SpaceX, the ambitious company founded by maverick billionaire Elon Musk, has been working hard to find out what went wrong when its rocket exploded during launch preparations for the past two months.
The company now says that the explosion was caused by a helium loading issue. The explosion of the rocket took down a facebook internet satellite along with it, reported Extreme tech.
The enquiry to the blast is not yet finished but spaceX is raring to go, and planning to test fire rockets later this month. And launch rockets by the end of this year, reports Extreme Tech.
According to Popular Mechanics, SpaceX had a clue as early as September the suspected cause of the explosive fire. What consumed its Falcon 9 rocket could be due to a large breach in cryogenic helium system of the second stage liquid oxygen tank.
Now, the space travel company has been able to zero-in on a problem with helium loading. Particularly, its temperature and pressure at which the Helium is pumped in. SpaceX calls it an "anomaly."
According to the report, Helium, being an inert gas is used to maintain the tank's pressure when the liquid fuel is exhausted. That explains why helium is pumped into rockets.
Liquid fuel rockets can be turned on or off whenever required unlike solid fuel rocket boosters that burn until the fuel is finished. A tank breach can be of serious consequences to a rocket.
The real cause of such rocket failures has to be investigated as soon as possible because rocket explosions are perilous and expensive. So, zeroing in on the issue is vital.
SpaceX had initially entertained theories like a long shot by a sniper rifle from a nearby building owned by their rivals, United Launch Alliance, had done the damage to their rocket.
