SpaceX Falcon AMOS-6 Explosion Last September Was Due to Helium Loading Issues; SpaceX Will Launch Another Rocket on January 8
SpaceX is a private company dealing with transportation. Last September, the attempt to launch the SpaceX Rocket carrying Facebook Internet Satellite flopped when the rocket failed and blasted during the launch.
SpaceX's Falcon Rocket was carrying AMOS-6 Internet Communications Satellite worth $200 Million marking collaboration of Eutelsat and Facebook. The incident took place when it was about the lift off and between two stages, oxygen escaped and got trapped which led to the massive explosion when a static ignited it.
The company has since been investigating the real cause of the blast and now they are up to something that is helium loading issue. As Extreme Tech reported, the primary objective was helium tanks when the investigation was initiated.
Helium is Inert and high liquefiable and it is used for maintaining the pressure in the tanks. The "Anomaly" as it is called by SpaceX took place when temperature and pressure variations were recorded while it was being loaded into the rocket before launch. It took just 93 milliseconds for the explosion to occur after the first sign of anomaly was reported.
Compare to liquid-fueled rocket, solid fueled rockets are encapsulated with solid fuel which burns until it is exhausted whereas liquid-fueled rockets are easy to control as it can be turned on or off, however, when the liquid fuel runs out, the pressure in the tanks must be retained and that is where Helium comes into action. Helium is Inert and hence it doesn't react with any elements and it is pumped to maintain the tank pressurized until necessary.
The September SpaceX incident is an example of how a breached helium tank causes massive destruction. When the rocket failed, Mark Zuckerberg, Founder of Facebook, presented condolences to the rocket failure and elaborated that the satellite was destined to provide internet connectivity in Africa, NBC News reported.
After Developing and building yet another spacecraft and Satelite, SpaceX has announced its next Launch this Sunday on January 8.