Spaceflight Now: Investigation into Zuma failure reportedly lays blame on Northrop Grumman
Article from Spaceflightnow.com : https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/04/09/investigation-into-zuma-failure-reportedly-lays-blame-on-northrop-grumman/
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifted off Jan. 7 from Cape Canaveral with the Zuma mission. Credit: SpaceX
Government investigators have exonerated SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket in the loss of a top secret space mission known as Zuma in January, blaming a malfunction in a component modified by Northrop Grumman that connected the launcher with its classified payload, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Citing unnamed sources, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that two teams of government and industry investigators have concluded that a payload adapter — a structure used to attach a satellite to its rocket booster — failed to function correctly after an otherwise successful launch from Cape Canaveral on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Jan. 7.
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This is what happens when you modify a subcontracted part. The part was engineered to be what it was, not engineered to be re-engineered.
I have friends in the Booster building business (Moog, to be specific) and they do not, ever, modify any part without the specific concurrence of the customer.
So what happened to the payload?
Floating somewhere in space ?
or did it come back with the three reusable sections?
or was that the reusable center section that missed the barge ?
Am I confusing Spacex Falcon 9 with Spacex Heavy?
The Zuma payload burned up upon scheduled forced re-entry burn and crashed into the Indian Ocean.
That was 2/3's of the Falcon heavy Falcon 9 boosters after launching the Starman and Tesla payload. They were attempting a single engine higher speed re-entry landing (normally a 3 engine burn) for the center booster, but it ran out of propellant and missed the drone ship hitting the ocean at about 300 MPH. The other 2 boosters landed perfectly at LZ1 and LZ2 at KSC.
I saw the first 2 land simultaneously, live, and couldn't help but make the comparison to how much it reminded me of Flash Gordon 'animations' of similar "landings" from the
imaginations of writers from the 50's
Exactly what I thought. It reminded me of cartoon ships landing and Marvin the Martian stepping out.
My dad used to work for Grumman. Back in the day, they made all their own parts. I think this is what happens when a company repurposes another company.. but then again, who knows.