# NASA's Antares ISS resupply vehicle exploded tonight a few seconds into takeoff.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-antares-iss-resupply-vehicle-exploded-tonight-a-few-seconds-into-takeoff/702812>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [October 29, 2014, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-antares-iss-resupply-vehicle-exploded-tonight-a-few-seconds-into-takeoff/702812 "2014-10-29T01:24:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\
**Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-antares-iss-resupply-vehicle-exploded-tonight-a-few-seconds-into-takeoff/702812/1 "2014-10-29T01:24:43Z")

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Video:

[![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCWunnJXdm0)

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**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\
**Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-antares-iss-resupply-vehicle-exploded-tonight-a-few-seconds-into-takeoff/702812/2 "2014-10-29T01:52:14Z")

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Bummer. It’s to be expected, of course. This _will_ occasionally happen. Bummer nonetheless. ☹

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**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\
**Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-antares-iss-resupply-vehicle-exploded-tonight-a-few-seconds-into-takeoff/702812/3 "2014-10-29T01:52:38Z")

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Interesting possibly related twist [in this other thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=738872)

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-antares-iss-resupply-vehicle-exploded-tonight-a-few-seconds-into-takeoff/702812/4 "2014-10-29T02:10:09Z")

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This is why we send up the supplies on unmanned rockets. There comes a point where it’s more economical to just accept the occasional failure than to spend enough on the rockets to make them more reliable.

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**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\
**Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-antares-iss-resupply-vehicle-exploded-tonight-a-few-seconds-into-takeoff/702812/5 "2014-10-29T03:10:10Z")

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they will have to break out the reserve Tang.

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**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\
**Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-antares-iss-resupply-vehicle-exploded-tonight-a-few-seconds-into-takeoff/702812/6 "2014-10-29T10:45:18Z")

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Anyone know what this means for the current crew of the ISS? Will they have to return earlier? I’d hope that there’s some sort of backup available, but who knows these days?

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**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\
**Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-antares-iss-resupply-vehicle-exploded-tonight-a-few-seconds-into-takeoff/702812/7 "2014-10-29T17:28:39Z")

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None of the supplies being carried was mission critical and there is another commercial supply flight (SpaceX CRS-5, I believe it is F9-14) manifested for a December launch on which the cargo manifest could be juggled to prioritize more critical supplies. In principle, none of the CRS flights are mission critical for ISS operations because neither of the CRS vehicles (Antares or Falcon) has enough history to assess sufficient reliability for mission critical operations.

Stranger