14 DAY TRIAL // First off, fair warning: before watching the video below, make sure that you have a broom and some duct tape close at hand. Trust me, you'll need them to scoop your jaw off the floor and put it back in place.
This spectacular footage made it online just yesterday. It was obtained with the help of remotely operated cameras and it documents the moment NASA's Antares rocket exploded in late October.
More precisely, the video shows the rocket achieving liftoff but collapsing back to the ground just seconds later. An explosion occurs and the spacecraft is engulfed by flames, dust storms and smoke.
For those unaware, this rocket went kaboom on October 28, at 6:22 p.m. EDT. According to NASA officials, it exploded merely 6 seconds after it was launched from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Virginia.
By the looks of it, heat produced by the blast traveled as far as 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) from the site of the explosion. The resulting shock wave, on the other hand, got much further.
At the time it exploded, the rocket was carrying £125 million (about €160 million / $200 million) worth of equipment that was supposed to reach astronauts aboard the International Space Station.
NASA scientists are still investigating the incident and cannot say for sure how and why the explosion occurred. Still, they have reasons to believe that the spacecraft blew up after one of its engines malfunctioned.
