SpaceX Falcon 9 ? Possible Explosion

On 10/2/2013 10:50 PM, Brian Thorn wrote:
If the stage is tumbling (which could be a product of venting), it
wouldn't be a streamer, it would be a pinwheel, which could easily
look like a spherical cloud from the ground.

And the forces from that tumbling could explain some of the extra bits
in orbit that were reported.

On Wed, 02 Oct 2013, Brian Thorn wrote to All:

Where those other launches SpaceX launches? I've read elsewhere about
speculation that a normal venting procedure should leave streamer
trails or spiral trails, not spherical ones.

BT If the stage is tumbling (which could be a product of venting), it
BT wouldn't be a streamer, it would be a pinwheel, which could easily
BT look like a spherical cloud from the ground.

not to mention that if the vent port was directed at the earth, the cloud would ba aimed toward the observer while it expands which would also give the appearance of a 2D circular cloud (vs a 3D spherical cloud which we cannot tell from way down here on t
)\/(ark

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Jeff Findley used his keyboard to write :
In article mn.0d657dda57f839f1.127094@snitoo,
says...

Jeff Findley wrote on 10/1/2013 :

The latest I heard is that SpaceX is saying that the second stage did
*not* "explode". In the technical sense that statement may be true.
But, the empirical evidence would seem to indicate that the stage is now
in several pieces and that it vented its fuel in a spherical pattern.

I guess this isn't a reusable stage.

Not yet.

You do realize I was trying for [dark] humor?

It's my understanding that the primary reason for relighting
the second stage engine is because this is a capability needed for
future payloads. It would also be needed, eventually, for reuse of the
second stage, but SpaceX is focusing most of their "reuse" efforts on
the first stage. This makes sense, because the first stage has 90% of
the main engines of a Falcon 9.

A serious answer is out of place in this subthread. ;-)

/dps "but well done, none the less"

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Bradley Wertheim, theAtlantic.com, Jan 10 2013