A rocket fuel tank bursts in slow motion: real or AI?

As shared

Video: NASA / Marshall Space Flight Center · Public domain (NASA) · Source

REAL

This is real.

How sure we areHigh

Based on 1 strong and 0 supporting piece of evidence.

What we found

The video shows a large metal rocket tank splitting open in slow motion as water bursts out. It is real footage from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, published by NASA on 24 June 2020 under the title 'Engineers Break SLS Rocket Propellant Tank On Purpose'. The tank was a test copy, identical to the liquid oxygen tanks in the core stage of the Space Launch System rocket built for the Artemis missions to the Moon. Engineers used hydraulic cylinders to press millions of pounds of force on it from all sides until it broke. The tank was filled with water to stand in for the liquid oxygen, which is what gushes out when it ruptures. The test was done to make sure the rocket's structure can survive launch and safely carry astronauts. Space agencies publish a lot of dramatic test footage, so their own image libraries are a good first place to check a surprising clip.

Key facts

Original source: Video: NASA / Marshall Space Flight Center
First published: Not recorded
Earlier appearances: Not recorded
The claim you saw: No caption recorded
Signs of AI: None that decide it

The evidence, strongest first

Strong Decides the answer

Original sourceNASA Image and Video Library: "Engineers Break SLS Rocket Propellant Tank On Purpose", 24 June 2020↗

Supporting Points the same way

None.

Weak Shown, not relied on

How it looksIt looks like a film effect, but the water behaves like real water: it bursts out unevenly, breaks into spray and falls under gravity, and the steel frame around the tank stays rigid and consistent from frame to frame. AI video still struggles to keep a complicated structure like that steady for more than a few seconds.

Detector scores are often wrong, so they never decide a verdict here.

What we couldn’t establish

Anything about the moment it shows beyond what the sources above record. If you know more, tell us.

Bottom line

Real: the original source shows it.

See the original ↗Think we’re wrong?

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