Norman:
Not quite. For the specific Ares 1 case, fragmentation of the forward
bulkhead could send debris through the upper stage and hit the back of the
capsule before it had gotten away if the capsule was using liquid rocket
escape rules.
If we assume that the timing between event initiation and escape system
activation is the liquid rocket standard ( as I recall, 150 milliseconds)
and if we assume the liquid rocket standard 15 g escape acceleration then
there is no known solid strap-on failure that the escape system can't
outrun.
Bill
On Wed, Feb 7, 2018 at 11:59 AM, Norman Yarvin <yarvin@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Wed, Feb 07, 2018 at 05:47:21PM +0000, William Claybaugh wrote:
We spent many thousands of hours during ESAS looking for any solid rockethand
failure mode that would create a more difficult escape environment than a
liquid rocket; that team identified one only which applies only when the
solid rocket is in line with and below the crew capsule. Despite much
waving by an Air Force employee, there were no identified failure modes
that created a more difficult escape environment when the solids were side
mounted.
That makes it sound as if the failure mode in question is one that
shoots debris straight up, like a cannon, and in no other direction.
Or no?