Rocket launch turned nasty

[olasek]

I hope by now everyone saw this spectacular rocket launch failure in Russia, 3 satellites were aboard, the terrain is now contaminated due to the highly toxic fuel. Rarely these days one can watch such visually impressive failures. I personally like this amateur made video, you can find more close-up videos too. If you don't have enough fireworks for the 4-th July this should make up for it

 

[Jim Logajan]

Still, I think the Russians have done amazing things with their equipment. Using the same basic rocket for people that Gagarin rode on today.

I believe that the Proton rockets have historically been able to accomplish 90% of their missions. The design has been around long enough that per-unit costs are allegedly pretty low (for a rocket) and is the closest thing there is to a mass-produced rocket of its size. These are certainly valid ways to lower the cost to get into space.