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by viknesh 825 days ago
Given that the rocket blew up more or less at launch, it should be full of unspent fuel. How does one put out that fire? I'm guessing there's a lot of energy stored there, so letting it burn through doesn't seem wise.
2 comments

Running shoes and knowing your escape route.

That stuff is fuel and oxidizer mixed together. It is nearly impossible to stop once it gets started.

I think the only thing to do at that point is contain wildfires ignited by the burning propellant. The other commenter's entirely right: it's not practical to stop a combustion reaction where the fuel and oxidizer are already mixed.

Here's a ground-level view from a similar solid-rocket failure, for some perspective:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTmb3Cqb2qw ("Delta II Launch Failure - Multiple Views - GPS IIR-1, 1997, Rocket Explosion, USAF, Canaveral LC-17")