GSLV failure blamed on snapped cable
Posted: Sat, Jan 1, 2011, 11:03 AM ET (1603 GMT)
An Indian rocket that tumbled out of control and was destroyed a minute after liftoff last month failed because of a snapped data cable, investigators said Friday. The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) lifted off normally on December 25 but started losing attitude control 47.8 seconds later; the rocket broke up at T+53.8 seconds and was destroyed by range safety at T+64 seconds. An initial investigation, chaired by former ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair, concluded that the primary cause of the failure is the "untimely and inadvertent" snapping of a group of 10 connectors at the base of the upper stage linking the rocket's avionics, located in the upper stage, with the rocket's lower stages. The snapped cables prevented commands from reaching the first stage's electronics, causing the rocket to lose control. Why the cables snapped remains unknown. ISRO plans further investigations into the cause of the failure as well as the overall GSLV program.
An Indian rocket that tumbled out of control and was destroyed a minute after liftoff last month failed because of a snapped data cable, investigators said Friday. The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) lifted off normally on December 25 but started losing attitude control 47.8 seconds later; the rocket broke up at T+53.8 seconds and was destroyed by range safety at T+64 seconds. An initial investigation, chaired by former ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair, concluded that the primary cause of the failure is the "untimely and inadvertent" snapping of a group of 10 connectors at the base of the upper stage linking the rocket's avionics, located in the upper stage, with the rocket's lower stages. The snapped cables prevented commands from reaching the first stage's electronics, causing the rocket to lose control. Why the cables snapped remains unknown. ISRO plans further investigations into the cause of the failure as well as the overall GSLV program.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Wednesday, February 5
Sidus Space Announces LizzieSat Has Arrived at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California for Launch
Business Wire — 6:07 am ET (1107 GMT) Rocket Lab Signs Multi-Launch Contract with iQPS for Four Electron Missions
Rocket Lab — 6:05 am ET (1105 GMT) First Irish astronaut Norah Patten had ‘no road map’ for space dreams – but she paved the path herself
Irish Star — 6:04 am ET (1104 GMT) SpaceX launches Maxar 3 mission, high-resolution commercial satellites
UPI — 6:02 am ET (1102 GMT) UAE joins forces with European space company to develop airlock for Nasa lunar station
The National (UAE) — 5:59 am ET (1059 GMT) |
