RocketLab Discussion Thread

[RCgothic]

2 hours ago, magnemoe said:

Agree, now I don't understand the spike on the end of the fin, I would expect the angle to be the other way so the fold out legs continues the fin then folded up. 

I agree, that's the bit that doesn't sit right to me.

[magnemoe]

1 hour ago, darthgently said:

Could be the creative license of the artistic rendition process of the way the engineers imagine the feet folding into that space. Will be interesting to see what eventually flies 

Agree, artist messed it up / it looked cool. Also likely that the details about the legs is not finalized but they looks like smaller versions of Falcon 9 legs  but as they come below the fins they can be more boxy storing the piston. 

[tater]

 

[insert_name]

abort immediately after engine start

[tater]

 

[tater]

2 hours

[CatastrophicFailure]

Scrub. 
 

[tater]

 

[AckSed]

Hell yes. This is proof that, if nothing else, they're good at carbon fibre construction. Do they give a mass for the tank (and an estimate for the mass of the Neutron)?

https://investors.rocketlabusa.com/events-and-presentations/events/event-details/2023/Second-Quarter-2023-Financial-Results-Update-and-Conference-Call/default.aspx

...It doesn't. But they are 3D-printing the first Archimedes combustion chambers and testing injectors.

[tater]

Yeah, and unlike some other commercial not-so-fast-followers, they have actual experience building and flying successful vehicles.

[tater]

 

[tater]

 

[tater]

WTG, RL!

[tater]

 

[tater]

 

[tater]

 

[tater]

 

[tater]

 

[tater]

 

[magnemoe]

1 hour ago, tater said:

 

Did not look like second stage fired up, we lost video feed once engine was clear of interstage, but telemetry show speed dropping until they removed telemetry. 

[darthgently]

42 minutes ago, magnemoe said:

Did not look like second stage fired up, we lost video feed once engine was clear of interstage, but telemetry show speed dropping until they removed telemetry. 

Yep.  Telemetry and frozen cam make it appear that 2nd stage was dead weight from separation.  Did I see a momentary ignition attempt?  A flash?  Or was that artifact?  Not sure

[magnemoe]

1 hour ago, darthgently said:

Yep.  Telemetry and frozen cam make it appear that 2nd stage was dead weight from separation.  Did I see a momentary ignition attempt?  A flash?  Or was that artifact?  Not sure

Probably an reflection as the bell exited the interstage, I say it was a bit early to start the engine anyway  as it was still very close to the first stage then the feed cut off. Now the feed cutoff could just be that system knew something was wrong and cut and cut feed for more bandwidth. Yes its primary an engineering camera so useless then the engine are not running anyway. 

[magnemoe]

Ok it was sparks also above the bell so something failed with the engine, also why can we not rotate shorts?

[darthgently]

RL tried really hard and are truly hoping they figured out what actually happened.  And they may have done so

 

[sevenperforce]

16 hours ago, darthgently said:

RL tried really hard and are truly hoping they figured out what actually happened.  And they may have done so

 

Really fascinating stuff:

Quote

After more than seven weeks of extensive analysis of the mission’s manufacturing, test, and flight data, the findings of the investigation overwhelmingly indicate that an unexpected electrical arc occurred within the power supply system that provides high voltage to the Rutherford engine’s motor controllers, shorting the battery packs that provide power to the launch vehicle’s second stage.

Exhaustive testing and analysis to recreate this failure mode has led to the investigation team’s determination that the arc was likely only made possible by the rare interaction of multiple conditions. Any one of these factors on their own would likely not have caused the failure of the second stage, but when they occur simultaneously in the low-pressure environment of space, they reach the threshold dictated by Paschen’s Law for an arc to form and travel. Paschen's Law is an equation that breaks down the relationship between voltage, pressure environment, distance between electrodes, and presence of gas necessary for an electrical arc to form and travel.

Three rare conditions had to present simultaneously in the low-pressure space environment to reach the threshold for arcing under Paschen’s Law, including:

• A superimposed alternating current (AC) with the direct current (DC) high-voltage electricity provided to the stage’s power supply system, that is produced as a ripple voltage from the system’s engine motor controllers;
• A small concentration of helium and nitrogen gasses that were present within the interstage between Electron’s first and second stages; and
• An imperceptible fault in the insulation of the high voltage loom within the power supply system.

These factors combined, including electricity in the presence of both helium and nitrogen, while under a partial pressure environment, unrestrained by a fault in the high voltage loom, and exacerbated by an alternating current, aligned at a point on the Paschen curve that allows an electrical arc to form and travel.