Wired has assembled footage of six of the most costly and catastrophic failures in spacecraft history. This is what it's like to watch billions of dollars burn.

Warning: Most of this is entertaining stuff — few things are better than seeing government-grade explosives do what they do best — but some of it is not. The article includes footage of both the Challenger and Columbia disasters, and they're not easy to watch. Because we in no way want to sensationalize either tragedy or the attendant loss of life, we suggest you avoid those two clips.

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