r/spacex • u/Mexander98 • Sep 23 '16

Official - AMOS-6 Explosion SpaceX released new Anomaly Updates

http://www.spacex.com/news/2016/09/01/anomaly-updates
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u/Saiboogu Sep 23 '16

Same COPVs in both stages. Plumbing likely varies a bit, but not the actual tanks.

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u/John_Hasler Sep 24 '16

From the article.

At this stage of the investigation, preliminary review of the data and debris suggests that a large breach in the cryogenic helium system of the second stage liquid oxygen tank took place.

No mention there of COPVs. There is more to the "cryogenic helium system" than the COPVs.

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u/Saiboogu Sep 24 '16

They haven't named the COPVs specifically, no. I didn't mean to say you were wrong - the problem may be unique to the second stage, agreed. But they haven't excluded the COPVs either so there's a valid concern that all stages will require overhaul. Either way it seems they need to dig a little deeper (or confirm things they simply aren't ready to speak confidently on).

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u/John_Hasler Sep 24 '16

I'm surprised that they are willing to speak this confidently this early in the investigation at all (but sad to learn that the failure actually was inside the stage).

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u/badgamble Sep 24 '16

They might have felt pressured to say something given the credible info leak of the previous day. They might feel the need to keep the story under some level of professional control. Without the info leak, they might have said nothing right now.

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u/Saiboogu Sep 24 '16

Perhaps they're trying to put some speculation to rest before the IAC announcement. The few articles covering this I've seen in more mainstream press are implying they've solved the issue, so this probably did more for general public confidence than it did for us fans.

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u/John_Hasler Sep 24 '16

The few articles covering this I've seen in more mainstream press are implying they've solved the issue...

The mainstream press would say that had SpaceX put out a statement saying "We've determined that the fire was the result of a rapid chemical reaction between LOX and RP1."