A failed strut caused the SpaceX rocket explosion (opens in new tab)

(theverge.com)

54 pointsbtmills10y ago14 comments

14 comments

12 comments · 4 top-level

themoogle10y ago· 3 in thread

"The SpaceX explosion on June 28th was caused by a failed strut in the rocket's upper stage liquid oxygen tank, SpaceX chief executive officer Elon Musk said today. The strut was one of several hundred used to hold together the helium pressure vessels in the tank......"

Goes from saying Oxygen tank to helium tank... wait what? is the helium tank inside the oxygen tank?

agildehaus10y ago

Yep. Here's a photo from inside the LOX tank during a previous flight:

http://i.szoter.com/741dc2bcf5762a48.jpg

The two arrows point to the struts holding down a helium tank.

Nadya10y ago

It's a liquid oxygen tank with a helium pressure vessel in the liquid oxygen tank. Nowhere does it say helium tank.

seanflyon10y ago

It seems like you are drawing a distinction between "tank" and "pressure vessel", could you explain what the difference is?

1 more reply

modeless10y ago· 3 in thread

Why isn't this on the front page with 24 points in an hour? I know HN cares about this news.

greglindahl10y ago

A reddit thread made the front page instead. Because we all come here to read reddit.

modeless10y ago

To be fair, the reddit thread is much better than any press article including this one. However that doesn't explain why this one didn't rise up since it was posted hours earlier and had plenty of votes. I've seen other The Verge articles fail to reach the front page before. I suspect The Verge links get a pretty severe ranking penalty automatically applied. I don't know why, though.

1 more reply

Symmetry10y ago

All the articles submitted seemed to be falling off the "new" page with 4 or 5 points and seemed to be the only things on "new" getting upvotes.

keithwhor10y ago· 1 in thread

Elon Musk has played KSP. He should've known you can never have enough struts... ;)

Maxious10y ago

The /r/spacex automoderator was set to report KSP references... https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/3dyvta/rspacex_crs7...

mesozoic10y ago· 1 in thread

I'd find it very interesting to know how they diagnose a problem like to such a specific cause this when most of your physical evidence has disintegrated.

agildehaus10y ago

They had 0.893 seconds of data, some of which was from the accelerometers surrounding the LOX tank exterior.

That accelerometer data allowed them to acoustically triangulate the sound of the strut breaking. I think they even know which one.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

14 comments

12 comments · 4 top-level

themoogle10y ago· 3 in thread

Goes from saying Oxygen tank to helium tank... wait what? is the helium tank inside the oxygen tank?

agildehaus10y ago

Yep. Here's a photo from inside the LOX tank during a previous flight:

http://i.szoter.com/741dc2bcf5762a48.jpg

The two arrows point to the struts holding down a helium tank.

Nadya10y ago

It's a liquid oxygen tank with a helium pressure vessel in the liquid oxygen tank. Nowhere does it say helium tank.

seanflyon10y ago

It seems like you are drawing a distinction between "tank" and "pressure vessel", could you explain what the difference is?

1 more reply

modeless10y ago· 3 in thread

Why isn't this on the front page with 24 points in an hour? I know HN cares about this news.

greglindahl10y ago

A reddit thread made the front page instead. Because we all come here to read reddit.

modeless10y ago

1 more reply

Symmetry10y ago

All the articles submitted seemed to be falling off the "new" page with 4 or 5 points and seemed to be the only things on "new" getting upvotes.

keithwhor10y ago· 1 in thread

Elon Musk has played KSP. He should've known you can never have enough struts... ;)

Maxious10y ago

The /r/spacex automoderator was set to report KSP references... https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/3dyvta/rspacex_crs7...

mesozoic10y ago· 1 in thread

I'd find it very interesting to know how they diagnose a problem like to such a specific cause this when most of your physical evidence has disintegrated.

agildehaus10y ago

They had 0.893 seconds of data, some of which was from the accelerometers surrounding the LOX tank exterior.

That accelerometer data allowed them to acoustically triangulate the sound of the strut breaking. I think they even know which one.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse