I'm not referring to the tractor.
If you look at this photo:
https://www.ddeville.com/images/Rocket/rocket 187.JPG
and this photo:
https://www.ddeville.com/images/Rocket/rocket 142.JPG
that ridgeline in the background doesn't look all that far away. Maybe a couple hundred feet at most? These are photos taken without the telephoto lens, correct?
And then in this photo:
https://www.ddeville.com/images/Rocket/rocket 186.JPG
The group of people on the left appear to be just on the other side of that same ridgeline?
I guess my point in all of this is that if Andy's project can be scrutinized to death to see if all of the safety code requirements were met, then why shouldn't EVERY project, including this one?
Do we know where that first photo was taken? That ridgeline seems to extend for QUITE some distance, and it also appears that shot is post-recovery, so who knows where it was taken. I can't find anything besides the ridgeline in the background for reference.
Now, the second and third photos in that post seem to be the key to this. Look at the tractors in the second photo and the third photo. They are all back on that road. In the second photo, that road is QUITE a ways away from the pad. How far? Can't tell for sure, but it seems to be quite a distance. The people beyond the ridgeline in question are standing on that same road, and off to the side, so they are farther away then if you went straight back from the pad to the road (I hated geometry in 9th grade, but I guess I still remember some of it...lol).
We often see photos like this that distort the distances, and I never really understood how much of an effect there was until I saw some pics I took with a strong telephoto lens, and how much it compressed the distances. Really shocking how close things appeared in those shots when I knew they were much farther than they appear in the photos.
Yes, I agree - safety should be scrutinized. The problem is we weren't there, and can only speculate on what happened, what rules were followed, and how they were enforced. Ultimately, it's up to the LCO to determine the flight worthiness of any rocket on his range, and the RSO to determine if the safety conditions are met for those on his range at the time of launch. These are, essentially, the people we entrust our safety to when rockets are sent hurtling to the heavens.