3 Commando Brigade

Och. What I'm slightly amazed at is that they don't test the rocket prior to loading the cargo on board. Must have to do it a certain amount of time prior to launch so which rules them then loading the payload onboard.


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They do Andy, but they also need to do a brief test-fire with everything attached (about 10 seconds of ignition a day or two before launch). The reason for this is to check that everything has been integrated correctly between the payload and rocket - if some nubbin has skipped a bolt, for instance, they'll detect the abnormal vibrational modes and know something has gone bad before the top falls off at Mach 2.

This is a punch in the gut, but while we don't know the cause yet it's worth pointing out that this explosion happened during fuel loading rather than the actual test firing itself. To my eyes it looked like something outside/on the surface of the vehicle caught fire for some reason, and that then caused the breach that killed the vehicle. A leaky fuel hose is a lot less tricky to fix in future than gubbin #47,318 deep inside an engine having a hairline fracture that gives way.

You'd be surprised on what may seem like a very minor fault, can have disastrous consequences.

One fault investigation report I read was concerning an aircraft crash (fatal) in South America. The aircraft took off in poor visibility. The aircraft banked and kept going, crashing into the ground upside down. 

The initial thoughts were centering around hydraulic failure, control surfaces, wing falling off etc as the likely cause.

The black box said the aircraft flew straight and then flipped upside down almost instantly.

The cause was a wire going into the artificial horizon instrument. It had a 'dry solder joint' causing an intermittent error. As the pilot turned, the instrument wasn't working and he didn't know he was actually turning (because it was foggy/cloudy) by the time he realised, it was too late.

That dry joint cost dozens of lives.

Well sorry to drag this thread up but today is the day that everyone who has been following Space X since they landed the first Falcon 9 has been waiting for they are about to launch a previously used 1st Stage Falcon 9.  The satellite is something like 5,400kg so really close to the max load of the Falcon 9 so the landing attempt is going to be very hairy, additionally there are rumors that today is the first time that they are going to try and salvage the fairings that are covering the satellite as well, so all very exciting.  The start of the window is at 22:37 UTC which is GMT so it is 23:37BST for anyone that is interested and the launch window is open for 2.5 hours.

Dis s**t gon be cray. I'll probably be hanging out on TS through the launch window, if anyone wants to join in.

I was giggling like a kid yesterday, explained it to a couple at work today and you could see they thought it was neat... but that was as far as it went. IT'S A FRIGGEN HELO-ROCKET!

So... SpaceX have come along way from Nicks first post and I'd say I've become a bit of a fan boy, now this here is exciting to see.
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Also, they're gonna use a pair of boats like this with nets strung from the "claws" to catch the fairings

Edit: link didn't attach for some reason? 
https://imgur.com/gallery/MQcEE

So Musk made an interesting tweet or two. “Max thrust at lift-off is 5.1 million pounds or 2300 metric tons. First mission will run at 92%.” So that’s for the Falcon Heavy. Someone then mentioned the Saturn 5 and this was his response.

“Falcon Heavy launching from same @NASA pad as the Saturn V Apollo 11 moon rocket. It was 50% higher thrust with five F-1 engines at 7.5M lb-F. I love that rocket so much.”


That’s just crazy that the Saturn 5 was so powerful and we haven’t come close to beating it.


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Even more amazing when you think it was manufactured before CNC. All welding was done by hand. All machining and fitment - by hand. Have you SEEN the F1 engine. It’s a piece of art. The turbo booster for the fuel pump is more powerful —— than a very powerful thing... let alone the main engine !