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11 Rocket Launches That Didn't Quite Go As Planned

It is rocket science, after all

By Darren Oaf
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Bear Grylls//Digital Spy

One of the greatest human achievements in aviation is the creation of the rocket engine. It's propelled us faster than the speed of sound and taken us to the moon. But when rockets fail, they fail spectacularly.

Although many rocket failures are often tragic accidents—whether in loss of human ingenuity or even human life—some can actually be, dare we say, funny? We hunted for some of the most bizarre, weird, and laughable rockets to every go awry. 3...2...1...whoops.

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The most common thread you'll see in this list is Russian missile fails. This S-300 had a little trouble launching its boosters. But hey, it went off eventually.

This is an explosion that would even make Michael Bay jealous. A Russian rocket, the Proton-M, goes dangerously off course immediately off the launch pad and finds itself nose-diving back toward the Earth. Thankfully, no one was hurt (except for £160 million in scientific equipment and some broken glass).

Here's part 3 in Russian Rocket Fails. Much like the first video, an S-300 fails to fire, and comes crashing down. Better luck next time.

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The final installment of Russian Rocket Fails shows yet another S-300. This time the first rocket goes off without a hitch, but the second one isn't so lucky. At least it has the manners to not explode this time.

Here we have a Chinese missile failure where the first missile takes to the skies perfectly, but the second one—not so much. After things get a little screwy, it looks like missile is prepared to head straight toward the crowd. Luckily, it again veers off-course and harmlessly explodes.

This Ukrainian missile launch failure is a lesson in persistence. After a malfunction seems to completely destroy a missile launcher, it still successfully launches. Whatever works.

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Ok, so this isn't your typical rocket failure, but it's still amusing enough to make the list. This Atlas-Agena rocket depressurized and completely collapses before the candle is even lit. It also perfectly encapsulates how most people feel about Mondays.

The Bomarc failure is particularly bad since magnesium, which is what this missile was made out of, only burns faster when you try to put it out with water. But those are some great flames.

This RAF air defense missile launch doesn't exactly go according to plan.

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Rockets have gotten so advanced, we've even found ways to launch them from underwater. Of course, that doesn't mean there wasn't some trial and error involved. Take for instance, the Trident II. If you're going to fail, why not do it with some style.

The first Mercury launch test was such an abysmal failure, it's surprising the fledgling space agency was able to survive it. Tom Wolfe, in The Right Stuff, described the launch as the "ultimate fiasco" as several congressmen and government officials were on hand to watch the event. In a Cold War context, this was a tremendous blow—but now it's just sort of funny.

From: Popular Mechanics
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