NASA attempts to geld SpaceX? Ironic indeed.

[Sylvaforever]

"The newspaper says the report has found a "pattern of problems" with the turbine blades within the turbopumps, which deliver rocket fuel into the combustion chamber of the Merlin rocket engine. Some of the components used in the turbopumps are prone to cracks, the government investigators say, and may require a redesign before NASA allows the Falcon 9 booster to be used for crewed flights. NASA has been briefed on the report's findings, and the agency's acting administrator, Robert Lightfoot, told the newspaper that he thinks “we know how to fix them.”

A spokesman for SpaceX, John Taylor, said the company already has a plan in place to fix the potential cracking issue. "We have qualified our engines to be robust to turbine wheel cracks," Taylor said. "However, we are modifying the design to avoid them altogether. This will be part of the final design iteration on Falcon 9." This final variant of the Falcon 9 booster, named Block 5, is being designed for optimal safety and easier return for potential reuse. According to company founder Elon Musk, it could fly by the end of this year."


https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/02/report-con...

http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/rockets/a250...

[Einion Yrth]

Or they could keep paying the Russians. Crewed Dragon will fly, even if it's on Musk's dollar.

[Beati Dogu]

They should be more worried about their SLS rocket. I can't see trump putting up with that massive boondoggle for long.

[Eric Mc]

I think the thread title is unfair. Rockets that have top carry people have to be "man rated" so it's only right that NASA insists that known weak points be rectified.

[CrutyRammers]

Yeah, seemed pretty normal to me.

[Simpo Two]

Beati Dogu said:

They should be more worried about their SLS rocket. I can't see trump putting up with that massive boondoggle for long.

Being something of a nationalist, has he made any mention of manned flights to the Moon or Mars yet?

[Beati Dogu]

I don't think so, but early days yet and he has more relevant and pressing issues to deal with first.

Musk was one of the tech company people that visited Trump just before his inauguration. He'll also be part of the Presidential Advisory Forum, so he'll have his chance to influence government policy through that. Of course they have to virtue signal about Trump's immigration changes, but they are all dependent on taxpayers' money & crony capitalism at the end of the day.

Re: the meeting and Musk's interest in electric cars, solar and spreading our problems to other planets, he Tweeted earlier today: "There has already been and there will be progress on this matter".

[Eric Mc]

Trump has been fairly silent on space matters to date. It's obviously something in which he has limited interest.

His mantra, "Making America Great" could be a sign that some grand space project might be initiated but up to now, Trump hasn't explained what he really means by that expression.

[Sylvaforever]

Can anyone tell how many Merlin engines have failed in operational use so far?

I'll just leave this here

https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg18925423-90...

O rings anyone...

NASA has spent/is spending a fortune of taxpayers money fking up.

The Irony is of course SpaceX is a private concern.

[menguin]

Beati Dogu said:

I don't think so, but early days yet and he has more relevant and pressing issues to deal with first.

Musk was one of the tech company people that visited Trump just before his inauguration. He'll also be part of the Presidential Advisory Forum, so he'll have his chance to influence government policy through that. Of course they have to virtue signal about Trump's immigration changes, but they are all dependent on taxpayers' money & crony capitalism at the end of the day.

Re: the meeting and Musk's interest in electric cars, solar and spreading our problems to other planets, he Tweeted earlier today: "There has already been and there will be progress on this matter".

You're not a fan of improving the environment here, or the idea of exploration and space travel then? Or you just don't like Musk?

[Eric Mc]

Sylvaforever said:

Can anyone tell how many Merlin engines have failed in operational use so far?

I'll just leave this here

https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg18925423-90...

O rings anyone...

NASA has spent/is spending a fortune of taxpayers money fking up.

The Irony is of course SpaceX is a private concern.

ALL the rockets NASA has to launch humans have been built by the private industry. NASA builds nothing.

Setting the safety specs for the rockets you want your astronauts to fly on has to be the right thing.

[Sylvaforever]

Eric Mc said:

Sylvaforever said:

Can anyone tell how many Merlin engines have failed in operational use so far?

I'll just leave this here

https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg18925423-90...

O rings anyone...

NASA has spent/is spending a fortune of taxpayers money fking up.

The Irony is of course SpaceX is a private concern.

ALL the rockets NASA has to launch humans have been built by the private industry. NASA builds nothing.

Setting the safety specs for the rockets you want your astronauts to fly on has to be the right thing

Wow look at that great big black hole right there.

[Eric Mc]

In it's 58 year history (101 year history if you include the NACA), NASA has not got 100% right, 100% of the time.

Can you think of a person, business or institution that has?

Just because an organisation has got it wrong at times in the past, does not mean it shouldn't be striving to get things right today.

[greygoose]

Seems NASA has the right view that manned flight needs higher safety standards. As for Trump's point of view, I suppose that depends on the real estate prices on the planet concerned and gambling addiction of the local population.

[MartG]

What concerns me is that this information has been made public in this way - surely it should have been 'commercial in confidence', especially when it could affect SpaceX's commercial launch business ?

One wonders if it was deliberately leaked by a competotor, or one of the many who dislike SpaceX's refusal to play the 'pork barrel' political game which makes any NASA project so expensive

[Beati Dogu]

SpaceX plays the game in Washington too. They officially spend about $2 million a year on lobbying.

http://i.imgur.com/fN0FDST.png

Info from here:

https://soprweb.senate.gov/index.cfm?event=selectF...

[RobDickinson]

Einion Yrth said:

Or they could keep paying the Russians. Crewed Dragon will fly, even if it's on Musk's dollar.

lolz Russia have been using sub standard metals in their rockets for years, just discovered. Least NASA have more oversight on Spacex

[Some Gump]

So is fporum saying it's wrong that the people who have been to the moon and accidentally killed people point out the potentially fatal mistakes of others to avoid fatalities?

Can't see that as bad. It's like criticising Mercades if they told Porsche that getting the aero balance wrong might make em flip on the mulsanne...

[MartG]

Not at all

It is the way it is being reported, as if SpaceX were deliberately using substandard materials and only fixing the issue because NASA have found them out and are forcing them to address the issue.

During its long history NASA has had many failures, but hasn't generally blamed its contractors in such a public way, especially when the issue has never caused an in-flight problem.

Sadly there seems to be a deeply entrenched anti-SpaceX attitude within certain parts of the space industry

[Sylvaforever]

Last time it was publicised they had very many Merlin engines sitting on stands and in storage, that's a big hit $$$$ wise to rework especially considering their operational record.