Soyuz Launch Escape Tower System
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN cites it as the one dramatic real-world proof that a launch escape system works.
What it is
Short footage of the 1983 Soyuz T-10-1 pad fire, in which the launch escape tower pulled the crew away seconds before the rocket exploded.
Recommended by 1 HN commenters across 2 different months, 2011 to 2018.
What Hacker News said
Strong rec jlgreco · 2012-08 · on “How We Nearly Lost the Discovery Shuttle”
The video of T-10-1 is stunning: [this video] That the people on that rocket escaped with "bruises" is amazing.
Recommends jlgreco · 2012-10 · on “Mercury-Redstone 1 - The four inch flight”
For those interested, here is a neat video of a launch escape system working as intended during Soyuz T-10-1: [this video] It is the only time a launch escape system has actually been used.
Cites kens · 2011-11 · on “Is SpaceX changing the rocket equation?”
A few random comments: There's a video of the Soyuz explosion mentioned above at [this video] that shows the escape system saving the crew. The use of solid rocket boosters for human space flight (as was planned for Ares I) is hugely controversial because they can't just be shut down in the event of a problem, as regular engines can, making survivability more difficult. Personally, I think NASA is overly risk-adverse, to the point that nothing gets accomplished (see Constellation / Ares I). An interesting article on this is [LINK] On the topic of aircraft turbine failures, there's the interesting case of a DC-10 engine that disintegrated in flight due to a pilot experiment, killing a passenger. F
Cites dvdkhlng · 2018-05 · on “NASA advisers say SpaceX rocket technology could put lives at risk”
Related video: Video of Soyuz launch escape system used in a real emergency: [this video] This is probably how SpaceX imagines astronauts would be saved in case of a fueling problem.