Updates SpaceX Falcon 9 F5 CRS SpX-2 through CRS SpX-12 Updates

[Alfastar]

Was it just right before MECO?

Nope, more after Max-Q but not right before MECO. The smoke/vent of it looks happening on the upper parts of the Falcon-9 but of it is the second stage or the first stage (or maybe even the Dragon self) isn't very clear to see. In my eyes, it looked more like a structure failure what did leaking fuel much in seconds, what leading to a explosion.

It did look so far on a nominal flight, nothing really odd happened besides maybe a burning spot on the first stage around Max-Q on the first stage, but the explosion did happened around the upper parts, so I don't know of that can be linked.

 

[Thunder Chicken]

And this had to happen on Musk's birthday? Dang it!

He's not blowing out that candle.

 

[MattBaker]

Because YouTube has that x0.25 feature, picturedump!

Everything looking good:

That's...something:

Falcon got a new nose:

Falcon got a new everything:

Looks like it starts in the front, second stage or Dragon but I don't know if that's the location of the FTS.

If you want you can watch the replay on YouTube on x0.25 speed and if you click the picture to pause and unpause you can hit spacebar as often as you want to get nearly every frame.

 

[Thunder Chicken]

Nope, more after Max-Q but not right before MECO. The smoke/vent of it looks happening on the upper parts of the Falcon-9 but of it is the second stage or the first stage (or maybe even the Dragon self) isn't very clear to see. In my eyes, it looked more like a structure failure what did leaking fuel much in seconds, what leading to a explosion.

It did look so far on a nominal flight, nothing really odd happened besides maybe a burning spot on the first stage around Max-Q on the first stage, but the explosion did happened around the upper parts, so I don't know of that can be linked.

The fuel tanks for the 2nd stage Merlin were pressurizing, and the video shows the first cloud at the stage interface. I'm thinking either a tank or engine line rupture for the second stage.

 

[MattBaker]

For reference: MECO was supposed to be at +2:37, this was +2:18/19.

 

[BrianJ]

What a birthday present for Elon!
Interesting video - you can see a plume of something erupt from the underside of the Interstage/1st stage area right before it all goes terminal. Also, what looks like the capsule minus trunk falling away at about 3.24 in the vid.

 

[Wolf]

At T 3':23 on the video one piece of the stack detaches and it is clearly visible: could it be the dragon capsule?

 

[Urwumpe]

Looks to me like the second stage was suddenly loosing liquid oxygen.

The first stage engines and the rest of the vehicle remained under control during the whole anomaly until the FTS was triggered. There was no sign it was leaving the nominal trajectory before the cloud fully got out of control.

Possibly a structural failure on a tank dome, since it did not strongly reduce the stability of the stack.

The exhaust plume of the rocket was absolutely normal for the altitude of 41 km and Mach 3.8 before the white cloud appeared. But after the white cloud extended, the exhaust of the first stage engines got reheated (you can suddenly see new flames appearing in a ring) . Which again speaks for a LOX leak.

 

[fsci123]

I saw a small capsule sized object fall off a little after the explosion... What could that be.


I feel bad for NASA how long will it take them to build a replacement docking adapter.

 

[MattBaker]

And on this gif you can see Dragon popping off!

 

[IronRain]

A second after the venting happens you can see an object falling:

The first thing that popped in my mind is that this is Dragon, which fell of the Falcon, which caused it to disintegrate (not that I'm a rocket scientist..)

 

[Urwumpe]

It could be Dragon or another part... but yes, there seems to be a large tumbling object in the cloud, that got separated after the initial anomaly.

 

[Ripley]

And on this gif you can see Dragon popping off!...

Yes exactly.
I was also editing a still from the video. I think it's the Dragon itself.

 

[Frilock]

Some are speculating the docking ring in the trunk came loose. Could it have damaged the LOX tank?

 

[Urwumpe]

The first thing that popped in my mind is that this is Dragon, which fell of the Falcon, which caused it to disintegrate (not that I'm a rocket scientist..)

The initial white cloud happened long before the object must have separated... but its possible that as a result of a LOX tank failure, the upper part of the second stage with the Dragon capsule got separated from the stack.

But that is just guessing: The object could be anything of the rocket except the first stage engines. Also, while the cloud was very likely LOX, there is little to be said about its exact origin.

---------- Post added at 05:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:04 PM ----------

Some are speculating the docking ring in the trunk came loose. Could it have damaged the LOX tank?

Possible. But it would have dropped only a few dozen centimeters at around 5 g acceleration... not that much for causing a massive crash.

 

[DaveS]

The initial white cloud happened long before the object must have separated... but its possible that as a result of a LOX tank failure, the upper part of the second stage with the Dragon capsule got separated from the stack.

But that is just guessing: The object could be anything of the rocket except the first stage engines. Also, while the cloud was very likely LOX, there is little to be said about its exact origin.

---------- Post added at 05:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:04 PM ----------



Possible. But it would have dropped only a few dozen centimeters at around 5 g acceleration... not that much for causing a massive crash.

Are you sure about this? F=m*a, you know. A 1.86 kg foam block caused a 0.35 m hole in a shuttle RCC panel. And that was over just a couple of hundreds of a second.

 

[Urwumpe]

Just calculated some numbers in Excel to be sure:

Would the IDA have dropped a distance of 1.8 meters at 5g, this would be equal to it dropped from 4.5 meters at normal gravity. With 500 kg mass, quite an impact.

Height (m) | Drop time at 5g | Velocity (m/s) | Time at 1g | Height at 1g (m)
2.3|0.22|10.62|1.08|5.75
2.0|0.20|9.90|1.01|5
1.8|0.19|9.39|0.96|4.5
1.5|0.17|8.58|0.87|3.75
1.0|0.14|7.00|0.71|2.5
0.5|0.10|4.95|0.51|1.25

 

[RGClark]

Looks to me like the second stage was suddenly loosing liquid oxygen.
The first stage engines and the rest of the vehicle remained under control during the whole anomaly until the FTS was triggered. There was no sign it was leaving the nominal trajectory before the cloud fully got out of control.
Possibly a structural failure on a tank dome, since it did not strongly reduce the stability of the stack.
The exhaust plume of the rocket was absolutely normal for the altitude of 41 km and Mach 3.8 before the white cloud appeared. But after the white cloud extended, the exhaust of the first stage engines got reheated (you can suddenly see new flames appearing in a ring) . Which again speaks for a LOX leak.

Maybe right, in which case the 9 engines on the first stage would not be to blame.
But say if it was the second stage engine chilldown prior to its ignition that was the cause. Then you could still make the argument that having that many engines on a rocket needing to operate correctly for success increases the chances for failure.

Live coverage: Falcon 9 disintegrates after launch.

1425 GMT (10:25 a.m. EDT)
FAILURE. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket has disintegrated in the sky over Cape Canaveral!
1423 GMT (10:23 a.m. EDT)
T+plus 2 minutes. Now soaring at an altitude of more than 20 miles, the Falcon 9 rocket's first stage will shut down and jettison in about one minute.
And chilldown of the second stage's vacuum-rated Merlin 1D engine has started in preparation for its ignition.
1422 GMT (10:22 a.m. EDT)
T+plus 1 minute. The Falcon 9 rocket is approaching the speed of sound and the phase of maximum aerodynamic pressure.

http://spaceflightnow.com/2015/06/27/spacex-7-mission-status-center


Bob Clark

 

[Frilock]

Be a bit of irony if it turned out to be the cause. The docking ring meant for future manned craft causes the delay of said craft.

 

[Ripley]

In the Spaceflightnow video, approximately at 3:04

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5Nk3b42NkY#t=195

you can see a bigger and longer object tumbling after the big explosion.