Questions tagged [reliability]
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17 questions
2 votes
0 answers
82 views
How many of JWST's single point failure issues were related to sunshield deployment?
JWST had 344 single point failure possibilities that could have killed the telescope, but I find no indication of how many SPF's had to do with sunshield deployment. Lots of moving parts going a long ...
- 3,698
19 votes
6 answers
7k views
Is the failure to separate Starship from the Super Heavy booster a "dumb failure" and does it tell something about the project reliability? [duplicate]
Sorry for the possibly dumb question, but I don't know much about rocket technology. As I gather, the main problem in the recently failed Elon Musk's Starship launch was that the Starship "...
4 votes
0 answers
284 views
Do vacuum-grade oils and greases trivially solve the "lubricants don't work in space, cold welding happens" problem (for short to moderate duration)?
(Related: How is the unwanted cold welding prevented in space?) I've often seen talk about fairly simple mechanical devices (hand tools, simple handheld power tools, firearms, etc) being unlikely to ...
- 9,639
86 votes
8 answers
16k views
Why do most space probes survive for far longer than they were designed for?
Looking back to Opportunity (Rest In Peace, little friend), it was apparently designed to operate for 90 days but it ended up going for 16 years which is approximately 64 times longer than the ...
- 823
2 votes
1 answer
826 views
Which Cubesat Cameras Actually Worked in Orbit before 2019?
Short question: Which Cubesat Cameras Actually Worked in Orbit before the year 2019? Context and explanation: The very few missions which published at least one image I've found: Planet Labs Doves. ...
- 1,985
3 votes
1 answer
1k views
What is a "delta-qualification" program?
In the NASA Independent Review of the Antares Orb-3 failure, they refer to a "delta-qualification program": As a result, this area of the turbopump is vulnerable to oxygen fire and failures....
- 2,725
11 votes
3 answers
1k views
How reliable are pressure fed hypergolic engines?
A fair amount of "what-if" discussion surrounds rocket engine failure at critical points in various crewed missions -- lunar ascent and trans-Earth injection on lunar landing missions, ...
- 176k
3 votes
0 answers
351 views
Could multimode (polymer) optical fiber Gigabit Ethernet be a better choice than WiFi inside future satellites?
In this answer the recent question Are and should satellites use wireless communication internally, rather than cables? it is stated that: This is actually an open research area and despite everyone ...
user12102
3 votes
5 answers
950 views
Are and should satellites use wireless communication internally, rather than cables?
Some applications on Earth replace wires with radio communication, standard stuff like Bluetooth. It saves mass and maybe complexity. Is this done for intra-satellite communication and deep space ...
- 27.2k
25 votes
4 answers
8k views
Is the Pi really fit for outer space?
Recently, there has been growing interest in using Raspberry Pis in CubeSats. NASA is even in on the trend. But, considering that outer space is pretty harsh on electronics (i.e. radiation and cosmic ...
- 353
7 votes
1 answer
2k views
What exactly does it mean to human-rate a rocket? As opposed to the escape system?
The escape system is that thin pointy part at the very top of the rocket. It has powerful solid rockets that basically act as an "ejection seat" for the entire crew capsule. So when we talk about "...
- 4,636
5 votes
1 answer
1k views
Most common causes of 21st century launch failures and how often do launches fail?
In this document (Page 7, point 4.3), Garrett Reisman notes that an analysis by Aerospace Corporation showed the most common causes for launch failures between 1980 and 1999. This document shows the ...
- 5,283
33 votes
1 answer
1k views
How do we know that Voyager's data is correct?
I was wondering for some time how we know that the scientific data received by the Voyager spacecrafts are correct? Specifically, I'm wondering about the recent "tsunami-wave" (frequency of ionized ...
- 505
22 votes
4 answers
6k views
Why are the very reliable rockets Atlas V and Ariane V not rated for human flight?
During the last ten years all 100 or so launches by Atlas V and Ariane V together have been successful. (One Atlas V payload entered too low orbit, but that would hardly have risked the life of a crew)...
- 27.2k
12 votes
2 answers
1k views
What caused the Lunar Landing Training Vehicle to be unreliable?
The Lunar Landing Training Vehicle was used during the Apollo missions to simulate flying the lunar lander at 1/6th the force of Earth's gravity: Many sources have indicated a conflict between ...
user12