RuBisCO Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 So? Where is this conference? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert VDS Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 (edited) It's a phone only conference.Update:Initial assessment. More investigation over time.Vehicle was nominal. No issues on first stage and continued for several seconds after the failure started. Dragon communicated until below the horizon. Parachute would have saved Dragon. Future versions will have new software for that.Prelim conclusion is that the failure was a strut holding down the COPV bottle.One of the struts broke free during the flight. Missed in testing as stage in acceleration changes the conditions. 3.2Gs the strut appears to have snapped.Lots of helium was released causing overpressure event.No sign of a problem with closeout photos. So it's a puzzle. Telemetry data shows drop in He pressure, but then back to normal pressure. Confusing, but think the bottle broke free and pinched the line on the manifold and restored pressure...but released enough He to cause the failure. Speculation.Not going to use these struts in the future. Not going to believe certified data. Going to test each strut.Will be some cost increase, but nothing that would impact the actual price of the vehicle.No other issues seen. Strut issue is fairly straightforward, switching to something with higher level of performance.Won’t give a precise return to flight date until we go over all data. May be just a few months. Edited July 20, 2015 by Albert VDS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saabstory88 Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 So just to be clear, the problem was... not enough struts? I understand that there are actual engineering/qc issues at work here. But some one had to say it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert VDS Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 Yes that's the jist of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
How2FoldSoup Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 So just to be clear, the problem was... not enough struts? I understand that there are actual engineering/qc issues at work here. But some one had to say it I thought the same thing, don't worry It appears the struts failed at 1/5 the amount of force they were rated for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frida Space Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 Written version of Elon's comments will be posted to the SpaceX website.- - - Updated - - -Yay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RocketPilot573 Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 Not enough struts...Apparently that was almost literally the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frida Space Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 Return to flight NET September: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RocketPilot573 Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nothalogh Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 So just to be clear, the problem was... not enough struts?It'll get you every time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codepoet Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 I wonder how many such struts (or similar form the same supplier) are used in a falcon 9. If they had ~1000 on hand to test that suggests there are lots, and that means that a individual failure rate of ~0.3% would have posed quite a sizable risk to the F9 system as a whole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nothalogh Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 This is what you get for not using KJR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kryten Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 Return-to-flight NET September. Falcon Heavy has been pushed back in priority due to the incident, first flight NET Q1 2016. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotius Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 Apparently Kerbal way is the only way. MOAR STRUTS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Rocket Scientist Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 MOAR STRUTS!! Or, at the very least, install one of those mod which adds larger struts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dkmdlb Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 Return-to-flight NET September. Falcon Heavy has been pushed back in priority due to the incident, first flight NET Q1 2016.Now we have ourselves a real neck-and-neck race between SLS and F9H. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatastrophicFailure Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 Now we have ourselves a real neck-and-neck race between SLS and F9H.U sure about that? I thot sls wasn't supposed to fly till end of 3018 at the soonest. MOAR STRUTS!! Or, at the very least, install one of those mod which adds larger struts.Quantum struts. This demands quantum struts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuBisCO Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 So not "more struts" they are going to go with something else, something superior to a strut...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frybert Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 So not "more struts" they are going to go with something else, something superior to a strut...?From the sounds of it they are going with 'different strut'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert VDS Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 They are going with a strut which can stand a higher load. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralathon Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 U sure about that? I thot sls wasn't supposed to fly till end of 3018 at the soonest. I knew the SLS was slow going, but 3018? Damn... They're lucky if there still are NEO asteroids left to explore by that point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leszek Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 U sure about that? I thot sls wasn't supposed to fly till end of 3018 at the soonest. At first I thought that was a typo....on second thought though I am not so sure.Anyway, I am very glad they got useful data out of that. After two weeks I was really certain they were going to be at a loss. It doesn't matter how many sensors you put on a vehicle because it is the things you can't think of that are the most difficult to deal with. The solution looks to be straight forward, so full speed ahead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrandedonEarth Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 Either they didn't realize that Jeb's Junkyard & Spaceship Parts is not an approved parts vendor, or they need to stop using struts they found lying by the side of the road.Anyway, I am very glad they got useful data out of that. After two weeks I was really certain they were going to be at a loss. It doesn't matter how many sensors you put on a vehicle because it is the things you can't think of that are the most difficult to deal with. The solution looks to be straight forward, so full speed ahead.Ya, the unexpected is the hardest thing to expect. I just can't imagine them plastering strain gauges over all the struts in that bird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuBisCO Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 I knew the SLS was slow going, but 3018? Damn... They're lucky if there still are NEO asteroids left to explore by that point.3018 News: After over 1000 years the Senate Launch Vehicle Flies!In an experiment to see if humans could have survived their extinction via colonizing space an ancient project was restarted and flown. The huge rocket flew around the moon with a "crew" of six. In the vehicle bioroid cyborgs with artificial brains were used to simulate archaic human beings. Project Scientist 0110101111010101001101001100101010010101000110101010001011010110 claims "Archaic humans of the time were very capable, though sadly very lazy, despite their crude biological minds they managed to make do with the assistance of primitive digital computers, what really held them back was their own bureaucratic inefficiencies and obsession with the obsolete concept "money"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airlock Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 (edited) Full audio of the teleconference available hereAlso here: Edited July 20, 2015 by Airlock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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