A giant NASA science balloon crashed during take-off in Australia Thursday, destroying its multi-million-dollar payload, toppling a large car and narrowly missing frightened observers.
Dramatic footage of the incident showed the balloon’s large undercarriage coming loose from its moorings, smashing through a fence and knocking a four-wheel-drive car on its side before coming to rest.
“We were sitting in our car and preparing to move it out of the way and we actually were within a foot (30 centimetres) of being wiped out,” a relieved bystander said, on footage relayed by public broadcaster ABC.