Documents / Report
This final report, dated September 10, 1996, was prepared by the Research Triangle Institute for the Department of the Air Force's 45th and 30th Space Wing safety offices. Titled Modeling Unlikely Space-Booster Failures in Risk Calculations, it shows how rare Mode-5 failures, in which a rocket veers well off its intended flight line, are modeled in the DAMP risk-analysis program. An appendix lists Atlas, Delta, Titan and Thor launch and failure histories through August 1996.
From the source:Release of 2026-05-08 Incident: 9/10/96, N/A. This report describes the Modeling of Unlikely Space-Booster Failures in Risk Calculations, documenting historical launch failure modes and recommending corrective actions to address them using novel modelling techniques.
“Low Earth orbit”2 pages
22. 7C, 18 Mar 59, Response Mode 4, Flight Phase 1: Booster engines shut down prematurely at 129.4 seconds, but booster section was not jettisoned until the near- normal time of 153 seconds. Guidance was inoperative. Since the sustainer engine could not gimbal before booster separation, the autopilot was unable to stabilize the missile after BECO. The sustainer shut down about 40 seconds before propellant depletion. The reentry vehicle spin rockets fired prematurely at 86.3 seconds after liftoff. 23. 3D, 14 Apr 59, Response Mode 4, Flight Phase 1: Performance of B2 engine dropped 36% at launch, resulting in a violent pitch as missile left the launcher. Flight control system corrected missile attitude, and flight continued at reduced thrust until a more violent explosion tore the thrust section away from the missile at 26.1 seconds. The sustainer continued operating with decreased thrust until shutdown by the safety officer at 36 seconds. Debris impacted about 3000 feet from launch point. 24. 7D, 18 May 59, Response Mode 4, Flight Phase 1: Failure in pneumatic system resulted in missile explosion at 65 seconds. A temporary failure of the thrust- structure fairing at liftoff strained the pneumatic lines and disconnects, resulting in leaks in the pneumatic system. 25. 5D, 6 June 59, Response Mode 4, Flight Phase 2: Either structural damage at booster staging or failure of the booster staging valve to dose resulted in a fuel leak and explosion at 159.3 seconds. Impact occurred near the flight line about 780 miles downrange. 30. 10D (Mercury), 9 Sep 59, Response Mode 4, Flight Phase 2: Booster section failed to jettison resulting in a final velocity about 3000 ft/sec low and an impact range about 500 miles short of target. 32. 17D, 16 Sep. 59, Response Mode 4, Flight Phase 2.5: :Flight was considered a success since impact was within two miles of target point. However, failure of the vernier hydraulic package resulted in loss of missile control during the vernier solo phase. 35. 26D, 29 Oct 59, Response Mode 4, Flight Phase 2.5: Vernier solo phase was unstable in pitch·due to loss of thrust from V2 vernier engine. The V2 engine lost chamber pressure during booster jettison. Impact was about 14 miles short and out of splash net. 36. 28D, 4 Nov 59, Response Mode NA, Flight Phase 2: The flight was normal, but was terminated prematurely when the range-safety impact-predictor system failed. 37. 15D, 24 Nov 59, Response Mode NA, Flight Phase 2.5: Flight was normal, except the reentry vehicle failed to arm or separate. 9/10/96 117 RTI
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Report, from the pursue collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 181 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.