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
67. 281 (Transit 2A), 22 June 60, Response Mode NA, Flight Phase 2 and 5: Although boost phase was normal, anomalous performance during second-stage bum produced an orbit with apogee of 570 miles and perigee of 341 miles instead of the planned 500-mile circular orbit. 68. 262 (Courier lA), 18 Aug 60, Response Mode 4T, Flight Phase 1: Hydraulic pressure began a steady decay beginning about 18 seconds after liftoff. Severe transients were noted at 129.3 seconds. Uncontrolled yaw, pitch, and roll maneuvers began about 133 seconds. Between 138 and 143 seconds the missile turned through three full revolutions in pitch. The upper stages separated· at 140.4 ·seconds and the first stage broke up about 142.8 seconds. The second stage remained intact and was beacon tracked until 400 seconds. 70. 283 (Transit 3A), 30 Nov 60, Response Mode 4, Flight Phase 1: The first stage shut down 11.2 seconds prematurely at 151.85 seconds when the MECO cutoff circuit was armed. Since velocity at that time was about 2500 ft/ sec below the normal cutoff velocity, portions of the first stage impacted in· Cuba. The second stage separated and performed normally until shut down by the RSO at MECO plus 159.9 seconds to prevent overflight of South America. 71. 313 (Transit 3B), 21 Feb 61, Response Mode NA, Flight Phase 4 and 5: Second bum of second stage failed to occur. This resulted in an orbit with perigee of 539 miles and apogee of 92 miles instead of the planned 500-mile circular orbit. 75. 311 (Composite I), 24 Jan 62, Response Mode 5, Flight Phase 2: Flight was within acceptable limits until second-stage ignition. Probably because of rupture of the lower oxidizer manifold, normal thrust levels never developed. About 50 milliseconds after ignition, severe thrust chamber motion developed and the second stage began to tumble. Telemetry indicated that the first tumble period was about 29 seconds. Propellant depletion occurred at MECO plus 212 seconds. The nominal first-bum duration was 378 seconds. 77. 314 (ANNA lA), 10 May 62, Response Mode 4, Flight Phase 2: After a successful Thor flight, an electrical malfunction prevented separation and second-stage ignition. 81. 240 (Asset-2), 24 Mar 64, Response Mode 4; Flight Phase 2: The second stage either failed to ignite or burned for only one second. 9/10/96 170
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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.