26th October 1992 AUSROC II LAUNCH CAMPAIGN REVIEW On Friday 16th October the AUSROC II rocket system and launch crew left Adelaide for the Woomera Rocket Range. The AUSROC launch crew consisted of the following personnel: Mark Blair Tzu-pei Chen Andrew Cheers John Colemen Norbert Leidinger Robert Graham Warren Williams Richard Bromfield Ian Bryce Grant Waldram Peter Grounds David Emery Denis Robb Colin Biggs Brendan Coleman John Balatsas Peter Kantzos After arrival at the Rangehead, the rocket hardware and support equipment was unloaded in Test Shop 1. For the duration of the campaign the launch crew resided at the Travellers Village in the Woomera Township. On Saturday the injector, engine and fin unit were attached along with the pneumatic and electrical umbilical lines in Test Shop 1. At this stage the 3 ball valves on-board the rocket were tested and found to be operating successfully. The ground cabling and wiring loom layout was commenced to connect the launcher with the launch sequencer in Equipment Centre 2 where the firing was to be initiated from. The on-board electronics was in its final stages of preparation but the flight software still required some further work and was being worked on intensively for the majority of the campaign period. The system pressure tests, with nitrogen gas, were undertaken on the Sunday and about 4 leaks were discovered. Three of these leaks were associated with connectors, which may have been loosened during transit, and were re-sealed quite easily. A small leak between the sections of the kerosene ball valve proved to be more resistant to our attempts to seal it. Eventually, with much effort, the leak was reduced to an apparently negligible rate . The telemetry antennas were installed onto the rocket on the Monday and tested. These tests revealed that the antennas were operating extremely well with quite a high level of efficiency. The parachute recovery system was prepared for installation and the launcher services were installed. These services included the nitrogen purge system, the nitrogen actuation supply lines, the electrical umbilicals and the fuelling equipment and scaffold. Since the software still required more time, a 1 day hold was enforced to allow further time for correction. Thus the nominal launch time was delayed until 10.00 am Thursday morning. The rocket was rolled out of Test Shop 1 on the Tuesday morning and installed horizontally on the 10m launcher rail. The electrical and pneumatic circuits were attached and 3 dummy firing sequences were performed to validate the ignition and valve operations. These trials were also successful. A pre-flight brief was held in the Instrumentation Building conference room for visitors, sponsors and media in mid afternoon and this covered details of the Ausroc program to date as well as future plans. Throughout Wednesday, further testing was performed on the ground based telemetry receiving and recording equipment as well as the flight electronics and software. Several changes were made to the flight electronics and software and the package was finally loaded into the rocket on the launcher around mid afternoon. Several telemetry checks revealed that the video signal was being transmitted well but the telemetry channel data would require post flight processing to be useable. With the electronics secured, the recovery system, complete with deployment pyrotechnics, was installed. The launch day commenced with arrival at the range at 5.00am. Two more dummy launch sequence checks were performed without fault. The helium pressure tank was loaded to 20 MPa and checked for leaks. No leaks were detected so the upper valve fairing hatch was replaced and the launcher was elevated to its nominal 70 degree launch angle. A series of telemetry checks were then performed to check the transmitter and ground based receiving equipment. The kerosene was then loaded and it was observed that there were no leaks present from the kerosene ball valve while the tank was at ambient filling pressure. The lower valve fairing hatch was then replaced in preparation for the lox fuelling. A spray pack of freon was used to remove any kerosene spillage around and within the intertank fairing. A dry nitrogen gas purge operation was conducted to ensure that no water vapour was present in the lox system that could cause freezing problems. The lox fill line was attached to the rocket from the cryogenic storage canister located on the back of a transport truck. The lox fuelling went much smoother than we had anticipated and the uninsulated external walls of the tank only had a light frost buildup when the tank was full. The lox tank bleed plug was replaced, the scaffold was removed and the ignition flare leads were connected. With the lox tank bleed plug replaced, the lox tank pressure increased under its own boil-off vapour pressure to the nominal tank vent pressure of 4.5 MPa. It was discovered that with the helium valve closed, there was some back-flow of oxygen vapour through the lox tank regulator and down into the kerosene tank, thus increasing the kerosene tank pressure. The early increase in kerosene tank pressure brought about a slow leak of kerosene which probably found its way onto the pneumatic supply line. This was the same leak that had been detected during the pressurisation tests in Test Shop 1. Further checks should have been made in Test Shop 1 to ensure that the leak was completely sealed. The ignition flare was fired, by the sequencer, at T-5sec. The flare may have then ignited the leaked kerosene causing a fire around the pneumatic supply lines. The Helium valve opened successfully at T-3sec. as did the kerosene valve at T-0.25sec. The lox valve was to have fully opened at T-0sec. The lox ball valve opened approximately 10 degrees before it lost its actuation pressure. This implies that the pneumatic supply lines must have been severed some instant immediately after the lox valve solenoid had opened. In this regard the system was about 200 milliseconds short of successful operation. With the lox valve only partially open, the kerosene continued to rush out and was ignited by the flare producing a very fuel rich black billowing cloud and no useful thrust. The recovery system was set to deploy on a timer and since the electrical umbilicals and remaining pneumatic hose were also severed by the kerosene flame, it was impossible to abort the sequence. As a result of this, the nose deployment sequence was initiated very successfully at its correct time in the launch sequence. With the helium and kerosene tanks essentially empty, the back flow of oxygen through the lox tank regulator continued to bleed oxygen vapour into the kerosene tank and out through the kerosene passages to the motor. At around T+4mins, the remaining small kero flame in the motor initiated the oxygen/kerosene vapour mixture in the kerosene tank causing it to detonate and rupture at the intertank end of the lox conduit passage. This event broke the vehicle in half at the intertank fairing and severed the lox hose. The resulting expansion of the lox from the base of the lox tank pushed the forward section of the rocket off the rail and sent it sliding along the ground where it eventually came to rest next to the 2 ground power supplies. The violent nature of the kerosene tank rupture sent a black kerosene soot through every cavity and conduit in the rocket making the post-mortem all the more difficult. At this stage it appears as though the motor, injector and recovery system could be reused but new tanks and structure will be required. Much has been learned from this experience and the majority of the AUSROC Program objectives have still been achieved. We are presently reviewing the AUSROC II systems and anticipate some changes to the vehicle design and launch operations. We have listed some of these here for your information: 1. Installation of check valves in both propellant systems. 2. Re-routing and/or flameproofing pneumatic and electrical umbilical lines. 3. Replacement of all internal plastic pneumatic lines with flameproof lines 4. Review of quality control procedures and standards 5. Review of launch operations including Abort/Hold criteria, program management and media liaison 6. Review of lox and kero ball valve and actuator operation including the effects of ice buildup 7. Review of vehicle manufacturing techniques to enable a more simplified construction of a second vehicle. 8. Modification and simplification of flight electronics and software and simulation of possible flight regimes. The launch crew is now more determined than ever to solve these initial problems and construct a second AUSROC II derivative for a possible second launch campaign in 1993. For as little as $30-40,000 a revised and improved system can be constructed. Design review teams are already being formed and construction could begin as early as January '93. The media and sponsor response to the program has been exceptionally positive and we look forward to working with them again in the future. Regards, Mark Blair AUSROC Program Coordinator