Roket Meledak di Cape Canaveral NASA Saat Uji Coba SpaceX Falcon 9

Elon Musk`s SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Explodes on the Launch Pad at Cape Canaveral

Editor : Cahyani Harzi
Translator : Dhelia Gani


Roket Meledak di Cape Canaveral NASA Saat Uji Coba SpaceX Falcon 9
Asap hitam memenuhi langit berawan, dan setengah jam kemudian, awan hitam menggantung rendah di ufuk timur (Foto2: MailOnline)

SEBUAH ledakan mengguncang sebuah tempat peluncuran SpaceX pada Kamis saat tes roket rutin di Florida.

SpaceX sedang melakukan uji menembakkan roket tak berawak ketika ledakan itu terjadi sekitar pukul 09:00 waktu setempat, menurut NASA.

Pengujian dilakukan sebelum peluncuran yang direncanakan pada Sabtu dari Stasiun Angkatan Udara Cape Canaveral, yang terletak di sebelah NASA Kennedy Space Center.

Tidak ada korban luka dalam ledakan itu, namun, roket dan payload hancur total, seperti dilaporkan Reuters yang dikutip MailOnline.

Juru bicara NASA Al Feinberg mengatakan personil darurat sedang memantau situasi dan siaga untuk membantu, dan kualitas udara sedang dipantau untuk menghadapi potensi ancaman terhadap karyawan, menurut NBC News.

Kantor Manajemen Darurat Brevard County mengatakan: 'Tidak ada ancaman bagi masyarakat umum dari bencana saat pengujian statik di peluncuran SpaceX di CCAFS pagi ini.'

Beberapa bangunan yang berjarak beberapa mil terguncang akibat ledakan, dan beberapa ledakan masih berlangsung beberapa menit kemudian.

Asap hitam memenuhi langit berawan, dan setengah jam kemudian, awan hitam menggantung rendah di ufuk timur.

Rincian tambahan tidak segera tersedia.

Juru bicara SpaceX, John Taylor, mengatakan dia tidak bisa berkomentar karena dia masih sibuk mengumpulkan informasi.

NASA - pelanggan utama SpaceX ini - mengatakan ledakan terjadi di Launch Complex 40 di stasiun Angkatan Udara, dan staf darurat Kennedy pada posisi siaga.

Roket seharusnya mengangkat sebuah satelit komunikasi milik Israel akhir pekan ini dengan dukungan dari Facebook.

Ledakan pertama terdengar seperti guntur, dan diikuti oleh suara ledakan lain.

SpaceX adalah salah satu dari dua perusahaan pengiriman pasokan ke stasiun ruang angkasa untuk NASA.

Ini juga bekerja pada kru kapsul di stasiun feri astronot AS; bahwa penerbangan pertama seharusnya berlangsung pada awal tahun depan.

Dua astronot NASA sedang melakukan spacewalk 250 mil, di luar Stasiun Luar Angkasa Internasional, ketika ledakan terjadi. Mission Control tidak segera memberitahu mereka tentang kecelakaan itu.

Ledakan itu adalah kemunduran bagi SpaceX. Perusahaan yang berbasis di California, yang dipimpin oleh miliarder Elon Musk, telah beberapa kali melakukan peluncuran untuk menembus backlog setelah insiden peluncuran pada Juni 2015. SpaceX menyewa pad dari Angkatan Udara untuk meluncurkan Falcon-nya.

SpaceX belum menanggapi MailOnline dengan rincian lebih lanjut.

SpaceX telah membuat sejarah dengan Falcon 9 berhasil meluncurkan roket Falcon 9 ke ruang angkasa dan sukses kembali ke bumi.

AN EXPLOSION rocked a SpaceX launch site on Thursday during a routine rocket test in Florida.

SpaceX was conducting a test firing of its unmanned rocket when the blast occurred shortly after 9am, according to NASA.

The test was in advance of a planned Saturday launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, which is next to NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

There were no personal injuries in the blast, however, the rocket and payload were completely destroyed, Reuters reported. 

NASA spokesman Al Feinberg said emergency personnel were monitoring the situation and standing by to assist, and the air quality was being monitored for any potential threats to employees, according to NBC News.

The Brevard County Emergency Management Office said: 'There is NO threat to general public from catastrophic abort during static test fire at SpaceX launch pad at CCAFS this morning.'

Buildings several miles away shook from the blast, and multiple explosions continued for several minutes.

Dark smoke filled the overcast sky, and a half-hour later, a black cloud hung low across the eastern horizon.

Additional details were not immediately available. 

SpaceX spokesman, John Taylor, said he could not comment as he worked to gather information.

NASA - SpaceX's major customer - said the explosion occurred at Launch Complex 40 at the Air Force station, and Kennedy emergency staff was on standby. 

The rocket was supposed to hoist an Israeli communications satellite this weekend with backing from Facebook.

The initial blast sounded like thunder, but was followed by the sounds of more explosions.

SpaceX is one of two companies shipping supplies to the space station for NASA.

It's also working on a crew capsule to ferry station U.S. astronauts; that first flight was supposed to come as early as next year.

Two NASA astronauts were conducting a spacewalk 250 miles up, outside the International Space Station, when the explosion occurred. Mission Control did not immediately advise them of the accident.

The explosion is a setback for SpaceX. The California-based company, led by billionaire Elon Musk, had been ramping up with frequent launches to make up for a backlog created by a launch accident in June 2015. SpaceX was leasing the pad from the Air Force for its Falcon launches.

The company is also redoing a former shuttle pad at Kennedy for future manned flights for NASA. 

SpaceX has yet to respond to MailOnline with further details.

SpaceX has made history with its Falcon 9 successfully launching its Falcon 9 rocket into space and returning it to Earth in one piece.