SpaceX completes research on exploded rocket and holds new launch on January 8
SpaceX, the space company of Elon Musk, has completed the investigation into the September 1 rocket exploded. The explosion likely came from an internal crack in one of the fuel tanks. The company wants to organize the next rocket launch on January 8.
SpaceX states that one of the second stage liquid oxygen tanks was defective. The liquid oxygen in the tank is likely to have formed a seam on the liners of the inner tanks filled with cold helium. The low temperature of the helium caused the oxygen to crystallize and these crystals rubbed against the carbon outer layer of the helium tanks. The friction caused the carbon to ignite and the high pressure in the tank and the oxygen present immediately fueled the fire.
After this, the entire rocket exploded, including the satellite attached to it. SpaceX says it is making design changes to prevent a recurrence. The company states this in an extensive technical update. Less than a month after the incident, the company already expressed the suspicion that the problem was there. The research was conducted in collaboration with NASA and the United States Air Force, among others.
Now that the investigation into the explosion has been completed, SpaceX will resume its rocket launches. On January 8, the company plans to launch ten small communications satellites from the company Iridium Communications into orbit. That mission was initially scheduled for mid-December, but was postponed pending the results of the investigation. Now that that’s done, SpaceX is getting clearance from the Federal Aviation Authority to resume work.
With its activities, SpaceX tries to make space travel cheaper and more reliable. Elon Musk has said in the past that he would like to see the possibility of establishing a human colony on Mars in the long term. The SpaceX chief executive, who is also the head of Tesla, said in 2013 that he “would like to die on Mars, but not while landing.”
The immediate aftermath of the explosion on September 1, 2016