Ocean City Students’ Experiment Destroyed in Rocket Explosion
This image provided by NASA shows the Orbital Sciences Corporation Antares rocket, with the Cygnus spacecraft onboard suffers a catastrophic anomaly moments after launch from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pad 0A, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2014, at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The Cygnus spacecraft was filled with about 5,000 pounds of supplies slated for the International Space Station, including science experiments, experiment hardware, spare parts, and crew provisions.
Yesterday, the Antares rocket — an unmanned, NASA-contracted rocket that was slated to take supplies to the International Space Station — exploded 14 seconds after launch.
There were no injuries. But an experiment made by Ocean City High School students was one of the casualties of the explosion.
The Press of Atlantic City writes:
“Blew up on launch,” texted Dan Weaver, an OCH science teacher and adviser to the six seniors, moments after the rocket crashed to the ground. “We’re OK.”
“Everyone from OC is safe,” texted Kristina Redmond, one of the six OCHS students who spent a year designing the experiment that was one of 19 chosen nationwide to journey to the International Space Station.
“I think it’s crazy,” said Kevin Redmond, Kristina’s father, from his Ocean City home about 20 minutes after the devastating accident. “It’s hard to believe that it happened. I feel bad for the kids.”
It’s a shame this experiment exploded, but isn’t that absolutely cooler in some ways? “Hey, what happened to the experiment you were doing?” “Oh, when they were going to launch it into space the rocket exploded.” That’s a story you tell the rest of your life.