New footage gleaned from cameras situated around the NASA launchpad of October’s Orbital Sciences launch shows the company’s Antares rocket exploding shortly after takeoff from multiple angles in literal, lens-shattering detail.
Photographers from Zero-G News and AmericaSpace.com were only recently able to retrieve their equipment from NASA’s Wallops Island, Va. launch site, according to CNET, which provided the best views yet of an explosion powerful enough to crack the lens of one camera. (RELATED: Check Out These Eyewitness Videos Of Orbital Sciences’ Rocket Exploding At Launch)
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During a conference call earlier this month Orbital Sciences CEO David Thompson said the investigation into the rocket — which exploded while launching a resupply cargo ship to the International Space Station — was leaning toward one of Antares’ refurbished Soviet-made rocket engines as the culprit. (RELATED: Orbital Sciences Admits Refurbished Soviet Engine Probably Made Its Rocket Explode)