Fess up - who's junk is this?

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

Ring Landed in a village in Kenya. 

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/cx2vzql8zndo

 

Edited Friday at 08:05 PM by JoeSchmuckatelli

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

FWIW - the Reddit commentary and puns are hilarious. 

 

[darthgently]

55 minutes ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

Ring Landed in a village in Kenya. 

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/cx2vzql8zndo

 

From what I read that part is only used on the ground when preparing the payload. A jig of some type. 2.5m.  I’m thinking test payload from who knows when.  Why am I thinking China?  Maybe?

[darthgently]

Ok, source has corrected.  It might be from upper stage of Arianne V184

 

[SunlitZelkova]

I’m honestly surprised, my money was on something Soviet.

[darthgently]

14 minutes ago, SunlitZelkova said:

I’m honestly surprised, my money was on something Soviet.

We still don’t know for sure but apparently it is visually similar to an Arianne ring

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

2 hours ago, SunlitZelkova said:

something Soviet.

From Reddit: Turret Ring.

[monophonic]

The way it's propped up in those pics, I say there is no way that thing weights anywhere near half a ton. So my bet is on the Ariane adapter.

[Nuke]

On 1/5/2025 at 8:35 PM, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

From Reddit: Turret Ring.

for some reason it looked more like a tank part than a rocket part. probibly because the gearing and the fact that it looks like a fairly solid piece of metal. also pay attention to the way the ring is joined together with 10 big fasteners (bolts or perhaps plug welds). it looks like it was made out of four identical pieces. if this was an aerospace part it would not require such robust joinery and it would be machined out to be mostly hollow as well.

on second though the gearing doesnt look like gearing after zooming in. given the spaces betrween the teeth are a lot wider than the teeth themselves, and the very square profile of the tee (they normally follow an involute curve).

Edited Tuesday at 08:36 AM by Nuke

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

The "gearing" isn't gearing.  Those are recesses for bolt heads, as far as I can tell.  The ends are machined with what looks like a hex-head hollow space.  It's why I think it's a rocket fuel tank part.

This image shows the reverse side of the image above: Investigation opened after 1,100-pound rocket debris crashes in Kenya

(Image is the first image of a video) https://san.com/cc/investigation-opened-after-1100-pound-rocket-debris-crashes-in-kenya/

The video shows a bunch of different angles; some show the 'fuzzy' stuff is apparently a sealant at a join between metal pieces and there is a couple of different layers of metal joined under the bolt area.

Edited Tuesday at 02:00 PM by JoeSchmuckatelli

[darthgently]

5 hours ago, Nuke said:

for some reason it looked more like a tank part than a rocket part. probibly because the gearing and the fact that it looks like a fairly solid piece of metal. also pay attention to the way the ring is joined together with 10 big fasteners (bolts or perhaps plug welds). it looks like it was made out of four identical pieces. if this was an aerospace part it would not require such robust joinery and it would be machined out to be mostly hollow as well.

on second though the gearing doesnt look like gearing after zooming in. given the spaces betrween the teeth are a lot wider than the teeth themselves, and the very square profile of the tee (they normally follow an involute curve).

I think it has some hollowed out annular area on the side we can’t see and is likely aluminum.  If the upper payload adapter of a stacked Arianne payload then the teeth are for indexing and preventing payload twisting shear from roll.

But I admit I’m heavily biased by McDowell’s estimation.

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

5 hours ago, Nuke said:

tank part than a rocket part

tank of a rocket - not my kind of tank!

 

5 hours ago, Nuke said:

aerospace part it would not require such robust joinery

For an advanced program, maybe - but there's been a lot of players entering the field lately.

[darthgently]

1 hour ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

tank of a rocket - not my kind of tank!

 

For an advanced program, maybe - but there's been a lot of players entering the field lately.

Looking closer I think it is four sections of curved hollow rectangular aluminum extrusion, so a lot of empty space around the ring internally.  The teeth are added to the extrusions by forming, welding, or other.  Just guessing.  If it is real 1100 lbs then it would be solid but that doesn’t seem very aerospacey and that little stick propping it up just looks like it would snap holding up ~500 lbs

Edited Tuesday at 03:40 PM by darthgently

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

1 hour ago, darthgently said:

that little stick propping it up

looks like rusted square barstock or tube to me.

I've seen some janky stuff out in the world - not everyone follows good OSHA procedures.  Lean a half ton of something on a piece of old rusted iron?  Sure- why not!

 

[darthgently]

39 minutes ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

looks like rusted square barstock or tube to me.

I've seen some janky stuff out in the world - not everyone follows good OSHA procedures.  Lean a half ton of something on a piece of old rusted iron?  Sure- why not!

 

1/4 ton, but yeah.  I think you could be right about the bar stock though

[Nuke]

angle iron is pretty robust.

Edited yesterday at 12:13 AM by Nuke

[darthgently]

Just realized my 1/4 ton comment may not be clear.  A ton is 2000 lbs and the bar is only holding up at most 1/2 the weight 

[Nuke]

your talking 500 pounds, i can legpress that (granted the last time i tried was in 1999).

and half that, angle iron's got it. the point of failure would be the soil its standing in, here it would probibly push it all the way in, we got soft ground. but in packed earth it would stay up. the angle resists tensile loads and the steel can handle the compression easy.

Edited yesterday at 12:20 PM by Nuke

[monophonic]

18 hours ago, Nuke said:

your talking 500 pounds, i can legpress that (granted the last time i tried was in 1999).

and half that, angle iron's got it. the point of failure would be the soil its standing in, here it would probibly push it all the way in, we got soft ground. but in packed earth it would stay up. the angle resists tensile loads and the steel can handle the compression easy.

It isn't really about how much weight can angle iron hold. It could even resist pushing down into soft soil, if it hits a rock, or a root, or has any semblance of a foundation beneath the undergrowth. There is another angle iron visible at 0:52 in the BBC video. Could have been brought by the investigators, or could be a remnant from some old construction, like a fence. Latter case a foundation would be likely.

See how lopsided that propping is? The support point is full one third to one side of the diameter. Round things like that are very difficult to get balanced even when you have perfect placement.  Any deviation from absolute perfection and the ring will pivot to the side. Granted having the low side dig into the soil does help, but I'm still doubtful it could keep a half ton ring in place like that. 50kg? Probably as long as the wind stays calm and no-one tries to lean on it.

Add to that how flimsy that ring looks, sagging like that at the sides where it is unsupported. It really does look like pressed sheet metal rather than extrusion or machined part. You can see the structure well at 0:36. Even the teething is visible on the inside of the ring. The black colour could be some sort of coating, and there are visible remains of other likely non-metal materials. How it would have looked like in an intact assembly is anybody's guess with what I have here.

Anyway, I am certain that there is an engineer or three out there somewhere, who could tell at a glance what exactly that part is called, what is its inventory code, and what it is for. I am equally certain their bosses will not be keen on letting anyone outside their company know any of that.

[darthgently]

2 hours ago, monophonic said:

It isn't really about how much weight can angle iron hold. It could even resist pushing down into soft soil, if it hits a rock, or a root, or has any semblance of a foundation beneath the undergrowth. There is another angle iron visible at 0:52 in the BBC video. Could have been brought by the investigators, or could be a remnant from some old construction, like a fence. Latter case a foundation would be likely.

See how lopsided that propping is? The support point is full one third to one side of the diameter. Round things like that are very difficult to get balanced even when you have perfect placement.  Any deviation from absolute perfection and the ring will pivot to the side. Granted having the low side dig into the soil does help, but I'm still doubtful it could keep a half ton ring in place like that. 50kg? Probably as long as the wind stays calm and no-one tries to lean on it.

Add to that how flimsy that ring looks, sagging like that at the sides where it is unsupported. It really does look like pressed sheet metal rather than extrusion or machined part. You can see the structure well at 0:36. Even the teething is visible on the inside of the ring. The black colour could be some sort of coating, and there are visible remains of other likely non-metal materials. How it would have looked like in an intact assembly is anybody's guess with what I have here.

Anyway, I am certain that there is an engineer or three out there somewhere, who could tell at a glance what exactly that part is called, what is its inventory code, and what it is for. I am equally certain their bosses will not be keen on letting anyone outside their company know any of that.

Great observations.  Especially the last.  I wonder if something like a stamped sheet layer over a more substantial part that it separated from.

They are really off on the mass if it is stamped sheet; ok, lying, not just off.