Chinese rocket static-fire test results in unintended launch and huge explosion A rocket stage test firing by Chinese commercial company Space Pioneer ended in catastrophic failure and a dramatic explosion Sunday.
well there was that incident in '86 when the shuttle Atlantis was 'accidentally' launched with 4 kids aboard during an engine test. The documentary about it called Space Camp is riveting.
Few people know that one of those kids was now famous actor, Joaquin Phoenix. I watched that documentary many times and was shock to find out that people speak in a type of slow motion when in zero G.
I was thinking the same thing. You can kind of figure out the distance from the time the rocket disappears behind the cloud/hill to the time you hear the explosion in the second video. The rocket disappears at 41 seconds and the explosion is heard at 49.5 seconds. Even if the rocket had hit the ground as soon as it disappeared from sight we're talking 2-3 kilometers away.