A test of a new version of the Merlin engine, used by the Falcon 9 launcher, ended in an explosion at the SpaceX facility in Texas. Since this is not the current version of the engine, the failure is not expected to affect future launches of the company
A rocket engine training experiment conducted on Saturday (4.11), at the SpaceX facility in McGregor, Texas, failed and ended with the engine exploding. This was first reported in the Washington Post. The company said that no one was injured in the incident.
Despite the failure, SpaceX said that it does not expect any delays to future launches, because the failed experiment was conducted on a new version of The Merlin type rocket engine, used by the Falcon 9 launcher, and not in its existing and active version.
The new version of the engine should go into operation at the same time as a new version of the Falcon 9 launcher. SpaceX has been using the current version of the Falcon 9 for the past two years, known as Block 4 or Full Thrust, and the company has recently been working on introducing a new and latest version, So according to Founder and CEO of the company, Elon Musk. the new version, Block 5, should feature higher thrust, and additional improvements that will facilitate reuse of the first stage of the launcher, such as Landing legs that are able to fold back. The company did not say whether the failure that occurred on Saturday might cause a delay in the unveiling of the new version of the launcher.
SpaceX announced that it had started an investigation into the failure: "We are now conducting an in-depth and completely transparent investigation into the root of the problem," said a spokesperson for the company to The Verge website. "SpaceX is committed to our existing manifesto and we do not expect this to have an impact on our launch rate."
The company did not provide exact details regarding the nature of the failure, but a source in the company said that it did not occur during engine combustion, but during an activity known as LOX drop, in which liquid oxygen is flowed through the engine in order to locate leaks, so SpaceNews website reported.
While the investigation of the failure will be conducted, the company said that it will stop future tests on the new version of the Merlin engine, but not on tests conducted on Merlin engines from the current version. In addition, the company said that the repair of the damage caused to the rocket engine test stand at the company's facility in Texas is expected to take between two and four weeks. A second and nearby experimental station suffered minor damage that will only take a few days to repair.
This is not the first failure experienced by SpaceX. Last year It exploded A Falcon 9 launcher during the refueling of the launcher before a static test, in a failure that caused the destruction of the Israeli satellite Amos 6. A year before, another Falcon 9 launcher of the company Exploded during launch, and together with it a Dragon spaceship that was supposed to bring supplies to the International Space Station. Although the details of the current failure are not yet clear, it is worth noting that a comparison between it and these previous events is not entirely accurate, because it was an experiment that by its very nature was intended to identify problems and failures, and not an operational activity.
Compared to the previous two years, and despite the current failure (which, as mentioned, should not cause damage to the company's existing launch schedule), 2017 is one of SpaceX's most successful years, at least so far. This year the company performed 16 successful launches of Falcon 9, andcompared with that the record of launches in one year recorded in 2009 by what was considered a launch monopoly in the US until a few years ago, ULA, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin. SpaceX launched this year as well Three used Falcon 9 launchers, a historic achievement in the field of space launches. The company plans to carry out three more launches this year, and May to launch its new launcher in the last days of the year, Heavy falcon, which would consist of three Falcon 9 first stages joined together, with a single upper stage.
See more on the subject on the science website:
7 תגובות
Should be: "landing legs that are able to fold back" (not "that are able")
my father
Maybe instead of being a troll - just search on Google?
And how tall was she?
That is, in all her missions, how long was she in space cumulatively
A question for Elisef. I talked to Avi Blizovsky about how long Peggy Whitson was on the International Space Station and how long she was in space in total, meaning her stay on the station on her last mission
Excellent article.
Let's hope that this failure does not cause a prolonged delay of future missions planned to fly on Block 5.
Easy correction: Block 4 is the name of the fourth version of the Falcon 9 Full Thrust. This version was first fully flown on the CRS-12 mission.
מקור:
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/08/falcon-9-block-4-debut-success-dragon-station-berthing/