Science, Engineering, & Technology in the News

The Berean

The Berean

Well-known member
The SpaceX Falcon 9 explosion was crazy! Various articles have stated that it's possible that the saellite on board could have been the cause. As someone who has built and designed geosynchronous satellites for 14 years I can say that that is extemely unlikely.
 
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rocketman

rocketman

Resident Rocket Surgeon
Hall of Fame
ok doser said:
why would they have the payload on board for a test fire?
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Test like you fly I would assume, our company does not fire our engines after initial testing on the test stand, we do however do what we call a "wet dress rehearsal" which is a complete fueling of both commodities kerosene & liquid oxygen or liquid hydrogen & liquid oxygen both of which are cryogenic, this done more for cryo shocking of the plumbing and opportunity to find leaks or other problems but, we do this before the bird (spacecraft) is attached. I am really not sure what their rationale is for test firing with a payload attached other than it is a big time saver.
 
rocketman

rocketman

Resident Rocket Surgeon
Hall of Fame
The Berean said:
The SpaceX Falcon 9 explosion was crazy! Various articles have stated that it's possible that the saellite on board could have been the cause. As someone who has built and designed geosynchronous satellites for 14 years I can say that that is extemely unlikely.
Click to expand...


I would wholeheartedly agree, those are the opinions of people outside of the business looking in, certainly not from anyone that has any experience with space launch or satellites.
 
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