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Elon Musk: Faulty Strut May Have Led To Falcon 9 Launch Failure

Posted by samzenpus on from the finding-the-cause dept.

garyisabusyguy writes: This Forbes article provides the best analysis of the loss of the last Falcon 9 mission based on information released by Elon Musk to reporters. Highlights include:
  • 1. Sound triangulation led them to identify a strut holding helium tank as root cause where the falling helium tank pinched a line causing overpressure in the LOX tank.
  • 2. The failure occurred at 2,000 pounds of force, and the struts were rated at 10,000 pounds of force. They initially dismissed this as a cause until sounds triangulation pointed back to the strut
  • 3. Further testing of struts in stock found one that failed at 2,000 pounds of force, with further analysis identifying poor grain structure in the metal, which caused weakness
  • 4. It will be months before the next launch while SpaceX goes over procurement and QA processes all struts and bolts, and re-assesses any "near misses" with Air Force and NASA
  • 5. Next launch will include failure mode software, which will allow recovery of the Dragon module during loss of the launch vehicle since they determined that it could have saved the Dragon module in this lost mission

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5 of 220 comments (clear)

  1. Holy Jebus by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now THAT is how you summarize.

    1. Re:Holy Jebus by FatdogHaiku · · Score: 2, Funny

      Please, please tell me it was 3D printed so we can work that in somewhere...

      --
      You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
  2. That was easy by durrr · · Score: 5, Funny

    So after weeks of investigation it turns out it's a failure mode that even the most amateur of KSP players recognize.

  3. When in doubt, add more struts by Sowelu · · Score: 5, Funny

    They should have added a lot more of them, clearly. It's not like struts have any mass.

  4. Re:Interesting way to sabotage SpaceX by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 2, Funny

    Similar business practices have been used in the past. Rockefeller is a well-known example: He was an obsessive monopolist, unable to stomach the existence of any competitor to his Standard Oil empire. Among the tricks he used was to buy up manufacturers of components used in oil drilling and refining, and then refuse to sell replacements to competitors - driving them out of business when their expensive industrial machines eventually broke down and couldn't be repaired.

    Sounds like the invisible hand of the free market in action.

    --
    The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.