Titan IV Explosion at Cape Canaveral 8-20-98 (High Definition) |
Description & Facts: An Air Force statement said the rocket began to self-destruct 40 seconds after it was launched from Space Launch Complex 41. Air Force safety officials sent self-destruct signals to the Titan IV about two seconds later to break up the rocket and reduce potential damage from debris. The destroyed Titan IVA rocket was worth about $400 million and the NRO payload was valued at just under $1 billion dollars, officials said. The launch was to have been the Air Force's last Titan IVA mission. Debris from the explosion landed safely in the ocean about one-half a mile offshore, the service added. There were no injuries or damage to launch facilities on private property nearby. "[The Air Force's] emergency plans all went well; everything went as expected in case of an explosion," said Lt. Col. Don Miles, a spokesman for the Air Force Space Command (SPACECOM) at Peterson AFB, Colo. Brig. Gen. Randall Starbuck, commander of the 45th Space Wing at nearby Patrick AFB, Fla., said at a press conference that three groups were being created to investigate the explosion. The first group, an Engineering Analysis Team led by Lockheed Martin, will gather engineering data from the explosion for the other two groups. The second group, the Accident Investigation Board, led by Maj. Gen. Robert Hinson of SPACECOM, will prepare an accident report for public release. The third second, a Safety Investigation Board, led by a colonel from the 30th Space Wing at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., will produce a