SpaceX Launch Update

[nacnud]

Perhaps they should rename the merlin the pheonix - but only after the first reused flight <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />

 

[nacnud]

There is a video of the flight from 10s before launch to loss of feed going up on www.nasaspaceflight.com as we speak, though you have to be a member (free to join) to view it. <br /><br />Link: http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=1950&posts=1

 

[tap_sa]

The last frame looks like the vehicle decided to blow up anyway <img src="/images/icons/blush.gif" />

 

[josh_simonson]

Looks like the blanket got caught on the engine somehow. You could see it billowing around and burning.

 

[mikejz]

NasaSpaceFlight has posted the video, the thermal blinket appears not to of detached and was seen flapping around.

 

[nacnud]

It was the blackets seen the vid a NSF!

 

[nacnud]

Note to all: It's spelt b l a n k e t, that is all. <br /><br /><br /><small> I can't belive I had to look thast up!</small>

 

[baktothemoon]

So the rocket did explode. I was hoping that maybe if they aborted they could seperate the first stage and recover it like they normally would so that the mission would not be a total loss. But, the rocket exploded so there goes that theory.

 

[nacnud]

No, the rocket didn't explode, the first stage blanket failed to separate and threw the vehicle off course, it screwed with the aerodynamics. The thrust termination system kicked in and the falcon 1 impacted the sea.<br /><br />Well that’s what I can see from the vid.

 

[tap_sa]

<font color="yellow">"I was hoping that maybe if they aborted they could seperate the first stage and recover it like they normally would so that the mission would not be a total loss."</font><br /><br />With all that unburned propellant still in the tanks it would come down like a rock with or without parachutes, and I doubt they have provisions for emergency propellant jettison.

 

[josh_simonson]

I guess the question is then "did the blanket cause that flameout?" It seemed to be whipping around pretty good, and may have damaged some of the plumbing, or they may have cut thrust when they saw something was wrong. Otherwise something entirely different may have failed while the blanket was flapping relatively harmlessly. That's going to make this a stinker for failure analysis because they can't be sure what exactly happened with the blanket.<br /><br />It looked like it only traveled a few miles before crashing, so it's likely in shallow enough water to find and recover the remains. There's probably some sort of black box.

 

[josh_simonson]

Stage 1 is supposed to be empty and gently dropped into the sea by a parachute. It just did a major bellyflop into the ocean and is undoubtedly destroyed structurally. Some forensics may still be possible though. The blanket might even still be attached.

 

[nolirogari]

Ya' know, for a while now I've read postings on assorted forums with things to say like "Get rid of the shuttle now" "Get rid of NASA because private industry can do it so much better" and other stuff in that same sort of voice. Now, I'm a huge fan of SpaceX and personally cannot wait to see the Falcon 8,9, 10 et. al. fly... but as a historian, I keep flashing back to the Cape in the late 50s and early 60s and every time I read such opinions I say to myself- "Folks- it ain't easy." This is FLIGHT TEST and in rocketry, historically it often starts out with a ball of flame and a very low altitude. I hope beyond hope that the folks at SpaceX start rolling these birds out like model Ts and are willing to take these sorts of faliures as the learning experiences that they really are. I hope they turn a deaf ear to critics and the media and keep at it. And I hope a lot of people out there wake up to the reality that it ain't that easy- for private industry or for NASA. We, as the human race, need both flying. Learn from it SpaceX and roll out the next vehicle- tomorrow.

 

[nacnud]

I agree, what is worring is that they might have to go back and add piros on the vehicles after this.

 

[rybanis]

I'm seriously wondering if they also wore out the engine with all the static fire tests. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[josh_simonson]

If it was only the blanket that malfunctioned, there isn't anything wrong with the vehicle itself. It tripped on the pad hardware on the way up. I'm not sure that would justify changing the rocket's reliability rating past the pad enough to require pyros. This rocket is small after all, falling pieces of other rockets might be bigger after blowing them up.

 

[nacnud]

Form the vid this is what I can see<br /><br />Clean launch - but no blanket seporation<br /><li>Blanket starts coming off T +5 untill T +32<li>Blanket dissapeares T + 33 untill +36<li>Large flame to the right of the vehicle T +36 T +49<li>White smoke from T +50 onwards.<br /><br /><br /><big>What caused the large flame?</big></li></li></li></li>

 

[rybanis]

How about this:<br /><br />During each of these static fires, they used propellant. This would cause the tank to expand/contract depending on how much was used right? Could something have happened with the way the blanket was attached to the booster?<br /><br />Fire, then tank refill, then fire, then tank refill. I really wonder. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[tap_sa]

<font color="yellow">"What caused the large flame?"</font><br /><br />Speculated that on NSF; perhaps it's part of the thrust termination. In order to terminate thrust immediately redirect propellant from turbopumps (it takes a while for them to spin down) overboard (small charges rupture lines before combustion chamber or something) ?

 

[nacnud]

That sounds reasonable.

 

[mikejz]

I never did like the blanket approach, I would of used a styrofoam panels with a thermal-break wire that would be jettisoned right before launch.

 

[nacnud]

You just need to shield it from wind, a pertex sheet would do. Perhaps the styrofoam blocks like the Ariane 4, like you suggest.

 

[tap_sa]

Next time; (try to) pull the blanket off <i>before</i> T-0. And it may require brief heating on the tank hugging side to come off clean. <br /><br />Btw, it may be that the RSO hit the big red button as soon as he/she heard/saw the vehicle going up with that flapping blanket. Clearly it wasn't supposed to fly so and was in violation of specs - /> abort

 

[mikejz]

I'm trying to remember, but I do recall seeing lauch footage were the upperstage had a blinket that was pulled off during launch.

 

[nacnud]

I know protons use blankets.