Documents / Report

Department of the Air Force Report, 1996

U.S. Department of War · 1996-09-10 · 181 pages · text from the file's own layer

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.

  • p. 88 …Vehicle loses control at or shortly after liftoff, with all flight directions equally likely. Destruct is…
  • p. 106 …121 (8) Missiles/Space Vehicle Files, 45th Space Wing, Wing Safety, Mission Flight Control and Analysis…
  • p. 111 …Such behavior did not necessarily prevent the attainment of some, or even all, mission objectives. 50…
  • p. 131 …Due to excess speed, spacecraft passed 22,000 miles in front of moon, and primary mission…
  • p. 132 …Although Atlas performance was satisfactory, the mission was apparently a failure. No other data available. 134…
  • p. 133 …A flight-control malfunction occurred at about 15 seconds at the start of the pitch program…
  • p. 137 …Vehicle became unstable when B2 pitch control was lost at 121 seconds. Loss of pitch control…
  • p. 138 …The missile then lost attitude control, executing a hard yaw rate tum throughout and beyond the…
  • p. 139 …of the rate gyro or an electrical failure in the pitch channel of the flight control…
  • p. 140 caused yaw and roll rates that the flight control system could not correct. As a result…
  • p. 151 …Attitude control lost during second stage coast period. Third stage spun up, but did not fire…
  • p. 153 …One solid-rocket motor carried to MECO, but mission was still a complete success. 102. SMS…
  • p. 169 …Missile tumbled out of control at 130 seconds, then broke up. 104. IHA (65-210), 1…
  • p. 170 …Nominal mission through transtage second burn shutdown. Attitude control system engine failed to shutdown following vernier…
  • p. 171 …However, satellite propulsion system malfunctioned putting satellite in uncontrollable position with no possibility of restoring mission…
  • p. 172 …control until propellant depletion. Trajectory inaccuracies were compensated for during Stage-2 burn, and the mission…
  • p. 180 …Missiles/Space Vehicle Files, 45th Space Wing, Wing Safety, Mission Flight Control and Analysis (SEO), 1957…
D.4 Titan Launch and Performance History
The Titan family of launch vehicles was established in 1955, when the Air Force
awarded the Martin Company a contract to build a heavy-duty space system. Titan I
was the nation's first two-stage ICBM and the first to be silo-based. It proved many
structural and propulsion techniques that were later incorporated into Titan II. The
Titan II was a heavy-duty missile using storable propellants that became a man-rated
space booster for NASA's Gemini program. Today the Titan II is returning as a space-
launch vehicle with the old ICBMs converted to deliver payloads to orbit. Titan III was
the outgrowth of propulsion technology developed in both Titan II and Minuteman
ballistic-missile programs.
Today's Titan vehicles (II, III, and IV) are derived from the earlier Titans. In 1984, the
DOD called for a space-launch system· that would complement the Space Shuttle to
ensure access to space for certain national-security payloads. The Titan IV program
began as a short-term program for ten launches from Cape Canaveral Air Station.
However, after the Challenger accident in· 1986, the program has grown to 41 vehicles.
With the off-loading of DOD payloads from Shuttle, Titan IV has become DOD's main
access to space for many of its heavy payloads. Design of the Titan II Space Launch
Vehicle (SLV) began at the same time as that for Titan IV. Titan II SLV was developed
from refurbished Titan II ICBMs incorporating technology and hardware from the
Titan III program.
9/10/96 146 RTI

Not linked to a story yet.

About this file

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.