In 1996 a very expensive (but fortunately non-fatal!) rocket explosion became a teachable moment in computer science, when the debut launch of the ESA's shiny new Ariane 5 rocket spectacularly failed less than a minute after lift off.
This video was produced for a University of Sydney online course called "NaN: Numbers And Numerics".
Credits:
Ariane 5 launch videos: ESA, Arianespace, CNES
Mission Control flight desk image: NASA
Ariane 4 & Ariane 5 images: ESA, Arianespace, CNES
