The next Falcon 9 commercial launch, scrubbed from early May, has now been rescheduled to June 11.
The next Falcon 9 commercial launch, scrubbed from early May, has now been rescheduled to June 11.
This new date is a significant slip in the schedule, as they originally announced only a two week delay, and this adds on another two weeks. The original announced reason for the scrub was umbilical connection issues, but a commenter here at Behind The Black says it might have been something more serious, “a helium pressurization bottle burst in the stage.”
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The next Falcon 9 commercial launch, scrubbed from early May, has now been rescheduled to June 11.
This new date is a significant slip in the schedule, as they originally announced only a two week delay, and this adds on another two weeks. The original announced reason for the scrub was umbilical connection issues, but a commenter here at Behind The Black says it might have been something more serious, “a helium pressurization bottle burst in the stage.”
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
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Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2014/05/spacex-targets-june-11-falcon-9-orbcomm/ says it was a Helium leak that needed to be repaired, and suggests it might be similar to issues the Shuttle had with Composite Overwrap Vessels for Helium and Nitrogen storage.
The potential explosion problem faced by the late Shuttle fleet was owing to the Composite Overwrap Vessels on board the orbiters averaging over two decades in age as these venerable ships reached their planned ends-of-service. Old composites tend toward embrittlement as they age. Lots of pressurization/depressurization cycles can contribute to problems too. When SpaceX starts reusing its F9 first stages, they may well have to start watching for problems with inert gas pressure vessels. Right now, however, the parts on each F9 are all spandy-new and shiny. Even the Shuttles, with their elderly bits and pieces, never actually had such a bottle explode.
The explosion of such a pressure vessel would rip the hell out of the rocket and render it scrap. SpaceX is chasing a leak, not an explosion. Helium is the smallest gas molecule and is very good at getting past seals, especially when it’s under extreme pressure. Helium plumbing is tricky to design, construct and debug. SpaceX uses helium pressure in a lot of places other designs use pyro devices, such as for stage separation. This makes their design somewhat more vulnerable to helium leaks. These are minor teething problems at worst.