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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has exploded at Cape Canaveral

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Re: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has exploded at Cape Canaveral

#211

Post by Phlarp »

akiselev wrote: post #202
jsprogrammer wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How often is the self-destruct mechanism tested?

Very often. Air Force range safety guidelines require a million dollar flight termination system and most of that cost is testing and quality control. I don't have an authoritative list of all flight terminations but it happens at least once every few years whenever a rocket fails to follow the set flight path.

I also have to suspect things like isolated, dedicated and redundant comm links with the flight termination system are part of these guidelines. Perhaps even a "dead man's switch" that terminates the flight if this separate communication system loses signal at some point. (Even if this means a costly false positive or two~)

Re: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has exploded at Cape Canaveral

#212

Post by ChuckMcM »

This comes at a uniquely bad time. I was reading about the cash squeeze (http://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-faces-cash-squeeze-at-...) and it struck me that any interruption at SpaceX would put further pressure on what Elon is trying to pull off.

I really hope they can root cause this failure and get the flight schedule back up and running quickly.

Re: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has exploded at Cape Canaveral

#213

Post by scjody »

garyclarke27 wrote: post #207
krschultz wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are actually things to test in the integration between the rocket and satellite. It's not like the satellite is a dump piece of steel sitting on top of the rocket. The payload has its own computer, power systems, and propulsion. The interactions between that and the launching rocket / ground systems matter. Also mating the two is non-trivial, so you can push the static fire back closer to the launch if you are…

Would they do so if human cargo?

Note that a human doesn't "plug in" to the rest of the launch vehicle the way a satellite does.

I imagine they _would_ do these tests with the crew compartment attached and dummy human loads strapped in to the crew seats.

Re: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has exploded at Cape Canaveral

#214

Post by joering2 »

skadamat wrote: post #146
joering2 wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you prove any of this? Knowing how smart and methodological Musk is, I wouldn't be surprised if the rule at the office is actually to leave your desk and go home at 5pm sharp. You are prone to make more mistakes when you tired and overworked and I cannot imagine more important place not to make mistakes, than building a rocket.

It's pretty well documented that people at SpaceX work 80+ hours a week consistently: https://www.quora.com/How-many-hours-a-week-does-a-typical-S... http://spacenews.com/op-ed-3-things-to-know-if-you-want-to-w... https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/25ixxq/is_spacex_wo...

Thank you.

So they are paid overtime for this, is that correct?

Re: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has exploded at Cape Canaveral

#215

Post by gvb »

garyclarke27 wrote: post #207
krschultz wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are actually things to test in the integration between the rocket and satellite. It's not like the satellite is a dump piece of steel sitting on top of the rocket. The payload has its own computer, power systems, and propulsion. The interactions between that and the launching rocket / ground systems matter. Also mating the two is non-trivial, so you can push the static fire back closer to the launch if you are…

Would they do so if human cargo?

That is how Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, Edward H. White II, and Roger B. Chaffee died.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_1

Re: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has exploded at Cape Canaveral

#216

Post by stcredzero »

rattray wrote: post #210
dogma1138 wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Israeli government has approved the deal with China, if they didn't want it to go through they would have blocked it, their MOD has oversight on virtually all exports and international dealings. Israel needed AMOS-6 more than anyone else because communication satellites are important for national security and are used by military and national defense agencies. Even if somehow your crackpot theory had merit delayi…

> Even if somehow your crackpot theory had merit We try to avoid that kind of tone here, regardless of the merits of anyone's comments.

However, the adjective is an accurate measure of the theory's merit.

Re: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has exploded at Cape Canaveral

#217

Post by rory096 »

garyclarke27 wrote: post #207
krschultz wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are actually things to test in the integration between the rocket and satellite. It's not like the satellite is a dump piece of steel sitting on top of the rocket. The payload has its own computer, power systems, and propulsion. The interactions between that and the launching rocket / ground systems matter. Also mating the two is non-trivial, so you can push the static fire back closer to the launch if you are…

Would they do so if human cargo?

Actually they specifically plan to load astronauts before fueling begins. If they're in the capsule the launch escape system (LES)[1] can propel them away from any on-pad disaster; not so if they're still walking across the gantry.

That said, NASA has raised concerns about loading crew pre-fueling as part of the NASA-SpaceX Commercial Crew development contract (CCDev).

[1] Here's a video of the LES test for Dragon 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_FXVjf46T8

Re: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has exploded at Cape Canaveral

#218

Post by stcredzero »

mabbo wrote: post #109
nateberkopec wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know nothing about space - why are they doing tests, where the rocket could possibly explode or fail, with the payload on board?

They do the tests to validate that this rocket won't turn into a cruise missile, headed for the nearest residential area. Not an impossible scenario. Lots of energy stored up in one of those rockets. Just like when we test software, they want to have everything as close to what they would expect on launch day as possible (2 days from now). All the stresses, the structure, etc. That means putting stage 2 and the paylo…

They do the tests to validate that this rocket won't turn into a cruise missile, headed for the nearest residential area. Not an impossible scenario. Lots of energy stored up in one of those rockets

This is a big plot point in the "Twin Spica" series.

Re: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has exploded at Cape Canaveral

#219

Post by reitanqild »

monocasa wrote: post #198

That was my immediate thought too. Israel is known for playing rough when it comes to sovereignty concerns, particularly of a technological nature.

Let me point out in a nicer way what dogma1138 said below:

Why would they want to do it in such a way when they could have stopped it just with formalities.

I know Israel isn't right all the time but there is little reason to believe they are stupid.

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