Every space capsule needs an escape system. But to be sure the safety net isn’t a death trap, it must be tested. A do-it-yourself spaceflight program called Copenhagen Suborbitals tested their own launch escape system early on Sunday, Aug. 12 in the middle of the Baltic Sea. The system didn’t quite work as intended. “We had perfect launch, but quickly the entire configuration began to tumble,” said Kristian von Bengtson, co-founder of Copenhagen Suborbitals. “The main chutes clearly did not have complete deployment and the capsule hit water in high speed, buckling the bottom shield.” Yet failures are expected in any spaceflight program, especially during early hardware tests. Without them, engineers couldn’t learn how their systems truly perform. “The capsule remained intact and kept sending live data from inside the capsule,” von Bengtson said. “From a long list of things that could have gone wrong, we are very satisfied.” Experience Copenhagen Suborbitals’ exciting launch sequence, and its crushing end, in this gallery. Above: Liftoff! The launch escape system — the space capsule, named Beautiful Betty, and a small rocket — ascends from its seafaring launch pad in a picture-perfect start. In a full launch, a large rocket would carry the entire system into suborbital space, or roughly 62 miles above the Earth. If something went wrong on the way, the system would detach, with the small rocket delivering the capsule and its crew to safety. Image: Copenhagen Suborbitals/Picasa

Boom and Splash The launch was supposed to loft the 950-pound suborbital space capsule, and a 150-pound dummy named Randy inside, to about 3,000 feet. As a video (above) shows, the rocket and its payload quickly spun out of control. High-speed shots of the launch pad show engine performance, while a camera inside the capsule captures Randy’s unique view. Video: CphSuborbitals/YouTube

Mobile Launch Pad Copenhagen Suborbitals ran its tests from a floating launchpad called Sputnik (above). Shown here is the launch escape system rocket, which is attached to the Beautiful Betty capsule with explosive bolts. Images: 1) Copenhagen Suborbitals/Picasa; 2) Copenhagen Suborbitals/Picasa

Tumble in the Sky Things looked good until a few seconds into liftoff. At that point, as it arced hundreds of feet into the air, the launch escape system began to tumble out of control. Von Bengtson and his colleagues haven’t had a chance to fully review the sequence, but he thinks the system’s center of gravity moved toward the center of pressure — the firing rocket nozzles — as the rocket burned through propellent. “If those two centers get too close, you get an unstable rocket,” he said. Image: Copenhagen Suborbitals/Picasa

Late Separation As their launch escape system tumbled out of control, Copenhagen Suborbitals didn’t want to remotely trigger the explosive bolts and separate rocket from capsule. That could have unleashed an out-of-control rocket toward their observation ships. Instead von Bengtson waited until the engines had almost stopped burning, then triggered the separation and the capsule’s parachutes. Images: 1) Copenhagen Suborbitals/Picasa; 2) Copenhagen Suborbitals/Picasa

Big Splash After separation, the parachutes only partly deployed. The capsule slammed into the water at very high speed, crushing its circular bottom and denting the capsule’s frame. Image: Copenhagen Suborbitals/Picasa