SpaceX pinpoints likely cause of Falcon 9 failure
The investigation into the failure of the Falcon 9 launch June 28 now thinks the cause was a failed strut in the upper stage.
The struts are 2 feet long and about an inch thick at its thickest. SpaceX does not make the struts, a supplier does. From now on, each one will be individually checked, Musk said, and the design and material may be altered for added strength. The struts are designed to handle 10,000 pounds of force at liftoff; at the time of the accident, they would have been seeing only 2,000 pounds of force. A failure at such a low threshold is “pretty crazy,” Musk said. The strut most likely failed at its attachment point, he added.
Another change: Beginning with its next launch, each Dragon cargo carrier will be equipped with software for deploying its parachutes. The Dragon destroyed last month, along with an estimated $110 million worth of NASA equipment and supplies, would have survived if the parachutes normally used for descent at mission’s end could have been activated, Musk said.
The investigation is still not finalized, but is likely close to completion.
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The investigation into the failure of the Falcon 9 launch June 28 now thinks the cause was a failed strut in the upper stage.
The struts are 2 feet long and about an inch thick at its thickest. SpaceX does not make the struts, a supplier does. From now on, each one will be individually checked, Musk said, and the design and material may be altered for added strength. The struts are designed to handle 10,000 pounds of force at liftoff; at the time of the accident, they would have been seeing only 2,000 pounds of force. A failure at such a low threshold is “pretty crazy,” Musk said. The strut most likely failed at its attachment point, he added.
Another change: Beginning with its next launch, each Dragon cargo carrier will be equipped with software for deploying its parachutes. The Dragon destroyed last month, along with an estimated $110 million worth of NASA equipment and supplies, would have survived if the parachutes normally used for descent at mission’s end could have been activated, Musk said.
The investigation is still not finalized, but is likely close to completion.
The support of my readers through the years has given 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. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in this year has the propaganda mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.
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. Even today NASA and Congress refuse to 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.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are five 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:
5. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
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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. And if you buy the books through the ebookit links, I get a larger cut and I get it sooner.
Very happy to hear that a definitive cause has likely been found – at least to the satisfaction of SpaceX. It will be interesting to see if NASA and the Air Force will concur. I’ll be relieved when launches resume.
“The Dragon destroyed last month, along with an estimated $110 million worth of NASA equipment and supplies, would have survived if the parachutes normally used for descent at mission’s end could have been activated, Musk said.”
I knew it!!! Now I’m positive that what I saw on the slo motion video was the Dragon capsule moving away from the rocket still intact. The still picture I grabbed shows it clearly.
http://s6.postimg.org/npbes8obl/screenshot_2015_06_28_at_10_30_56.jpg
Looks like you called it. :-)
It is interesting to note that a new paradigm is possible. It used to be that a payload was lost when a launch rocket failed; if the rocket got a couple of inches off the pad, the payload wasn’t coming back in one piece (except, of course, those designed for reentry and recovery). Although the docking port would have been lost anyway, as it was external to the Dragon capsule, much of the payload inside the Dragon could have survived to go another day.
However, I doubt that large satellites will be launched in safe Dragon cocoons anytime soon. We probably should work on reliability rather than recovery after an accident.
Is anyone else disturbed by the fact that a small amount of equipment cost the US taxpayers $110 Million FREAKING Dollars?
This kind of “featherbedding” will only stop when there is competition for these flights.
Go Mr. Musk!!!
The International Docking Adapter probably cost a pretty penny.
In addition, there were several experiments and radiation-hardened electronics that were lost. Very little that goes to the ISS is off the shelf stuff that you can get at Ace Hardware or WalMart.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_CRS-7#Detailed_payload_manifest