Wreckage from the 1986 explosion moments after liftoff from Vandenberg AFB, this is structural skin and longeron pieces from the core interstage., aluminum rended apart from the explosion. The Titan 34D was the largest unmanned U.S. rocket at the time.
From Wikipedia: “The investigation indicated the right solid rocket motor rupturing starting at T+6 seconds with the resulting torque on the launch vehicle caused the left SRM to break away. This triggered its automatic destruct system, blowing Stage 1 to pieces and rupturing Stage 2’s N2O4 tank. The upper stages were ejected and launched through the air until a manual destruct command was sent by the range safety officer at T+20 seconds. The KH-9 was also blown up by its internal self-destruct mechanism, which was designed to destroy the classified satellite in the event of a launch malfunction. Debris rained onto SLC-4E, badly damaging the launch complex in the process and starting numerous small fires, some of which burned for up to two days.”
It made a large story in the NYT at the time.
Diagram:
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