitoutacause]

Sounds German.

[@sixstringedthing]

@@dcerame It should, it's simply a less polite version of "move fast and break things". I don't agree with this philosophy in all matters, aerospace or otherwise, but it seems to be working pretty well for them so far. :)

[@des_smith7658]

The quick and the dead was another one

[@MostlyPennyCat]

If at first you don't succeed, haha money machine go brrrrrrr

[@ReadTheShrill]

7:38 Oh wow, you can actually see the mangled tower flying out of the fireball to the right.

[@thomasbell7033]

Thank you for narrating this. I've seen many of these, but didn't have any context.

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

Thank you. That was the intention... provide historical perspective along with the footage. The volunteer who made the video worked on some of the programs and witnessed many of those. It was made for use in the museum before a KZbin channel was a big thing. We agree the music is a little over the top but if you read the description, it was done by the volunteer at least 20 years ago with relatively primitive equipment and software. Thanks again for appreciating the intent.

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

The narrator's name and more information is in the video description.

[@meesalikeu]

@@AmericanSpaceMuseum i was just going to ask about the over the top music thx for bringing that up lol - anyway great comp video thx again 👍🏽🎉

[@largestudent198]

Thank you for the curation and I hope nobody ever dies from rocket failures.

[@luissemedo3597]

Challenger...

[@FerriteSpace]

N1 failures:

[@tsalVlog]

lol, my godfather's car was totaled by the delta II explosion, I had forgotten that

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

Wow!

[@s4ss.m8]

Imagine explaining that to your insurer 😂

[@thesquirrel914]

@@s4ss.m8 I've talked with alot of the guys that were there that day. They said everyone's insurance company denied their claim and Boeing had to buy everyone new cars. They were paid Blue Book value for their vehicles.

[@michaelcrispin1879]

I love it when moon landing deniers ask why it was so easy to get to the moon 55 years ago but it is so hard now. It wasn't easy and today we have to do it on a fraction of the cost of what they spent back then. The ignorance is so substantial you could stack it up and climb to the moon.

[@danieldevito6380]

Not only that, but there's also no real need for humans to go back to the moon. Anything science that needed to be done could be done with a rover for a fraction of the price. Considering the fact that rover missions are able to last years or even decades, like Opportunity, which lasted like 16 years.

[@des_smith7658]

A vanity project

[@Thre1152]

How do you explain that for the Artemis 3 mission, NASA plans to use 15+ times of fuel as was apparently needed for the Apollo program. And, considering the tiny fuel tanks of the lunar moduls, how did they get back? It doesn't add up.

[@munastronaut8147]

@@Thre1152 Its simple, they got back using physics and gravity

[@Thre1152]

@@munastronaut8147 Physics can be used if you have technology. But they didn't have that, neither had they fuel.

[@spaceflight1019]

I had a saying that I developed after commissioning numerous gas turbine power stations: Run it. Break it. Find it. Fix it. Repeat as necessary. It also applies to space, even now.

[@JimWhitaker]

I suspect that SpaceX has this engraved above every door.

[@spaceflight1019]

@@JimWhitaker There is a corollary to this. I learned that the more attention and care we put into the details, the less time we spent troubleshooting. One memorable job was in El Sauz, Mexico. It was late in the day. We lit the turbine off and it died immediately. Instrumentation said that we had insufficient fuel gas pressure. After I proved that the instruments were correct, we went out to the Pemex valve, and found it closed and locked.

[@nigeldepledge3790]

Vanguard Test Vehicle no. 1, on the 6th December 1957. The press came up with several nicknames for this launch failure, including Flopnik and Kaputnik. My favourite, however, was Stayputnik.

[@randywise5241]

Saw this in my feed this morning. Guess You Tube knew I liked explosive content.

[@ronjon7942]

Ha, well, they do now!

[@GeoHvl]

I worked with a guy at Harris in Melbourne, Fl. He was a tech with NASA and was in a block house when a Centaur fell over but did not explode. He said they were stuck in the blockhouse for 30 hours until all the propellent evaporated. There are no bathrooms, water, or food in the blockhouse.

[@ronjon7942]

Heh, I bet there were at 31 hrs.

[@HalNordmann]

That seems a bit weird. Both liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen evaporate very quickly, in fact keeping them from doing so is the hardest part. Maybe you got the type of rocket wrong?

[@GeoHvl]

@@HalNordmann maybe???

[@Rickshaw881]

Amazing to think that less than a decade after most of these disasters , they were able to build the SATURN 5 rocket with millions of pounds of thrust and able to send men to the moon. Thank you.

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

Yes, it really is amazing. You're welcome.

[@MrKentaroMotoPI]

Saturn V vehicle and engine design started in 1956-58. It was the longest launch vehicle development period in its day.

[@bazoo513]

9:48 - And Centaur upper stage, with a bit improved version of venerable RL-10 engines, is _still_ being used on the new ULA's _Vulcan_ launcher! *63* years service life and counting!

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

We have an RL 10 engine in front of our museum. It's an impressive record. Our engine was recovered from the ocean after one of those failures. BTW, the author of that video worked Atlas Centaur for years. He retired long ago and volunteered at our museum for many years. He is now in his '90s and still comes by to visit.

[@bazoo513]

@@AmericanSpaceMuseum 👍

[@randallporter4835]

I was there a few months later scouting for the ISDC that was going to be in Orlando. They fixed the little porch on the Museum that had been smashed buy a chunk of burning rocket fuel but the scorch mark on the road was hard to miss. It was still there when we went there on the tour.

[@joeyjamison5772]

You're only a failure when you quit. "Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom." -George S. Patton

[@spaceranger3728]

IIRC, there was a string of early Atlas failures caused by turbopumps failing. The high g-load increased the bearing friction on their shafts beyond what was planned for.

[@emeraldislands]

imagine going to your insurance company and telling them "Rocket debris destroyed my car"

[@skyedog24]

Wow I thought I'd seen just about everything and documentary form but this is completely new stuff from the good old days thank you 🇺🇲

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

So glad you find it interesting. Wish it was better quality but that's what the author had available. Thanks again for your feedback.

[@foxmccloud7055]

That Delta II explosion looks like a Forth of July fireworks show.

[@1pcfred]

I'm sure it got the appropriate ohs and ahs from the crowd.

[@cynvision]

@@1pcfred I actually wondered if there was a guy there like there was for the Orbital(?) failure shouting "This is going to be loud!!!!"

[@SamiJumppanen]

The Polaris (1960) is really interesting! Would like to know more, how are such failures even possible.

[@n6mz]

5:50 correction, this is Atlas 3D (first D series flight) on April 14, 1959. The problem was the LOX fill-and-drain valve not closing at liftoff. Of course it could NOT be the same vehicle that put John Glenn into orbit, that was 109D launched almost 3 years later. The Mercury-Atlas D series vehicles were manufactured from slightly thicker stainless steel than the ICBM D series vehicles, not to mention many other changes to "man-rate" the Atlas.

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

Thank you very much for the additional feedback! We will pass it on to the original author of the video. (To our audience... the correction is not verified at this point but it may be true and we appreciate such feedback.)

[@Watchdog_McCoy_5.7x28]

​@AmericanSpaceMuseum guess what else may be true.... THE MOON LANDING WAS FAKE!

[@geoffreylee5199]

No failures here, steps toward success!

[@Zapheteroped]

I and hundreds of others witnessed a spectacular failure in 1970-ish. It was self-destructed at an estimated 20 thousand feet. The spiraling rocket spewing fuel took up half of the sky. Other than a passing mention in local, Ft. Lauderdale media I've seen no photos or even references to that failure.

[@phialdictator6493]

KSP salutes you!

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

KSP?

[@phialdictator6493]

@@AmericanSpaceMuseum Kerbal Space Program en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerbal_Space_Program

[@numba12c0ck]

Kerbal Space Program, game about spaceflight@@AmericanSpaceMuseum

[@luissemedo3597]

​@AmericanSpaceMuseum Kerbal Space Program, it's a videogame

[@CNCTEMATIC]

These rocketry screw ups left us with some of the most fascinating footage recorded

[@jesse00pno]

1:18 - “This flight terminated at 7.4 seconds at 48,000 feet.” Not that rocket on the screen. It wasn’t over 2,000 feet at 7.4 seconds. So either the numbers are wrong or the footage doesn’t match the narration.

[@cynvision]

Had to be 48 hundred feet but narrator too used to saying thousand for the rest of the video.

[@mindlessgonzo]

Ah, the Delta II explosion, which got featured in a Maximum Exposure episode with the "We have had an anomaly" line repeated a bit to play out the irony.

[@douro20]

Nedelin had a LOT of guts to sit outside of the block house for the launch of a hypergolic fueled missile.

[@Chaz_Enjoyer]

It's been determined that you hearing loss is not service related Also the long march one, I met an American engineer who went to watch it, and according to him, that rocket hit a nearby village, and to hide the failure, the Chinese disappeared everyone there, except Chinese authorities and the international people present.

[@greatsilentwatcher]

Nice use of music. I was in preschool and elementary school during the early events. Thanks.

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

You're very welcome!

[@davidwilburn6314]

Totally disagree, even though I enjoy classical music. I found the music to be excessively annoying and distracting, as well as heinously trite (We've all heard Ride of the V a billion times during our lives) BTW, I was not yet even 1yo during the first Jupiter KABOOM in '57.

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

David Wilburn, We appreciate your feedback. We know and agree the music is too loud at times and the video resolution is low. PLEASE SEE THE NEW NOTE at the bottom of the VIDEO DESCRIPTION for new information on this very old video.

[@willdixon2349]

It's Wagner, taken from some of his operatic scores! Suitably dramatic - to accompany the dramatic footage! Nice one !

[@davidkranz9990]

Very interesting information. I to lived on the space coast growing up and seen a few of these mishaps. I do want to point out what appears to be a grossly over exaggerated altitude of flight elevation of some of these accidents. A rocket can’t reach 40K feet in 8 seconds and Atlas-Centaur F1 exploded at 10K feet.

[@h2xhypocriet]

"Sir, launch pad 9C will need to be replaced." -"What part?" "Yes."

[@markcardwell5456]

The very first video is not Snark but actually the MGM-1 Matador.

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

Thanks for your feedback. You and a few others who pointed that out may very well be correct. I don't have personal knowledge of it and would need to do some research. I have no way to modify the existing video made years ago but might put a note in the description. If you know of a link that would help answer the question, please feel free to post it here. Again, thank you for taking the time to let us know.

[@michaelcox436]

Whoever chose this music deserves an award.

[@Landrew1980]

It's a wee bit bombastic.

[@xploration1437]

Or a spankin’.

[@james-faulkner]

Nothing for the composers or orchestras?

[@hagerty1952]

@@james-faulkner - Wagner, mostly. Not sure about that organ/choral part at the end.

[@_marlene]

@w1208 it's giving me an odd nostalgia despite being maybe a little inappropriate. Maybe it reminds me of similar odd music selections in old-fashioned home movies? :)

[@t.c.2776]

Were those Atlas failures all counted a Cape Canaveral? or did it include those a Vandenberg AFB... my father was stationed there from 61-65 and I got to witness several from where we lived... Dad even got permission for my 6th grade class to get a tour of an Atlas launch silo... one actually blew just after launch, before it started down range over the ocean and we had parts falling in our neighborhood 20 miles away... that was Awesome... Me and some of my friends found a few pieces but then they sent out MP's to collect what they could, and we were honest and turned over our treasures...

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

We would have to research that. Sorry I don't have an answer for you.

[@donkeyslayer9879]

What is fired out of Vandenberg, stays in Vandenberg.

[@JustJohn505]

i wish NASA would let people explore the old USAF launch sites more and freely. even thought by now overgrown by vegetation and abandoned circular concrete pads, i still think they are the coolest thing imagine and just walking around them would be an awesome experience

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

We agree it would be great. However, many of them are still in use and others are being repurposed. A few still in an abandoned state. One of those is a memorial to the Apollo 1 astronauts. It is still an active military base with launches and hazardous operations all over the base so access must be is limited. (Not withstanding the security issues.) SpaceX sometimes has multiple launches in one day. They used to offer bus tours of the Cape (Air/Space Force) area from Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex but I BELIEVE they have been discontinued for the reasons mentioned. You might enjoy Roland Miller’s book: "Abandoned in Place". slate.com/culture/2016/03/abandoned-nasa-launch-sites-photographed-by-roland-miller.html BTW, you can still make appointments to tour the Cape Canaveral lighthouse near the south end.

[@woodencoasterfan]

I remember the Delta 2 explosion as one of the pieces actually pierced through one of the old block houses on the pad. Thankfully it had been abandoned.

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

Had not heard that. Bruce

[@thedevilinthecircuit1414]

Jetty Park is in the municipality of Cape Canaveral--at the mouth of the inlet to Port Canaveral.

[@Apollohistory11]

Nicely done Murphy Wardman and American Space Museum Team! - Phil Kimbro

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

Thanks! Murphy worked very hard on it. It was originally created mainly for use at the museum. After many years of limited distribution, we realized we could share it here. (BTW, For those that don't know, Murphy worked at the cape for many years and is a long time volunteer at the museum.)

[@Warriorking.1963]

The Jupiter rocket (second launch) reached 48,000 ft - nine miles(!) - in seven seconds?? Was it powered by a warp engine?

[@fr.christopherspray7868]

More like 4800ft..

[@1pcfred]

If you ever want to see something comical find a video of a Sprint missile launching. It looks like undercranked film. It hit mach 10 in 5 seconds. Talk about our Lady of rapid acceleration. Some rockets are really fast.

[@codymoe4986]

@@1pcfred All of them are fast, some of them are quick...

[@1pcfred]

@@codymoe4986 yeah to do what they're made to do they all do have to be fast. Some are just much faster than others. Anti-missiles tend to be faster than rockets are. Being as they have to intercept rockets it helps if they're just faster.

[@brax2364]

Memories of being a USAF Range Control Officer at both Vandenberg AFB and Patrick AFB. Vandenberg is unique in that you can launch payloads into polar orbit from there. Reason: only a very small portion of missile makes it into orbit. The rest is coming back down and having a large piece of the missile falling on some farmer’s house or foreign nation’s capital city is not considered to be a good thing.

[@exceptionallyaveragejoe]

It must have been quite an exciting time to be an engineer in the late 50s!

[@MuzixMaker]

You wanna fight or do you wanna surf? 4:17 you forgot the cork popping sound effect.

[@thomasbell7033]

Just watched this fascinating compilation again. I have one little question -- isn't the first one an MGM-1 Matador and not a Snark?

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

Thanks for your feedback. You and a few others who pointed that out may very well be correct. I don't have personal knowledge of it and would need to do some research. I have no way to modify the existing video made years ago but might put a note in the description. If you know of a link that would help answer the question, please feel free to post it here. Again, thank you for taking the time to let us know. Bruce

[@PifflePrattle]

Background music chosen by Vernher von Braun.

[@leechjim8023]

I'm surprised you left out the 1986 failures, Proton, N1, and Titan 3, 4 failures.

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

We appreciate the feedback. In the description there's more information on the origin of this video. When volunteer Murphy created this he used what was available to him way back then (and with no budget). We agree it would be great to have more.

[@douro20]

The Vostok-2M explosion on March 18, 1980 is believed to have been caused by an H2O2 leak. The fuel filters used at the time were assembled with lead solder, and it is believed that some of the H2O2 came into contact with these filters.

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

Interesting. We have no idea without some research, but that sounds like the kind of obscure thing that causes some of these. Thanks.

[@erselley9017]

You know it's a bad one when your camera positioned miles away has to zoom out to keep the failure in frame.

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

If it's the one I think you're referring to, I was at Jetty Park and saw that one.

[@erselley9017]

@@AmericanSpaceMuseum I imagine that was a sight to witness. The size actually surprised me so I can only imagine what it felt like to experience that one in real time.

[@paulbriggs3072]

There's something about victorious music while watching catastrophic failures.

[@_marlene]

it's a glorious past

[@johngraves6878]

Fascinating film. Good choices on music, too.

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

Thanks for the feedback. Glad you enjoyed it.

[@donprather8247]

Quality content. Thank you!

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

Thanks for your feedback!

[@kamakaziozzie3038]

After those failures, the modern SBLM’s in the USA boomer inventory is very impressive

[@_d3642]

Background music is too loud, it drowned out the interesting commentary

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

We appreciate your feedback. We know and agree the music is too loud at times and the video resolution is low. PLEASE SEE THE NOTE at the bottom of the VIDEO DESCRIPTION for more information on this very old video.

[@Pop_Hockenbush]

It’s amazing how similar launches are today .

[@Moonlightshadow-lq4fr]

Fantastic sound effects just like an old cassette player that chewed up the tape repeatedly!

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

FYI, the sound is what's left after KZbin studio removed the background music while leaving the commentary. That had to be done due to the original author using some copyrighted classical music. It was originally created by one of our volunteers for use inside the museum. This was long before KZbin was so popular. The author, who just recently passed away at 93, was very proud that his video was seen by so many. (The fact that the computers can tell the difference is pretty amazing in itself.)

[@MiG-25IsGOAT]

Vanguard be like: -Ok Im going to launch - Nah Im too tired

[@joellanier3060]

Kudos to the Astronauts who still load up on these Candles. Some of the Orchestral Music played for this KZbin sounds very familiar. (Was in the Grenadier Marching / Orchestral Band at Colonial High School in Orlando, FL during the 1960s.) Was at the Cape for the Apollo 11 launch. Can you pulllease let me know what pieces were used for the background music. The one segment just before the International section, is really familiar, and can't remember the name of it. It goes Bum... bum ba bum... bum bum bum bummmm, buummm bummm bummm bummm... in a broad sweeping cressendo... We used to play that piece.

[@msredfox]

Flight of the Valkyries, most famously used In "Apocalypse now" as the US send in a ton of hueys to Vietnam

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

Thanks for the answer. I too recognized it but didn't know the answer. Bruce

[@msredfox]

@AmericanSpaceMuseum not a problem! Happy to help

[@NorthernChev]

Yet, the slow-motion footage of the July 2, 2013 Proton rocket launch still stands today, in my opinion, as the number one most epic rocket flight, and subsequent explosion ever caught on film.

[@imEden0]

well its the funniest rocket explosion. it trying to correct while flipped 180 looks really goofy

[@ChrisSmith-lo2kp]

dad was in rockets after the war, mainly anti ship missiles as usn navpro for convair long beach, the polaris poseidon slbm's at charleston, then he was sent to work for dr kurt debus at ksc fl on apollo ~ local commercial am 1420 radio station wrmf used to broadcast the launch live from just before liftoff until orbital insertion 110 miles up @16,500 mph gravitational escape velocity = rocket science

[@borntoclimb7116]

This failures looks incredible. It is sad.

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

Yes. It was especially rough for those working so hard on the programs.

[@borntoclimb7116]

@@AmericanSpaceMuseum true

[@stevenjones6490]

Just wanted to point out that the first clip (at 53 sec) is of a Martin Matador missile and not a Snark.

[@dansantarsiero1526]

Any information on the house like structure at the 11:15 mark? My cousin's wife's family lost their beach house on Playalinda Beach when NASA came in and took everything over by eminent domain. I'm pretty sure that all the beach houses, including the hotel were leveled by 1965. Their beach house was located in the area where Pads 39A and 39B were constructed. 🎉🎉🎉

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

Sorry, we don't have any info on the house. That launch was not 39A or B if that helps.

[@dansantarsiero1526]

​@@AmericanSpaceMuseumThanks for your response. I've since have done further research and learned that it's one of the three original Cape Canaveral lighthouse keepers cottages. It was razed in 1967 due to deterioration. Then I remembered the fund drive and was rebuilt in 2019 by the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse Foundation, using the original blueprints. I love our Florida's Space Coast history! 🎉 🎉 🎉

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

So the camera must have been located in the area of the lighthouse. Very interesting. Thanks for sharing. Yes, the history of the area is fascinating. You might find this video of interest... kzbin.info/www/bejne/jZzbpJ9ugMhjeJosi=eAa4oLFh2naayla8

[@charlesspringer4709]

Strange how your narration says each one blowed up at 40,000 feet when it looks more like 800 to 5000 feet.

[@JimWhitaker]

Good cameras, well used. Or maybe decimal point mishap?

[@codymoe4986]

"Blowed up"?? Ever wonder why a red squiggle shows up under misspelled words? My gift to you...blew, not blue...

[@richardbigouette3651]

Spaceflight is still such a new technology. How far we've come and yet to go.

[@Larrymh07]

The Tom Wolfe book The Right Stuff talks about these launches and how they contributed to the mania at the time.

[@HankKroll]

My father bought 140-acres 12-miles north of Cape Canaveral. I got to see most of them blow up on the launch pad. The explosions rattled the windows in our farm house. I was ten at the time. We also bought 40-acres on Indian River slough. We planted coconut palms,dredged the sough for boats and built a four=car garage on the property. We were from Alaska. My father bought the land on Merit Island Florida to retire. We even built an airport on our land. I flew the front seat of a Piper Super Cub from Seldovia, Alaska to Orlando and we put it on floats to hunt alligators. After witnessing one 50-feet long in the Everglades we gave up on that idea. My father was known as the Mad Trapper in Alaska. We had 42 avocado trees, orange trees and three kinds of bananas growing in the oak lowland. The upland was mostly saw palmetto. When Kennedy decided to put men on the Moon the government kicked everyone off the Island. The Feds hired Georgia appraiser to get the cost of the land down. Many families lived on the island. There was a motel and duck hunting lodge, a community hall where we went every Saturday to square dance and several churches and commercial fishermen that made a living fishing mullet. I rode the school bus every day to Titusville. After four years my parents got paid for the taking of their land. The moon landing was all top secret and the government wasn't sure if they would make it or not. That's why they had to move everybody off the island. They didn't want any witnesses if the Moon landing failed. www.HankKroll.com

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

Thank you for sharing your family story about growing up on what is now government land. Most long time residents of the area are aware of generally what happened with old houses and towns being bought up but it's always fascinating to hear such details. Again, thanks so much for sharing. I should mention we disagree with your comment on the moon landing being secret as the reason for buying up the land. The land was needed to build the facilities for the program. Also, President Kennedy announced it publicly.

[@toothlesszilla9982]

Poor baby redstone 😢

[@PaulHiggins-p1y]

It hose to show how many failures it takes over time and still the people carried on ,

[@im4run]

Turn down the background music. The narration volume is too low, so I turn it up and then the background music just blasts and I have to turn it down again. Love the video otherwise.

[@purplelegsandthespiderette3929]

Does anything make you happy?

[@mrj4990]

@@purplelegsandthespiderette3929 He's right, audio was messed up and not mixed well. Don't be a dildo

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

We appreciate your feedback. We know and agree the music is too loud at times and the video resolution is low. PLEASE SEE THE NEW NOTE at the bottom of the VIDEO DESCRIPTION for new information on this very old video.

[@YankeeStacking]

"Wait a minute. I just lit a rocket. Rockets explode‼️” - Woody 🤠

[@johnbergstrom2931]

The Atlas explosion at 10:48 was eerily reminiscent of the Challenger explosion...

[@VentureCAM]

This is incredible!

[@Filanca1]

That majestic music with those spectacular explosions! 😋

[@jmwoods190]

Richard Wagner FTW!

[@scottbrettschneider9782]

It’s unfortunate that there was no original audio available to accompany these videos.

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

Agreed

[@Bubblereal]

"Jaunry 17, 1997, This was the last flight of the delta 2 program" *Last launch of delta 2 occurs in 2018*

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

Thanks for your feedback. I think you may be correct. The last failure not flight is what took place in 1997 from what I found with a quick search. (BTW I think I witnessed that one in person.) Bruce

[@timothykness7256]

That Jupiter launch didn't look like 4320mph to me. Not to mention the amazing close-up footage at 48,000 feet!

[@randylplampin1326]

The music volume is extremely annoying.

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

We appreciate your feedback. We know and agree the music is too loud at times and the video resolution is low. PLEASE SEE THE NEW NOTE at the bottom of the VIDEO DESCRIPTION for new information on this very old video.

[@forkoffgoogle]

I guess this is why they used to call launches "Blast Offs".

[@garymccammon6696]

These are why rocket professionals NEVER say "FIRE!" at the end of the countdown.

[@MuzixMaker]

Oh I hope not.

[@samuellowekey9271]

NASA spared no expense to bring us this amazing fireworks display.

[@mustang607]

All the US orbital launch attempts head over oceans. I can see why it's very difficult to find international rocket failures, since many of those launches headed over villages.

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

And most of those were in huge countries with controlled news and were being kept secret unless they were successful.

[@Paul_Wetor]

This makes the failed launch of Gemini 6 all the more impressive. The astronauts did not eject and rode out the situation. It was the right choice, but not easy when you are sitting on a potential bomb.

[@codymoe4986]

Potential bombs??

[@moodydon1]

I recall a story about one news network who figured out the cost per American when a Vanguard blew up on the pad. Americans started mailing NASA the dollar something it cost, telling them to do it again. There were a lot of people who didn't support our efforts to put satellites into orbit. Today every aspect of our lives depend on satellites.

[@meesalikeu]

that is just a legend as there is no way one mission cost taxpayers a dollar something today, much less back them. nasa’s entire budget is miniscule in the overall fed budget.

[@moodydon1]

@@meesalikeu Whatever...

[@kclefthanded427]

You learn from mistakes. Its not a setback, it's progress

[@Reaktora]

you would almost think that it it's a miracle we every got to the moon. but failure is also a result.

[@Observer_Effect]

Awesome! And the musical choices are fine, but about 2x louder than optimal - we want to hear *you*! 🙂

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

We agree it's a little loud. It was made many years ago by a museum volunteer who worked at the Cape for years. He only had very simple equipment to work with. He had no idea it would be seen by so many people. He's now in his '90s and proud that it's our number one video. He should be. I don't know if you know how KZbin's monetization works. We get no income from this video because of a content ID claim on the music. Even if we had the time to redo it with another announcer and no music it would be a new video as far as KZbin is concerned and we would lose the popular link. I tried KZbin's online tool to remove background music a couple of years ago when it was in beta and it worked on part of it but removed all audio on the rest. I might try it again since they've had some time to improve it. If we can get that to work we don't lose the link and would be able to monetize it ourselves. We get very little income from KZbin but every little bit helps when you're a non-profit. Thanks for your feedback. And thanks to others who have commented. Bruce (volunteer IT manager)

[@meesalikeu]

@@AmericanSpaceMuseum yeah i would definitrly suggest give it another try when you can, but if it still removes the narration or you are otherwise not happy with the results i wouldn’t worry too much about it as its kind of charming and expected with the old video clips. 😅👍🏽💥

[@toothlesszilla9982]

Poor baby detla 😞

[@joellanier3060]

Oooops My apologies... You have the music listed.... By the way, I love the music!!! It makes me really happy!

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

Thanks.

[@sint5990]

These are interesting but I really wish the audio existed!

[@AmericanSpaceMuseum]

So do we! There may or may not have been some at the time our video was made, but even if there was, the volunteer who made it didn't have it available. Thanks for your feedback.