Just to add my two cents, when trying to compare the safety records of
solids vs liquids (or any engineering tradeoff), the differences matter.
Segmented vs not segmented, pressure fed vs pumped, military super project
vs high school students.
Perhaps the best way to compare safety records is to look for the top 2-3
projects if each type, and compare those numbers. After all, it is easy to
create unsafe systems of any type. The goal is to see if it is possible to
create safe systems, not to see if historically one side or the other has
prioritized safety higher!
-David Summers
On Tue, Apr 28, 2020, 9:20 AM William Claybaugh <wclaybaugh2@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
George:
I would add a comparable liquid rocket stage...but there aren’t any.
Bill
On Tue, Apr 28, 2020 at 1:13 PM George Herbert <george.herbert@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
I would add the Titan III and IV solids to those numbers. Segmentation
is a good breakpoint.
-George
Sent from my iPhone
On Apr 28, 2020, at 10:53 AM, William Claybaugh <wclaybaugh2@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Per Henry, looking at large solids only; I find 216 launches of the
Ariane 5 SRB’s and 266 launches of the Shuttle SRB’s with one failure: one
in 482 at 50% confidence.
Reliability is a consequence of statistical analysis, not of emotional
opinion.
Bill
On Tue, Apr 28, 2020 at 10:37 AM roxanna Mason <
rocketmaster.ken@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
It doesn't matter, failure is just that the end result.
On Tue, Apr 28, 2020 at 1:05 AM Uwe Klein <uwe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Am 28.04.2020 um 08:21 schrieb ken mason:
In my aerospace career the following major rocket failures
occurred related directly to a solid rocket motor.
Space Shuttle Challenger
Titan 34D, VAFB SRB failed ~T+15, loss of a 1 B$ DOD payload, possibly
KH-11, 12 or Lacrosse.
Delta with SRB failure ~T+15, I forgot the date/mission but you all
remember the shower of flaming solid propellant onto PRV's,
Privately Owned Vehe's
IUS failed at orbital insertion, circa ~1986
I was involved in the investigations of #2&4, both occurred mid 80's
while working at UTC/CSD San Jose,CA.
Avoidable issues?
Ariane SRBs seem to have shown no failures? ( 200+ items flown.)
Shuttle SRB had a technical failure that was caused by top level
management errors.
Uwe
