They Always Blow Up

Tam posted a video today of a Vanguard rocket blowing up:

It happened 52 years ago today. In the comments on her post Kristopher put forth this story:

Almost all of those NASA disasters were caused by one OCD machinist in the plant making the LOX pumps.

He was told to not put protectant on the rotors he was responsible for machining, but kept oiling them anyway and wiping them off afterward. He couldn't bring himself to kick this lifelong habit.

Just like putting lube on a welder's O2 regulator, it was a disaster in the making.

Once they caught him doing it, and fired his ass, the pad explosions stopped.

I don't know if the story is true or not, but it's plausible, and it brought to mind this line from The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe:

As for the NASA technicians and the military personnel assigned to the mission, they were in a mood of utter adoration of the single-combat warriors, all three of them, for one of them would be placing his hide on top of the rocket. (And our rockets always blow up.)

In case you don't know about oxygen and oil: at high pressure they will ignite even without a spark or flame. Oxygen is stored in welders tanks at around 2000 PSI. Putting oil of any kind on the threads before you attach the regulator is a sure fire way to get yourself kilt. When you open the valve on the tank, the high pressure oxygen will force it's way into the threads where it will encounter the oil, it will ignite explosively and blow off the regulator valve.

Update: I did a little searching on the web, and I couldn't find a definitive statement about the use of lubricants on the threads of oxygen tanks. Today I even went and checked Myth Busters. I found one post on the subject, so I replied.