UPDATE: REMOTE PHOTOGRAPHS HAVE BEEN RELEASED. ORBITAL SCIENCES HAS USED MY IMAGES FOR THE INVESTIGATION. PHOTOS ARE LOCATED BELOW.
These photos were a series taken by two of my personal cameras that were located at the launchpad during the explosion. Orbital Sciences, NASA, the FAA, and the NTSB later used these images in their investigation to determine the problem and to help Antares fly again safely in 2016. Both cameras had some melting on them and custom built circuit boards were torn apart, but came back surprisingly well and both the cameras still function great and I still use them at every launch I photograph.
A large fireball erupts as thousands of pounds of fuel impacts the ground and sends shrapnel across the pad area. Copyright © Alex Polimeni
The explosion causes a mushroom cloud much like the atomic bomb. A large shard of debris is flying in the photo and can be tracked using several other photos taken by this camera. Copyright © Alex Polimeni
One of the first explosions in the engine compartment as the vehicle was still airborne. Copyright © Alex Polimeni
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Early indications of a failure as the engine begins spitting out an odd exhaust and appears to be tilted slightly to the side as it loses thrust. This image shows something became stuck in the turbopump. Copyright © Alex Polimeni
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Antares at ignition, everything seeming nominal at the time. Copyright © Alex Polimeni
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Antares begins lifting off as planned, no indication of an issue at this point. Copyright © Alex Polimeni
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The view from another remote camera, this image literally shows Solid Rocket fuel falling to the ground on fire. This is after the camera was ripped out of a cement bracket from the shockwave and started tumbling into a flaming trench. Copyright © Alex Polimeni
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Antares lifting off in the dusk from a remote camera view in a trench. Copyright © Alex Polimeni
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A fiery mess from one of the tumbled remote cameras in the trench. The fireball at the top right corner is suspected to be the Cygnus capsule, which was planned to dock with the International Space Station, now just engulfed in fire. Copyright © Alex Polimeni
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Antares begins lifting off, with no indications of problems at the moment. Copyright © Alex Polimeni
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The fireball from our viewing location at the press site, taken while I was ducking down in case any shrapnel was headed our way. Copyright © Alex Polimeni
Copyright © Alex Polimeni
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Copyright © Alex Polimeni
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