Booster company Falcon 9 SpaceX, launched June 28, 2015 at 10:21 Eastern Standard Time (17:21 Moscow time) from the launch site at Cape Canaveral, exploded in the third minute after the start . This is the first major failure of private American company headed by Elon Musk.
Falcon 9 rocket explosion occurred after 2 minutes 19 seconds after launch, when the carrier moved to the hypersonic motion. Even after 8 seconds the missile fell apart. Musk as a version of the causes of the incident described the occurrence of excessive pressure in the tank with an oxidizing agent in the second stage of the rocket (its upper stage). The first stage has not yet been separated. The company SpaceX, together with NASA launched an investigation. By the proposed area falling debris was immediately sent to the carrier aircraft, and the discovery of fragments of the rocket NASA offers reporting hotline.
Materials
01:23 May 20, 2015
Falcon 9 rocket was supposed to bring to the International Space Station (ISS) ship Dragon, also created by SpaceX, with more than 1 8 tons of cargo. Besides food, Dragon carried on board the docking station International Docking Adaptor (IDA), and the suit for spacewalk. IDA weighing 526 kilos manufactured by Boeing and was intended to be installed on the ISS for future connections to the manned version of the ship Dragon (Dragon 2 modifications).
The loss of these components can not affect the implementation of the scientific program of the ISS. Also, as an additional load Falcon 9 carrying commissioned by Planet Labs eight satellites Flock 1f (each consisting of three vehicles CubeSat), designed for Earth observation in the optical range.
In a two-stage rocket Falcon two versions – 9 9 v1.0 and v1.1. The second differs from the first advanced design of engines and their location on the lower level. The fuel is kerosene oxidizer – liquid oxygen. Falcon 9 v1.1 is able to bring to geosynchronous transfer orbit 3.4 tons are not as version 1.0, and 4.85 tons of payload.
Version 1.0 is currently not being used. The length of the Falcon 9 v1.1 – 68,4 meters, maximum launch weight – 506 tons. For comparison: the length of the Russian rocket “Proton-M” – 58.2 meters, the starting weight – 705 tons, and it displays the geosynchronous transfer orbit (from the Baikonur Cosmodrome) 6.74 tons. The cost of the Falcon 9 launch is estimated at $ 60 million, “Proton-M” – 30 million more.
Falcon 9 rocket launched from pads at Cape Canaveral in Florida and Vandenberg base in California. SpaceX currently deploys two more pads. Since the first launch of the Falcon 9 v1.1, held on 29 September 2013, the company is testing technology reusable component of the missile. None of the launches are still not allowed to keep the first step.
In the period from June 4, 2010 to March 1, 2013 a rocket Falcon 9 v1.0 started five times, four times – in a completely normal mode. Start October 8, 2012, when the Falcon 9 first sent a truck to the ISS Dragon, found partially successful due to the withdrawal of additional payload – the satellite Orbcomm-G2 – a lower than originally planned, into orbit.
The launch of the Falcon 9
This led to that Orbcomm-G2 descended from orbit and October 12, 2012 burned in the atmosphere. The reason for the failure to SpaceX was named in the 79th second conical fairing in the first stage of the rocket engine. This increased load on the remaining eight stage rocket engine. As noted in SpaceX, Falcon 9 first stage of the launcher is able to perform the task, even with two stops the engine provided increased load on the remaining seven.
The rocket Falcon 9 v1.1 was launched for the first time September 29, 2013. All 10 previous launches have been successful. For comparison: April 7, 2001 to May 16, 2015, “Proton-M” has made 90 starts, 10 of which are non-standard. Statistics Falcon 9, despite the small number of starts, looks better than the “Proton-M”. However, when compared to other media (eg, the European heavy Ariane 5 and medium-sized Russian “Soyuz”), the private US rocket will be the loser.
At present, the ISS is a crew of the 44th expedition to the part of the commander Gennady Padalka and flight engineers Mikhail Kornienko and Scott Kelly. Docking with Dragon they expected June 30, and sending it to Earth with 600 kilograms of cargo – 5th August. Earlier, before the ISS has not reached another truck – Russian “Progress M-27M”, which was launched on April 28, 2015.
Materials
16:45 April 28, 2015
The food and essential components for life support should last until October 2015. After the Dragon to the ISS is expected to leave the transport ship “Progress M-28M”. Its launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on a rocket “Soyuz-U” is scheduled for July 3, 2015 at 7:55:50 Moscow time. This will be the first launch of the Russian truck after the emergency situation that occurred on April 28, 2015.
Also, August 16, 2015 to the ISS for the fifth time in its history due to fly the Japanese truck H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV). Roscosmos proposed NASA retrofit the ship “Progress M-28M”, despite the fact that he has already downloaded and installed on a nosecone. US offers from Russia declined, saying about the astronauts all the necessary security.
So far, delivery of cargo to the ISS are only four types of vehicles: the Russian “Progress”, the Japanese HTV, as well as private American Dragon and Cygnus (the company Orbital Sciences). While Dragon is the only space cargo vehicle today that is able to return cargo to Earth orbit. The contract with SpaceX NASA provides 12 flights to the ISS Dragon (15 – taking into account the extension of the contract until 2017, held in March 2015). This flight to the ISS as part of a commercial program was seventh (eighth – with the test flight to the ISS, the ninth – with the first orbital flight), and last time Falcon 9 Dragon space truck launched April 14, 2015.
The wreckage of the Falcon 9 rocket after an explosion June 28, 2015
The accident in the space industry in recent years have ceased to be a rarity. In the US alone in the last year there were three incidents (including the latter). All – with private rockets and vehicles. So, October 28, 2014 (Moscow time has arrived October 29) at the Baikonur Wallops Island in Virginia after the start was detonated private rocket Antares. She had to send a truck to the ISS Cygnus, which, like a rocket, manufactured by Orbital Sciences.
Materials
13:56 October 30, 2014
After that, 31 October 2015, in the United States in the area of the Mojave Desert during a test flight crashed ship SpaceShipTwo, intended for suborbital tourist flights. The accident resulted in the death of one of the two pilots and the company-developer of Virgin Galactic, owned by Richard Branson, is still trying to eliminate the causes that led to the crash.
Failed rocket launch Antares has led to the launch of the fourth ship Cygnus to the ISS, scheduled for December 2015, will produce a rocket Atlas V (401), rather than Antares. As the head of NASA, Charles Bolden, if SpaceX quickly find and correct the causes of the collapse of the Falcon 9, the credibility of the US space agency to a private company will be maintained. No other choice remains: to rely on the Russian “Progress” and Cygnus and Japanese HTV, the US can not afford.
The fact that the time and agenda for future cargo and manned missions to the ISS will change, confirmed in an interview with TASS First Deputy Director of the Central Research Institute of Mechanical Engineering, cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev. “Unfortunately, the system is constructed in such a way that failure is estimated contingency situation. Only taking into account the fact that this is the second cargo ship, no spacecraft ever to visit the ISS, following cargo ships will be re-established “, – he said.
As noted by NASA, the accident will not affect the agency’s plans to establish a US manned space ships. In particular, Boeing, and SpaceX, developing planes for flights to the ISS. In addition, Elon Musk planned to spend in 2015, the first launch of heavy rocket Falcon Heavy and thus potentially compete with Russian “Proton” and the European Ariane 5. accident occurred, however, it has once again demonstrated that space exploration no one is safe against unforeseen disasters.
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