Spacex tests vehicle repairs after successive failure

The founder of Spacex Elusk also wants to fly Starship to Mars, which will also require mastery of refueling in space. NASA may also rely soon on the spacecraft and other huge commercial missiles to launch astronauts from Earth. The Trump administration suggested canceling the NASA space launch missile after two other flights in favor of low -cost commercial options.

Before any of this is possible, SpaceX must prove that it may overcome the setbacks it faced on the previous two test journeys. Both trips failed approximately – about eight minutes after take off – at the end of the ship’s launch. Spacex investigators, who work under the supervision of the Federal Aviation Administration, have identified the stars test flight in January after January after motivation leaks led to fires in the missile cabin or attic. This led to the early closure of missile engines and the final separation.

The engineers concluded that the leaks were likely due to the vibrations while climbing the ship into space. The vibrations were in resonance with the natural frequency of the car, which increased the shake that exceeded the levels that Spacex predicted. On the next test trip on March 6, SpaceX made changes to the ship’s feeding lines that direct fuel to Raptor engines, made adjustments to the temperature of the motivation, and engines fled to a new strangulation environment.

But this did not solve the problem. Again, Starship engines were cut very early, and the missile separated before falling on the floor. Spacex said that “an active event” at the back of the hypothermia led to the loss of many Raptor engines, followed by the loss of control of the situation and the loss of communications with the ship.

The similarities between the two failures indicate a possible design problem with the “Block 2” version that was promoted from Starship, which first appeared in January and went again in March. Starship Block 2 is slightly longer than the SPACEX used on the first six trips in the missile, with re -designated panels, improved batteries and airlines, especially the new Fuel Fuel Line system for RAPTOR.

Spacex did not issue the results of the investigation of flight 8, and FAA has not yet released a flight license for 9. Likewise, SpaceX did not issue any information about the changes he made next week.

What we know about the vehicle vehicle on flight 9-ships 35-is that it took a few attempts to complete a full-time test. Spacex completed a steady motor fire on April 30, simulating RAPTOR Restart in space. Then, on May 1, SpaceX aborted a six -wheel test before reaching the 60 -second planned period. The videos taken by the media that monitored the test showed a flash in the engine column, and at least one piece of debris was seen from the flame trench at the bottom of the ship.

Spacex Ground SHIP 35 has returned to the production site a few miles away, perhaps to replace a damaged engine, before returning to Starling Starship to the test position during the weekend to launch a successful engine on Monday.

Now, the ship will return to Starbase Build, where the technicians will make the final preparations for the 9th trip. These final tasks may include BroadLink Mock in the Gulf load bay in the ship and touch to the missile heat shield.

These are two of the spacecraft that SpaceX engineers yearn for pretending on flight 9, as well as repairing problems from the last two tasks. These failures were prevented from chaos from the satellite deployment test and the developed heat shield designed to better with incendiary temperatures up to 2,600 degrees Fahrenheit (1430 ° C) while re -entering.

This story was originally appeared on Art Technica.