Re:SpaceshipTwo crashes shortly after Mojave test flight
by chris_wot on Saturday November 01, 2014 @05:27AM
(#8542576)
If there are no inherently safe options, then that tends to preclude engineering in safety. I really don't think you know what you are talking about.
Re:SpaceshipTwo crashes shortly after Mojave test flight
by marze on Saturday November 01, 2014 @06:27AM
(#8542657)
A propulsion system that was "inherently safe" wouldn't have dangerous failure modes. Although Virgin has tried in the past to paint their hybrid prolusion system as being "inherently safe", it isn't. No 60klb rocket engine is. To make any such system operate safely and reliably is a big engineering challenge. I think you don't understand the meaning of the term "inherently safe" in an engineering context.
Although the Virgin 60,000 lbf rocket is small by the standards of Apollo, it is still an extremely challenging problem. There are no problem-free or inherently safe options, so safety needs to be engineered in from the bottom up carefully and competently. Otherwise, failures like this will not happen just once.
The engineers involved would do well to study the Apollo program and other successful complex engineering efforts such as nuclear reactors, as well as the counter examples of the two space shuttle that were lost due to management putting schedule ahead of safety.