Space is still hard.
So far, we do not know if the second stage exploded or the hydrazine fuel in the Israeli satellite destined for GEO. (Facebook was going to use some of the bandwidth to bring internet service to parts of Africa. I suppose that is a good thing, although I have more than a few doubts.)
If it was the Israeli satellite, then relax! Sadly, current indications point to the second stage, albeit still not conclusively.
If it was the second stage, then there a lot of questions that will need to be answered. The main one, however, is whether the escape system on a Dragon capsule would have lifted the crew away in time.
Would the Dragon have made it away?
Second question: what commercial reasons might SpaceX have to refuse FAA participation in the investigation? I can understand that the company wishes to protect trade secrets, but that strikes me as a squarable circle. (Or maybe they should start, you know, patenting.)
Inquiring minds would really like to know.
I'm sure that someday we will reach Peak Elon Musk. Maybe around when Tesla starts turning a profit ... no, that will never happen.
Posted by: Peter | September 05, 2016 at 02:24 PM
SpaceX claims the Dragon escape system would have been more than adequate. Somebody pasted together a video made from explosion footage and the Dragon pad abort test that seems to indicate this, though I don't have proof that the time scales on the two videos are actually the same:
https://twitter.com/StateMachines/status/771535425328459780
Posted by: Matt McIrvin | September 05, 2016 at 11:18 PM