2024-07-12 21:16:00
A failure in the second stage of the rocket prompted an investigation
SpaceX won’t be able to launch its amazing rocket again until the FAA authorizes it
Until a few hours ago, the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was more than proud 300 throw successive successes. However, the engineering prodigy there was a problem not only did it rob him of his coveted streak, but also jeopardized the proper deployment of the payload into orbit and could even delay pending future missions.
The launch vehicle lifted off Thursday night (local time) from Vandenberg Space Force Base. While the first stage successfully re-entered the atmosphere and landed on a barge in the Pacific Ocean, the second stage recorded an anomaly that resulted in the Starlink satellites being released at a lower altitude than expected.
Ice around the engine
The second stage has one Merlin Vacuum motor. Although this was run for six minutes, SpaceX live stream showed that there is an unusual amount of ice around. As detected by some observers on social networksas the rocket went deeper into space, chunks of ice broke off.
The Merlin Vacuum engine can be re-ignited multiple times to launch multiple payloads into orbit. During Thursday’s Starlink 9-3 mission it was supposed to power up again to deliver 20 satellites into separate orbits, but this is where things got complicated. According to Elon Muskthe restart of the engines ended in “RUD” for unknown reasons.
THING means “quick unscheduled dismantling”, which is a fancy way of talking about serious failure. The founder and CEO of SpaceX added that the aerospace company’s teams would spend the night analyzing what happened. Furthermore, he explained that it was unlikely that the satellites would be able to reach the intended orbit, even by activating the built-in thrusters.
Renowned astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell he expressed that The Starlink satellites could be launched about 138 kilometers from the Earth’s surface at perigee, about 150 kilometers lower than expected. It is likely that our planet’s gravity will pull on satellites in hours or days and render them unusable, but there is another problem.
Beyond the loss of satellites, which are probably covered by insurance, there is the intervention of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the entity involved in all disasters. responsible for authorizing licenses of each of the SpaceX launches. As reported by CBSthe rockets will remain on Earth until the investigation into the incident is completed.
“The return to flight is based on the FAA’s determination that no system, process or procedure related to the accident affects public safety,” the entity said in a statement. At the same time, they pointed out that the company founded by Musk may have to request a modification of their license regarding the corrective actions of the Falcon 9.
For now, we have to wait and see how this story unfolds. It should be noted that the Falcon 9 plays a central role in America’s access to space. If you stay on Earth too long, the upcoming missions there are delays. For example, the private launch of Polaris Dawn from entrepreneur Jared Isaacman is scheduled for July 31st.
NASA has also scheduled a Falcon 9 mission for August 19. Four astronauts are expected to go to the ISS aboard the Dragon capsule to replace the crew of four astronauts that have been at the orbiting laboratory since March. But more launches are scheduled, SpaceX uses this rocket model every three days.
Images | SpaceX
In Xataka | We have just discovered the nearest black hole to our planet at 18,000 light years. That’s not what makes it interesting
#anomaly #mission #blame