Pyrotechnic Mishaps ...

From: rk (stellare_at_nospamplease.comcast.net)
Date: 01/08/05 

Date: Fri, 07 Jan 2005 21:06:53 -0600

I'm working on at least a semi-comprehensive list of pyrotechnic mishaps. I
started it a while back and am picking it up again to finish. This includes
where things go BOOM! when they are not supposed to. Or when they don't fire
when you want them to.

Some examples, have more?

-- rk

Nedelin: http://www.russianspaceweb.com/r16_disaster.html

   As preparations for the launch continued, the technicians
   on the ground sent a command to activate pyrotechnically
   operated membranes on the oxidizer line of the second stage
   of the rocket. However, due to design and production flaws
   in the electrical circuit of the control panel, the
   membranes on the fuel line of the first stage were blown up
   instead.

STS-86: Didn't fire on the SAFER unit.

Liberty Bell 7: Fired too soon.

SMEX/WIRE: Fired too soon.

Apollo Tower Jettison Motor Qualification Issue

   A firing current of 5 amperes should have been applied to each
   of two bridgewires that were attached to each initiator.
   Instead, the improperly used firing harness resulted in the
   application of approximately 2.5 amperes of firing current to
   each of two bridgewires that were attached to each initiator.
   The motor manufacturer did not have adequate definition of current
   application requirements to design the wiring harness properly.

MER: Unrestrained Separation Nuts May Damage or Hinder Flight Hardware

   In testing of both MER1 and MER2, the impact resulted in severe
   damage to the PYRO cables attached to the bottom of the nuts. The
   PYRO cabling was damaged sufficiently to cause multiple shorts to
   chassis that could have over-stressed the PYRO system electronics.
   Redesign efforts to apply padding to the sep NUT backshells were
   complicated by the configuration of the adjacent hardware

HDP System A Pyros Did Not Detonate During STS-112 Launch

Magellan AACS RAM Upset During SRM Pyrotechnic Initiation

   On August 12, 1990, 7.3 seconds after the SRM separation pyros
   were activated on Magellan, erroneous alert codes were received
   by CDS. These alerts were caused by the failure of the AACS
   Memory B of at least 2K of the TCC244 RAM.

Fusing Element Failure resulting from Test Integration, Test, Pyrotechnic
Devices, PYRO, Electrical Explosive Devices, EED, Command CIRCUIT, Drive
Circuit

   a contractor had concluded successful live fire tests on the EEDs
   (Electrical Explosive Devices, also called Pyros). Subsequently it
   was found that the live fire tests had not only fired the EEDs but
   had also damaged the drive CIRCUIT. The damaged component was the
   EED CIRCUIT fusing element. This component would not provide
   sufficient energy to fire an EED when required during the mission. 

-- 
rk, Just an OldEngineer
"Engineers abhor extrapolation"
-- Ken Iliff, from _Runway to Orbit_, 2004

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