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. 5 …64 6.4 Shaping Constants for Titan IV................................................................................ 65 6.5 Shaping Constants for LLVl .................................................................................... 69…
  • p. 74 …6.4 Shaping Constants for Titan IV Mode-5 shaping constants for Titan IV were developed…
  • p. 77 …Shaping Constants for Titan IV TB (sec) Breakupqa (deg-lb/ft2) B A II 300 none…
  • p. 109 …Titan IIIC and later configurations to include IIIB, IIID, IIIE, 34B, 34D, III/CT, IV, II…
  • p. 155 …Titan II SLV was developed from refurbished Titan II ICBMs incorporating technology and hardware from the…
  • p. 156 …Summa of Titan Vehicle Confi rations Descri Titan II ICBM converted to a man-rated vehicle…
  • p. 159 …2 0 54 WS (first Titan II) 03/16/62 II (N-2) ER 0 55…
  • p. 160 …08/13/64 II (8-7) WR 0 104 SV (first Titan Ill) 09/01/64…
  • p. 166 D.4.2 Titan Failure Narratives The following narratives provide available details about each Titan failure…
  • p. 168 …Stage II engine shut down prematurely due to oxidizer bootstrap-line failure. 76. Titan I (Mares…
  • p. 169 …Titan II (Thread Needle), 20 June 63, Response Mode 5, Flight Phase 2: Flight appeared normal…
  • p. 170 …Titan II (Bold Guy), 21 Sep 65, Response Mode 4, Flight Phase 2: After a normal…
  • p. 172 …Following a successful Titan-II second-stage burn and after payload separation, the apogee- kick motor…
200. IIIC-19, 6 Nov 70, Vehicle 19, Response Mode NA, Flight Phase 3.5 and 5: All
booster systems performed essentially as planned. Transtage experienced a
guidance anomaly during coast prior to second bum resulting in an improper
orbit.
212. IIIB/ Agena D (AFSC), 16 Feb 72, Response Mode 4, Flight Phase 3: After an
apparently normal Titan III B boost phase, the Agena failed to- ignite. The
payload impacted about 1500 miles downrange.
232. Titan IIIE, #El, 11 Feb 74, Response Mode 4, Flight Phase 3: All Titan booster
functions and Centaur separation were properly performed~ Centaur stage failed
to ignite.
244. TIIIC-25, 20 May 75, Vehicle 25, Response Mode NA, Flight Phase 2.5: All systems
performed satisfactorily through Stage 11/111 separation. About 230 milliseconds
after staging discrete was issued, the IMU power supply failed. Transtage then
tumbled and the first transtage bum failed to occur leaving transtage and attached·
payload in the parking orbit.
252. TIIIC-29, 14 Dec 75, Vehicle 29, Response Mode NA, Flight Phase 5: All launch
vehicle objectives were met. However, satellite propulsion system malfunctioned
putting satellite in uncontrollable position with no possibility of restoring mission
capability.
261. 111B/Agena D (AFSC), 15 Sep 76, Response Mode 4, Flight Phase 2: The stage-2
engine failed to respond to shutdown commands and thus burned to propellant
depletion. Cause was thought to be a hard contaminant that blocked the fuel
valve.
268. 23E-6/Centaur D-lT, 5 Sep 77, Response Mode NA, Flight Phase 2: Flight was
regarded as a success, although the second-stage velocity was low, probably due
to a detached line diffuser lodged on top of the prevalve.
272. TIIIC-17, 25 Mar 78, Vehicle 35, Response Mode 4T, Flight Phase 2: Vehicle
performance was satisfactory until 16.4 seconds beyond Stage-2 start. At this time
the Stage-2 hydraulic system began and continued over-pressurizing until the
system burst after 125 seconds of Stage-2 operation. The pressure then dropped to .
zero, the vehicle tumbled out of control, and guidance shut down the second stage
after detecting negative acceleration. The RSO sent arm at 629 seconds and
destruct at 630 seconds.
306. 34D (AFSC), 28 Aug 85, Response Mode 4T, Flight Phase 1: The first-stage engine
suffered three separate major anomalies: (1) during subassembly-2 (S/ A-2) start
transient (110 sec), a large oxidizer leak of 165 lb/sec occurred in the oxidizer
suction line; (2) at 213 seconds, an internal fuel leak of 30 lb/sec occurred in S/ A-1
downstream of the combustion chamber and created a vehicle side force; (3) the
9/10/96 162 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.