SpaceX delayed NASA launch due to red ‘nail polish’ on rocket engines

• SpaceX delayed its next astronaut mission for NASA after engine problems led to the aborted launch of a Falcon 9 rocket.
• The culprit turned out to be a nail polish-like substance that blocked a vent after treatment by a SpaceX vendor.
• If the rocket had not aborted its launch, there could have been an uncontrolled explosion within the engines.
• NASA is now targeting Nov. 14 to launch Crew-1, SpaceX’s first operational flight with astronauts.
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SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket has carried hundreds of satellites and two astronauts into Earth’s orbit over the past two years. But on October 2, with just seconds before takeoff, a flight computer automatically shut everything down. Something was wrong with two of the vehicle’s nine Merlin rocket engines.

The company’s next NASA astronaut mission, its second crewed flight to the space station, would have to wait until the problem was resolved, rather than launching on Halloween as planned.

Workers removed the engines and sent them to SpaceX’s development facility in McGregor, Texas, for inspection. After nearly a month of testing, SpaceX finally found the culprit: A bright red residue had clogged a valve that helps regulate the release of fuel and ignition fluid. That process requires precise timing to avoid an explosion.

The “red nail polish” -like substance was a masking lacquer, according to Hans Koenigsmann, SpaceX vice president of flight reliability. A third-party supplier uses the lacquer to coat sensitive parts of the rocket while applying a corrosion-resistant treatment to other areas, Koenigsmann said.

The lacquer is supposed to be removed after the treatment is finished. SpaceX believes that it entered the small hole in the relief valve, which is about 1/16 of an inch wide, when the supplier cleaned the engines.

“In fact, we were able to show that when we removed that masking lacquer from the vent hole, the engine ran perfectly normal,” Koenigsmann told a news conference on Wednesday.

“The Rockets humble me every day that I work with them,” he added later.

If the interrupt programming had not stopped launch, the engines may have loaded too much fuel into their combustion chambers before starting.

Like a car that fails, this could have resulted in an explosion that would rattle and damage the engines.

Koenigsmann said SpaceX has discussed the problem with the supplier that applied the treatment and removed the lacquer. But he did not reveal the name of the seller.

“I’m pretty sure it won’t happen again,” Koenigsmann said.

SpaceX now plans to launch its next NASA astronauts, a mission called Crew-1, on November 14.

Checking and double checking to avoid ‘dire consequences’

This is not the first time a launch has gone awry due to problems with one of SpaceX’s vendors.

In June 2015, a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a resupply cargo ship heading for the space station exploded after lift-off. Subsequent investigation found that a pressurized helium canister came loose in flight after a deficient component in a steel bar detached.

SpaceX CEO and founder Elon Musk said the rod came from a third-party vendor, although NASA knocked out SpaceX for failing to properly examine the materials.

In the case of the red masking lacquer, Koenigsmann said SpaceX doesn’t want to point the finger.

“This was all contained and safe. But it also acts a bit like a call for us,” he said. “We are fully aware of the dire consequences of a mistake here.”

Koenigsmann said SpaceX has ensured that the rocket engines prepared to transport the Crew-1 astronauts have “clean vents.”

“I think the solutions are relatively easy,” Koenigsmann said. “It’s only twice as long as making sure everything is clean by the time it is put together.”

After a mistake like this, he added, “it improves its process, improves its vigilance and has a better rocket on the launch pad.”