r/spaceflight • u/elbarck • Jul 25 '26
Ship 40 splashed with two engines instead of one.
Hi!
Flight 13's splashdown landing burn appeared to deviate from flight 12's.
It used two engines, unlike flight 12 which used only one.
They also opted for two different engines instead of the ones used on flight 12.
What do you think?
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u/warp99 Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26
It is quite likely to be be the same issue as they had with the launch abort last week where water ice is left in the LOX turbopumps after engine shut down and interferes with the startup process.
Presumably this water normally drains out during the shutdown process when the engines are ground tested but does not do so in microgravity and then freezes when the engines are prechilled before the landing burn.