SpaceX is replacing two engines on the rocket that will launch the company’s next crew mission, which will take off on November 14th.
The move follows an investigation into the distorted behavior of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that crashed into the U.S. For Space Force. The GPS satellite was supposed to launch on the 2nd. When the sensors were taken, it was automatically implied with only two seconds left on the lift the f countdown clock. Up-trivial reading up.
The next astronaut launch, which will take SpaceX’s Crew-1 mission to the International Space Station for NASA, will also employ the Falcon 9. So the target liftoff date of NASA and SpaceX Crew-1, which was pushed to KT31, pushed back. Give time for investigation and make sure that the same problem will not affect the astronaut launch.
Related: See the evolution of SpaceX’s rocket in the pictures
Oct. Two of the nine Merlin engines in the first phase of the Falcon 9 found the issue in the 2’s abortion investigation. Hans Koenigsman, vice president of build and flight reliability at SpaceX, said the two Merlins retained the remnants of a “masking lacquer” designed to protect sensitive parts during anti-corrosion anodizing treatment.
The treating vendor did not manage to remove all the lacquer afterwards, and some of them blocked the 0.06-inch wide (1.6 mm) vent holes for the valves in the two Merlins that were to power the two. Falcon 9 to the sky on October 2, Koenigsman said.
After analyzing a wide range of Merlin data, SpaceX found signs of the same issue with two of the engines in the first phase of the Crew-1 Falcon 9, as well as a Merlin in the first phase of the booster scheduled to lift the Sentinel-6. Michael Freelich Earth-Observation Satellite for NASA and some of its partners on November 10th.
So SpaceX is now replacing the affected Merlin for people known to be free of masking-lacquer residues, Koenigsman said.
The investigation and troubleshooting process, which SpaceX carried out with the help of NASA and the space force, “led to a really good review and a really good inconsistency resolution, which, in my opinion, leads to a better vehicle and a better engine,” Koenigsman said.
SpaceX’s security systems worked properly on Oct. 2, taking into account time anomalies and postponing launches, he said. And a liftoff that day can’t be devastating, Koenigsman added; The Falcon 9 may have experienced a “hard start” due to incorrectly inserting various liquids – igniter fluid, liquid oxygen and kerosene – into the affected engines.
“It doesn’t have to be bad,” he said of the tough start. “In most cases, it spreads to the engine, and it does little damage to the engine. In extreme cases, it does more damage to the engine.”
In the photo: SpaceX’s historic historic Demo-2 test flight with astronauts
Is still on track
The Falcon 9 Crew-1 should be ready in time for the scheduled time of the 14th, NASA officials said during a news conference on Wednesday, although they insisted the mission would start when ready and not be hampered by arbitrary timelines.
And NASA wants to see another Falcon 9 fly before launching the astronaut – specifically, the one that uses GPS. Oft kto the satellite. Was to move forward on the 2nd (and also got two Merlin swaps), Steve Stitch said. Manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The GPS launch, starting at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Base, is currently not targeted for more than November 4, according to Spaceflight Now.
The process of the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, which will carry four Crew-1 astronauts – NASA’s Shannon Waker, Victor Glover and Michael Hopkins, and Japan’s Sochi Noguchin – to the space station for a month-long stay, Stitch said.
If all goes according to plan, NASA and SpaceX will review flight readiness for Crew-1 on Friday (Oct. 30) and begin loading propellant into Crew Dragon this week, which its passengers called “Resilience.”
Stitch added that the four astronauts are currently in a “soft quarantine” at their home and will enter a more stringent quarantine on Halloween. The quartet will travel to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on November 6, if everything goes according to plan.
Crew-1 SpaceX will be the International Space Station’s second astronaut mission for NASA. On May 30, Elon Musk’s company launched Demo-2, a test flight that took NASA astronauts Bob Behankan and Doug Hurley to the space station for a two-month stay. A review of the Demo-2 data has been completed, clearing the way for Crew-1, Stitch said.
SpaceX has a 2. 6.2 billion contract with NASA for at least six operational mission flights, the first of which will come from Crew-1, the station and from there. Boeing has signed a similar deal worth ૨ 2.6 billion, which it will complete using a capsule called CST-100 Starliner. However, Starliner is not ready to take astronauts; After failing to meet the orbiting lab as planned during its first attempt in December 2019, the capsule must still reflend a sausage test flight toward the station.
Mike is the author of “Wall”Out there“(Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Carl Tate), a book about the quest for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeldVall. Follow us on Twitter @speedotcom or Facebook.
