Forensic Rocketry

Flaming propellant streaks high in the sky. Based on the frames/sec of my camera shooting continuously, this started 4 seconds after liftoff.

The team is still diagnosing the mishap in the Q-motor booster that doomed the flight. We suspect the graphite nozzle fractured under pressure, dramatically lowering the thrust.

The upper stage separated properly, but the rocket was going Mach 3, horizontally.

This led to the “biggest fireball and impact crater I have ever seen” per Major Toma.

The last 100K attempt drilled 11 ft. down into solid clay. This one also left a 100 ft. frag pattern of metal scattered around the crater.