Topic: Falcon 1 launch?

[NJAntman]

Anybody got it live? Saw the lift off and reverse angle from the rocket and then lost the stream. Updates anyone?

[kmelew]

MISSION UPDATE
SpaceX Reports Falcon 1 Rocket Lost
For 5:45 p.m. EST Friday, March 24


After years of development and no less than three scrubbed attempts, a solitary rocket Falcon 1 rocket roared toward space Friday only to be lost just after liftoff, its SpaceX builders said.

The private launch firm Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) launched the two-stage Falcon 1 rocket at 5:30 p.m. EST (2230 GMT) in a space shot staged from the U.S. military's Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Test Site at the Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean's Marshall Islands. But seconds after ignition, the video from the rocket showed a rolling motion and the feed was lost.

"I did have word that we did lose the vehicle," said Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX vice president of business development. "Clearly this is a setback, but we're in this for the long haul."

The rocket was expected to deploy the FalconSat-2 satellite built by cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

The $800,000 spacecraft was designed to study the effect of space plasma on navigation and communications satellites. The U.S. Air Force and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency are funding the planned spaceflight.

The ill-fated launch marked SpaceX's fourth attempts to loft the first Falcon 1 after glitches prevented three earlier efforts.

FalconSat-2 was a cube-shaped spacecraft that measures 12.5 inches (32 centimeters) per side and weighs about 43 pounds (19.5 kilograms). The Falcon 1 rocket is expected to deliver FalconSat-2 into an orbit about 279 miles (450 kilometers) above Earth.

The rocket's launch was delayed from a planned 4:00 p.m. EST (2100 GMT) launch due to the errant position of SpaceX's first stage booster retrieval ship, which was inside the launch's hazard area. The ship's placement was due to a misunderstanding between SpaceX officials and launch range managers, SpaceX said.

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[NJAntman]

Well, that explains the loss of picture. Still, it was a neat lauch. I liked bit when the portable tent got blown of the ground with all the ground debris.

[Tus-XC]

The guy in my squad who worked on the Falcon Sat 2 is definatly depressed at the moment (either that or really pissed off).  The real bad part is i jokingly predicted that this would happen yesterday guess i must have jinxed it...

[Just plain old Punisher]

Rockets are pretty much full of high explosives. It's a wonder they don't blow up more often.

[Nemesis]

Link to full article

A fuel leak and subsequent fire led to the destruction of Space Exploration Technologies’ (SpaceX) first Falcon 1 rocket seconds after liftoff, the private launch services firm said Saturday.

Now the questions are:
What caused the leak?
Could it have been avoided?
Can it be avoided in the future?
What other potential defects still exist?

Of course all that is why they are starting with the Falcon 1 rather than the Falcon 9.

[Tus-XC]

well here is an update on falconsat 2.  Somehow it survived a termal velocity impact (though its not longer operational but it is structural intacted).  And get this, it landed back in a storage shed right next to the shipping container that got it out there... go figure lol. 

[J. Carney]

well here is an update on falconsat 2.  Somehow it survived a termal velocity impact (though its not longer operational but it is structural intacted).  And get this, it landed back in a storage shed right next to the shipping container that got it out there... go figure lol. 

LOL... God does have a sense of humor sometimes, don't He, Tus?

Here's hoping that you and your mates get that bird back to working and loft it soon.

[Tus-XC]

nah, i'm not doing small sats, i'll be building a rocket .  However falconsat 2 is pretty much trashed (electronics speaking) so they are going to put it on display in our astronautical musuem

[Nemesis]

Link to full article

A fuel leak and subsequent fire led to the destruction of Space Exploration Technologies’ (SpaceX) first Falcon 1 rocket seconds after liftoff, the private launch services firm said Saturday.

Now the questions are:
What caused the leak?
Could it have been avoided?
Can it be avoided in the future?
What other potential defects still exist?

Of course all that is why they are starting with the Falcon 1 rather than the Falcon 9.

The answers to the questions seem to be coming out.

Link to the full article

Sources familiar with the investigation said the pad technician had been working on the rocket’s avionics the night before launch and failed to tighten a tiny fuel pipe fitting that had been loosened in order to perform the avionics work.

What caused the explosion?
     Error by a technician not tightening a connection.
Could it have been avoided?
     Yes.
Can it be avoided in the future?
     Yes.
What other potential defects still exist?
     Unknown.

[Nemesis]

Final results of investigation - defective nut.

Link to full article

“The board determined that the only plausible cause of the fire was the failure of an  aluminum B-nut on the fuel pump inlet pressure transducer due to inter-granular corrosion  cracking,” the DARPA release states. “This caused [Refined Petroleum-1] fuel to leak onto the engine and down the outside of the thrust chamber.  Once the engine ignited, the leaking fuel caught fire.  The fire, over time, resulted in a loss of pneumatic pressure, causing the RP-1 and liquid oxygen pre-valves to close, terminating engine thrust 34 seconds after ignition.”

Musk said an inspection conducted the day before the launch found that the nut was still intact and holding its pipe fitting securely in place. Rocket parts recovered after the accident show that nut’s lock wire was still attached, an indication that technicians working on the rocket the day before had properly tightened the pipe fitting before closing up.

Why the nut cracked is still a bit of a mystery.  Musk said the “prevailing thought” among investigators, which included a mix of government and SpaceX personnel, is that the heat and humidity on Omelek Island was a factor. Though the nut was anodized to guard against corrosion, Musk said, it may have been scratched at some point, compromising its protection against the elements. “We had a series of countdowns [during which] the rocket was exposed for quite a bit of time,” Musk said. “And the vehicle hangar for about three months was not climate controlled.”

Another possible contributing factor, Musk said, is that there was an adverse reaction—so-called galvanic corrosion—between the aluminum nut and the pipe fitting itself, which was made of stainless steel.