SpaceX isolates possible cause of Falcon 9 rocket explosion
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.029055
New York Times : On 28 June a Falcon 9 rocket taking supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) exploded about 139 seconds after liftoff . SpaceX CEO Elon Musk says the explosion was likely caused by the failure of a metal strut holding down a helium bottle in the upper-stage liquid oxygen tank. Although the metal struts had been certified to withstand up to 10 000 pounds of force, the one in question appears to have failed at just 2000 pounds. SpaceX has announced it will cease to use those particular struts and will perform additional hardware quality checks. A week after the SpaceX rocket failed, a Russian resupply ship succeeded in reaching the three astronauts on board the ISS. Before the 28 June launch failure, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 had successfully completed 18 missions.
