As I sat down to write this piece I suddenly ran into two dates for the launch
- Tuesday or Wednesday morning. If the mission hadn't launched, you'd know by
the time you read this, but after a bunch of running around, I found a tweet
(or whatever they're called on X) from SpaceX saying that a problem with
ground support equipment has surfaced and liftoff is re-scheduled in a four
hour window starting Wednesday, August 28 at 3:38 AM, with two additional
launch opportunities within the window at 5:23 AM and 7:09 AM (both ET). The original place I found the discrepancy was on
their "Launches" website
but all the news sources still had it Tuesday morning.
While there are a lot of videos around about the mission, I liked this one I stumbled across:
Yeah. CBS News. Probably the first thing I've watched from them in at least 10 years. Maybe 20. Are you familiar with that old saying, "even a blind pig finds an acorn?"
So Boeing ain't the only one with helium leaks?
ReplyDeleteOne wonders if SpaceEx also has DEI?
If SpaceX has any DEI it’s likely because Elon hasn’t caught wind of it yet.
DeleteYet SpaceX goes, "Hey, we have a helium leak. Let's shut down, step back, find the issue, fix the issue, then prep for launch."
DeleteBoeing says, "Eh, it's a helium leak, good enough, launch."
Then again, SpaceX goes, "Gee, major issue, wonder what it is?" Two hours later, "Ah, found it!" Two hours later, "Got a fix, actually got multiple fixes, or we can just remove Part X that we don't need." Two hours later, "Fixed it, redesigned new system to never have that issue again." Two hours later, "Ready for Launch!"
Boeing goes... "Uh, hmmm, what was that?" Two weeks later, "Oh, major issue with Part X!" Two weeks later, "Hmm, dunno how to fix it." Two months later, "We may have a fix." Two months later, "We think the fix will work." Two years later, "Launching. Uh, hmmm... what was that? Didn't we fix that already?"
I've had this fuzzy memory bothering me since I first saw the comment that in early tests of Crew Dragon, they lost one due to an exploding thruster. Finally did some searching and it was back in April of '19. It's possible using Beans' Algorithm that they saw an issue with the way it's always been done and just "got 'er done." Never another problem.
DeleteSpaceNews.com story.
Whatever was wrong with the helium system this time was in the ground systems and was never mentioned again. As I understand it, there's a company that runs a helium distribution system around the whole Cape. Their problem. They said this morning's Polaris Dawn launch was cancelled due to weather in the recovery area.
The gaseous distribution system may have changed, but for many years it was gaseous NITROGEN, not helium. From the current Air Liquide plant on the northwest side of North Courtenay Parkway.
DeleteA bit of searching didn't turn up anything on helium distribution - or nitrogen, for that matter. Just a note that I probably remember it wrong, but I'll try to look some more. It would help if I remembered where I read it - a Space News thing or if someone said it here.
Delete