Author Topic: Electron "IT'S BUSINESS TIME" - Lemur sats et al. - November 11, 2018  (Read 93099 times)

Offline Steven Pietrobon

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Here's the Weather Map from the above tweet.

"Forecast poor weather continues tomorrow, so we're going to take it as a rest day to give us wider windows later in the week. Currently targeting no earlier than 12:30 pm (00:30 UTC) Wednesday 27 June for launch. #EverythingIsJustRightOnAWednesday"

Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design #1:  Engineering is done with numbers.  Analysis without numbers is only an opinion.

Offline Steven Pietrobon

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Rocket Lab
‏Verified account @RocketLab
1 hour ago

T-1 day. #ItsBusinessTime
Another stunning snap at Launch Complex 1 from @Kieran__Fanning
Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design #1:  Engineering is done with numbers.  Analysis without numbers is only an opinion.

Online FutureSpaceTourist

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Launch in a few hours still looks on (at least according to one RocketLabs person):

Quote
It's Wednesday. You know what time is it. #ItsBusinessTime

https://twitter.com/lisastoj/status/1011685505832894466

Offline pb2000

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https://twitter.com/RocketLab/status/1011704684887699457
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Electron is vertical on the pad! Winds are high at LC-1, but forecast to ease closer to the window. Today's 4-hour launch window opens at 12:30 pm NZST (00:30 UTC). Livestream at http://www.rocketlabusa.com/live-stream  . Webcast starts approx. 20 mins prior to target T-0.
« Last Edit: 06/26/2018 08:29 pm by pb2000 »
Launches attended: Worldview-4 (Atlas V 401), Iridium NEXT Flight 1 (Falcon 9 FT), PAZ+Starlink (Falcon 9 FT), Arabsat-6A (Falcon Heavy)
Pilgrimaged to: Boca Chica (09/19 & 01/22)

Offline Chris Bergin

Peter Beck

 
@Peter_J_Beck
 3m3 minutes ago
More
T-0 set to 02:10 UTC, weather improving.
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Offline RocketLover0119

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"The Starship has landed"

Offline Steven Pietrobon

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Livestream.

Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design #1:  Engineering is done with numbers.  Analysis without numbers is only an opinion.

Offline Steven Pietrobon

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Here's the photo that Peter Beck posted.
Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design #1:  Engineering is done with numbers.  Analysis without numbers is only an opinion.

Offline ChrisGebhardt

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We should be -- if all is on schedule -- at T-57mins and COUNTING at this point.

Online ZachS09

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We're at T-30 minutes, according to the livestream timer.
Liftoff for St. Jude's! Go Dragon, Go Falcon, Godspeed Inspiration4!

Offline ChrisGebhardt

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SCRUB.


@RocketLab
Following Following @RocketLab
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The team has identified an issue with the motor controller, so we're scrubbing for the day to review data. Stay tuned for updates!

https://twitter.com/RocketLab/status/1011787184200749057
« Last Edit: 06/27/2018 01:45 am by ChrisGebhardt »

Offline ChrisGebhardt

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@Peter_J_Beck
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More Peter Beck Retweeted Rocket Lab
Looks like we did not totally resolve the controller from last attempt. Similar behaviour.

https://twitter.com/Peter_J_Beck/status/1011789360323104768

Offline Steven Pietrobon

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Here's the photo that went with Rocketlab's tweet.
« Last Edit: 06/27/2018 01:58 am by Steven Pietrobon »
Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design #1:  Engineering is done with numbers.  Analysis without numbers is only an opinion.

Offline RocketLover0119

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Judging by the fact we hadn't heard anything so far today, I would assume there will be no launch attempt tonight?
"The Starship has landed"

Offline Kryten

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https://twitter.com/RocketLab/status/1012077664822128640
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No launch attempt today. The team is taking the day to review data from yesterday's motor controller issue.  New target T-0 is being assessed.

Online FutureSpaceTourist

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Hopefully this means quicker than the previous delay:

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Will be back on the pad shortly. #OnlyPerfectIsGoodEnough

https://twitter.com/peter_j_beck/status/1012219566317944832

Offline Olaf

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https://twitter.com/RocketLab/status/1012210728663519233
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The team is standing down from this launch window to take a closer look at the motor controller behavior again. We're still not happy with the data, and as we all know, the only metric that counts in the launch business is 100% mission success.

Offline Chris Bergin

Rocket Lab media release:

It’s Business Time: Launch Update

Huntington Beach, California. June 27, 2018: Rocket Lab is standing down from the It’s Business Time launch window following identification of an issue with motor controller behavior during pre-launch checks on 27 June 2018, NZST.
 

The motor controller behavior was similar to that previously identified during wet dress rehearsal operations in April. This issue was analysed and corrective measures in place, however a similar issue presented during yesterday’s pre-launch operational checks. All systems had previously performed nominally during a wet dress rehearsal on 16 June NZST.  A motor controller is a device that governs commands given to selected hardware and software systems throughout the launch vehicle.

Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck said the team will take additional time to review data before a new launch window will be confirmed.

“Our test program was about making it to orbit and deploying our first customer satellites. Having achieved that and moved into commercial operations, mission assurance is our focus for every customer flying on Electron,” he said. “There’s only one measure that matters in the launch industry and that’s 100 per cent mission success. We’ll take some time to review the data and tweak whatever we need to ahead of a new launch window to make sure we achieve that.”

Rocket Lab will confirm a new launch window once the data review is complete.
« Last Edit: 06/28/2018 01:28 pm by Chris Bergin »
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Offline Steven Pietrobon

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For those wondering what a motor controller is, this article has a good summary. Basically it is a circuit board that has digital electronics like a PIC microcontroller chip and analogue electronics like MOSFET transistors. You send digital signals to the PIC which then controls the MOSFETs which then sends high voltages and currents to your electrical motors. Presumably, the Rocketlab motor controller are the ones for the Rutherford fuel and oxidiser pumps. The motor controller also has the ability to monitor the currents and voltages going to the motor and this is presumably where the anomalous signals are being seen. Hard to say what is going wrong, but since the signals were OK in the first test and not OK in the second test, it could be that something in the test procedure is damaging the electronics.

https://core-electronics.com.au/tutorials/motor-drivers-vs-motor-controllers.html

Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design #1:  Engineering is done with numbers.  Analysis without numbers is only an opinion.

Offline edzieba

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To be extra-super-double-pendantic, at high motor powers the 'motor controller' is split into two parts:
- The 'brains' of the controller that take "I want speed X" and determines what sequence of voltages and currents need to energise which windings at which times in order to achieve that commanded speed without releasing the magic blue smoke.
- Multiple power amplifiers that take the low-level outputs from the controller and actually produce the voltages and currents required using the power supply rails.

Problems can occur in either stage. The power amplifiers can be working perfectly but the motor controller is commanding them to produce the wrong output, or the controller can be commanding the correct output but the power amplifier is unable to achieve it in practice (e.g. commanding too high a current slew rate resulting in voltage transients).

 

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