Upside-Down Sensors Caused Proton-M Rocket Crash 323
Michi writes "According to Anatoly Zak, the crash of the Russion Proton rocket on 1 July was apparently caused by several angular velocity sensors having been installed upside down. From the source: 'Each of those sensors had an arrow that was supposed to point toward the top of the vehicle, however multiple sensors on the failed rocket were pointing downward instead.' It seems amazing that something as fundamental as this was not caught during quality control. Even more amazing is that the design of the sensors permits them to be installed in the wrong orientation in the first place. Even the simplest of mechanical interlocks (such as a notch at one end that must be matched with a corresponding projection) could have prevented the accident."
A review of the quality control procedures used by the contractors responsible is underway.
Re:QA is not the problem (Score:5, Informative)
Amusingly, when someone actually attempted to track down who murphy was, and where the law came from.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murphys_law [wikipedia.org]
So this is potentially, very much related to the original usage.
Re:The quality conrol problems... (Score:5, Informative)
...aren't so amazing when you look at the track record of Russian manufacturing.
Before we Americans point too many fingers, let's not forget NASA is not immune to similar mistakes. [wikipedia.org]
Re:(The Real) Murphy's Law strikes again! (Score:5, Informative)
Re:QA is not the problem (Score:5, Informative)
What seems more amazing is that a simple software check pre-launch (i.e. "do all the sensors think they are pointed up?") was not part of the SOP. Given that their exact function is orientation detection, skipping the opportunity for self-test via that function is somewhat baffling.
Obligatory: It's not rocket science!
The sensors in question were for angular velocity. Given that pre-launch the craft doesn't have any (peculiar) angular velocity, the sensors would return the correct results (zero) no matter how they were installed.
Re:The quality conrol problems... (Score:2, Informative)
Communism(n) [also commernussum, comianizzem] - Anything that we don't do in the USA, such as believing that the Earth is more than 6,000 years old.
Re:QA is not the problem (Score:4, Informative)
Amusingly, when someone actually attempted to track down who murphy was, and where the law came from.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murphys_law [wikipedia.org]
So this is potentially, very much related to the original usage.
If I remember right, the way a wheatstone strain gauge is set up, there are four ways to connect it. One is right, two are wrong but give you half the resolution you expected -- so you get data, just lousy data -- and one is completely wrong and you get no data whatsoever. It was hooked up in the completely wrong configuration. That was what made him so mad: there was only a 25% chance it would get hooked up in the completely worthless configuration, but that's what happened.
From the same people that brought you Chernobyl... (Score:3, Informative)
And the K19.
And the K141 (The Kursk)
Soyuz 1
Soyuz 11
And about half a dozen other fatal accidents involving shoddy workmanship.