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.
“Mission Control”17 pages
191. 163D (Cool Water V), 7 Oct 63, Response Mode 4, Flight Phase 1: Flight was normal up to about 73 seconds when the missile exploded. Suspected cause was intermediate bulkhead reversal/rupture due to insufficient helium pressure. 194. 136F (ABRES), 28 Oct 63, Response Mode 4T, Flight Phase 2: After a normal booster phase and staging, failure of sustainer hydraulic system resulted in loss of sustainer control and stability at 138 seconds. Sustainer and vernier engines shut down at 260 seconds, some 28 seconds early. The R/V impacted about 507 miles downrange. 196. 158D (Cool Water VI)., 13 Nov 63, Response Mode 4, Flight Phase 1: The trajectory was low throughout flight. The sustainer/vernier hydraulic pressure was lost at 112.7 seconds, followed by missile self-destruct at about 118 seconds when the vacuum impact point was about 280 miles downrange and on azimuth. 202. 48E (Blue Bay), 12 Feb 64, Response Mode 4, Flight Phase 2: The booster engine shut down at 119.5 seconds, and the sustainer engine shut down prematurely at 198.8 seconds. Impact was near the flight line about 635 miles downrange. 207. 3F (High Ball), 3 Apr 64, Response Mode 1, Flight Phase 1: Missile was destroyed on the pad when the Bl booster engine failed to ignite. 212. 135D (AC-3), 30 June 64, Response Mode 4, Flight Phase 3: The Centaur engines shut down early, apparently due to a hydraulic coupling failure that led to a failure in the propellant system. Impact was about 2340 miles downrange. 219. 57E (Gallant Gal), 27 Aug 64, Response Mode 4, Flight Phase 2: Missile experienced an early SECO with no vernier bum thereafter due to a guidance- system malfunction. Impact was about 88 miles short and 0.4 miles right of target. 227. 289D (Mariner-3),5 Nov 64; Response Mode 4, Flight Phase 4: A short second burn of the Agena prevented attainment of the desired orbit, and resulted in a heliocentric orbit. 232. 146D., 11 Dec 64, Response Mode NA, Flight Phase 5: Flight was completely normal through Centaur first bum. During the coast phase, liquid hydrogen vented through the vent valve caused vehicle instability and tumbling. By second engine firing, insufficient liquid hydrogen remained at boost-pump· sump to sustain normal combustion. 236. 172D/ABRES (Beaver's Dam), 21 Jan 65: Response Mode 4, Flight Phase 2 and 3: The Atlas apparently performed normally, except that the sustainer shut down 1.35 seconds early. The OVl"l failed to·separate from the Atlas and thus failed to put the spacecraft in orbit. 9/10/96 126 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.