Author Topic: FAILED: Taurus XL - OCO - Feb 23/24, 09.  (Read 154338 times)

Offline Jeff Bingham

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Re: FAILED: Taurus XL - OCO - Feb 23/24, 09.
« Reply #260 on: 02/26/2009 03:52 am »
Attached is a picture of a group of my colleagues and myself at OSC's Dulles facility, posing in front of the OCO flight article.
Offering only my own views and experience as a long-time "Space Cadet."

Offline Carl G

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Re: FAILED: Taurus XL - OCO - Feb 23/24, 09.
« Reply #261 on: 02/26/2009 05:24 am »
I hope they allowed you to keep the shoes! :)

Offline Jeff Bingham

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Re: FAILED: Taurus XL - OCO - Feb 23/24, 09.
« Reply #262 on: 02/26/2009 11:28 am »
I hope they allowed you to keep the shoes! :)

Hehe...they are stunningly attractive, aren't they?
Offering only my own views and experience as a long-time "Space Cadet."

Offline eeergo

Re: FAILED: Taurus XL - OCO - Feb 23/24, 09.
« Reply #263 on: 02/26/2009 02:10 pm »
The launch was awesomely stunning in spite of its outcome... see this GIF made by a camera in Santa Barbara. It's amazing to see the panoramic view of the smoke clouds the rocket leaves:

http://www.sbig.com/allsky/VAFB/VAFBCarbonObservatory.gif
-DaviD-

Online Chris Bergin

Re: FAILED: Taurus XL - OCO - Feb 23/24, 09.
« Reply #264 on: 02/26/2009 04:31 pm »
Attached is a picture of a group of my colleagues and myself at OSC's Dulles facility, posing in front of the OCO flight article.

Nice photo! Such a shame that its time in space was really short.
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Offline Lee Jay

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Re: FAILED: Taurus XL - OCO - Feb 23/24, 09.
« Reply #265 on: 02/28/2009 09:53 pm »
As somebody said earlier, still a lot of bones in the herringbone.

I'm just wondering how long it might be before we hear if the pruning of the fault tree is going swiftly or not.

Offline Ronsmytheiii

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Re: FAILED: Taurus XL - OCO - Feb 23/24, 09.
« Reply #266 on: 03/02/2009 06:44 pm »
As somebody said earlier, still a lot of bones in the herringbone.

I'm just wondering how long it might be before we hear if the pruning of the fault tree is going swiftly or not.

Dont know if the timelines are going to be similar, but the previous failure review board determined the cause within about two months, however since this will be a NASA investigation as opposed to an internal OSC review I do not know how long it will take.

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/taurus/t6/011107update.html

Offline WHAP

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Re: FAILED: Taurus XL - OCO - Feb 23/24, 09.
« Reply #267 on: 03/02/2009 06:59 pm »
http://www.space-travel.com/reports/The_Case_Of_The_Fairing_That_Would_Not_999.html

It's always fun to speculate, but it's also dangerous to assume everything you've been told via press release (which originated within ~24 hours of the failure) is correct.  As more data becomes available and is scrutinized, the hypotheses may change, and OSC isn't necessarily going to provide updates until they've made progress - not just when another limb is pruned.
« Last Edit: 03/02/2009 07:01 pm by WHAP »
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Offline TR1

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Re: FAILED: Taurus XL - OCO - Feb 23/24, 09.
« Reply #268 on: 03/02/2009 07:57 pm »

The Space-Travel article is incorrect in at least one statement.  Strictly speaking, the Taurus fairing is separated by ordnance devices, but they are not "shaped ordnance devices".


Online jacqmans

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Re: FAILED: Taurus XL - OCO - Feb 23/24, 09.
« Reply #269 on: 03/03/2009 08:48 pm »
RELEASE: 09-047

NASA ANNOUNCES MISHAP BOARD MEMBERS FOR OCO INVESTIGATION


WASHINGTON -- NASA has selected the members of the board that will
investigate the unsuccessful launch of the Orbiting Carbon
Observatory, or OCO, on Feb. 24. Rick Obenschain, deputy director at
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., will lead the
mishap investigation board.

The board consists of four other voting members:
-- Jose Caraballo, safety manager at NASA's Langley Research Center in
Hampton, Va.
-- Patricia Jones, acting chief of the Human Systems Integration
Division in the Exploration Technology Directorate at NASA's Ames
Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif.
-- Richard Lynch, Aerospace Systems Engineering, Goddard Space Flight
Center
-- Dave Sollberger, deputy chief engineer of the NASA Launch Services
Program at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The ex officio member is Ruth Jones, Safety and Mission Assurance
manager at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
The ex officio member assures board activity conforms to NASA
procedural requirements.

The board began its investigation March 3. The members will gather
information, analyze the facts, and identify the failure's cause or
causes and contributing factors. The board will make recommendations
for actions to prevent a similar incident.

The OCO satellite failed to reach orbit after its 4:55 a.m. EST
liftoff Feb. 24 from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base.

For information about the OCO failed launch and investigation, visit:



http://www.nasa.gov/oco
Jacques :-)

Offline edkyle99

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Re: FAILED: Taurus XL - OCO - Feb 23/24, 09.
« Reply #270 on: 06/04/2009 08:22 pm »
I've laid eyes on a draft copy of the OSC Mishap Investigation Board's report. After a quite extensive effort involving lab tests and telemetry analysis, the team has reached some conclusions.

It is believed that the fairing separation failure was caused by a failure in the Hot Gas Generator mechanism. The HGG is a pyro-activated device which generates the pressure to actuate pistons which set the fairing in motion. Analysis indicates that mechanical shocks from earlier pyro events which start the fairing jettison process caused the HGG's pyros to malfunction. The two initiators did not do their job of "starting a fire" in the HGG, hence no pressure was built up to drive the pistons.

Recommended corrective actions include changing from a hot-gas system to a cold-gas system. If the HGG is retained, it is recommended that the shock environment be reduced somehow, along with modification to the initiators to preclude the potential for shock damage. There are other recommendations, but those are the key ones.

No word yet on what solution will be chosen, nor how this will impact preparations for the T9/Glory mission.

Thank you for the update, Mr. Rat, errr, Pad!  A question, hasn't this fairing separation mechanism flown on Taurus XL before?   

 - Ed Kyle

Offline Ben the Space Brit

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Re: FAILED: Taurus XL - OCO - Feb 23/24, 09.
« Reply #271 on: 06/05/2009 10:08 am »
It is believed that the fairing separation failure was caused by a failure in the Hot Gas Generator mechanism. The HGG is a pyro-activated device which generates the pressure to actuate pistons which set the fairing in motion. Analysis indicates that mechanical shocks from earlier pyro events which start the fairing jettison process caused the HGG's pyros to malfunction. The two initiators did not do their job of "starting a fire" in the HGG, hence no pressure was built up to drive the pistons.

Recommended corrective actions include changing from a hot-gas system to a cold-gas system.

(snip)

Interesting draft conclusions.

I'd guess that the lesson here is 'KISS'.  Every component in the chain that has to do something in order to get to the desired result is a potential failure point in the chain.
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Online jacqmans

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Re: FAILED: Taurus XL - OCO - Feb 23/24, 09.
« Reply #272 on: 07/17/2009 03:10 pm »
RELEASE: 09-163

NASA RELEASES ORBITING CARBON OBSERVATORY ACCIDENT SUMMARY

WASHINGTON -- A NASA panel that investigated the unsuccessful Feb. 24
launch of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO, has completed its
report.

NASA's OCO satellite to study atmospheric carbon dioxide launched
aboard a Taurus XL rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in
California on Feb. 24 at 4:55 a.m. EST, but it failed to reach orbit.


The Mishap Investigation Board led by Rick Obenschain, deputy director
at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., verified
that the Taurus launch vehicle fairing failed to separate upon
command. The fairing is a clamshell structure that encapsulates the
satellite as it travels through the atmosphere. The failure to shed
the fairing mass prevented the satellite from reaching its planned
orbit and resulted in its destruction.

The board identified four potential causes that could have resulted in
the fairing not separating:
*  A failure of the frangible joint subsystem. A frangible joint is an
explosive device that provides instantaneous separation of flight
vehicle structures while maintaining confinement of explosive debris.

*  A failure in the electrical subsystem that prevented sufficient
electrical current to initiate the required ordnance devices.
*  A failure in the pneumatic system, which supplies pressure to
thrusters which separate the fairing.
*  A cord snagged on a frangible joint side rail nut plate.

The panel also provided recommendations to prevent any future problems
associated with the four hardware components that could have caused
the OCO accident.

The six-member board began its investigation in early March. The panel
conducted hardware testing; performed and reviewed engineering
analysis and simulation data; reviewed telemetry data; collected and
secured more than 2,000 documents; and conducted 78 interviews of
critical personnel associated with the mission.

The official report of the board contains information restricted by
U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations and company sensitive
proprietary information. As a result, the board has prepared a
summary of its report, which provides an overview of publicly
releasable findings and recommendations regarding the OCO mission
failure. The summary is available at:



http://www.nasa.gov/oco

Jacques :-)

Offline marsavian

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Offline Gene DiGennaro

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Re: FAILED: Taurus XL - OCO - Feb 23/24, 09.
« Reply #276 on: 11/20/2012 01:45 pm »
Metallographic failure analysis is my line of work!

Offline Comga

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What kind of wastrels would dump a perfectly good booster in the ocean after just one use?

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Offline kevin-rf

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Re: FAILED: Taurus XL - OCO - Feb 23/24, 09.
« Reply #279 on: 11/20/2012 05:30 pm »
So does slumping in the super zip tube mean that the explosive (I assume some sort of Det Cord) does not go all the way to the top of tube and prevents the top of the channel from being separated? IE an angry alligator with the top of the fairing being held closed because it did not get unzipped?
« Last Edit: 11/20/2012 05:31 pm by kevin-rf »
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