Rocket photography launch blastoff CATO gone wild spirals unstable motor failures
sjurvetson | June 17, 2009The pop of a supersonic shred, scattering fins below...
and the beginning of a sparky spiral dance in the sky...
Here's a rare catch of a fleeting midair moment - the forward retention for the solid-fuel motor has failed and so it thusts forward up through the rocket, pushing the parachute and nose cone out prematurely:
Even the little Estes motors can have a forward closure failure, with glorious results:
Sometimes the nozzle pops out the back, lowering thrust dramatically... and triggering premature separation and release of the smoke grenades:
The early parachute deployment creates…