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Blue Origin NS-23 failure attributable to overheated rocket engine nozzle

The second of the anomaly throughout the New Shepard cargo mission NS-23, through which the booster’s engine failed.

Blue Origin

Jeff Bezos’ house firm Blue Origin launched findings from an investigation into the failed flight of a cargo mission final 12 months, which it says was as a result of a difficulty within the rocket’s engine nozzle.

The corporate’s New Shepard rocket, flying the NS-23 mission carrying science and analysis payloads, suffered a failure in September 2022. No folks have been onboard, and Blue Origin says its capsule’s emergency escape system functioned correctly, however the rocket’s reusable booster was destroyed.

Bezos’ firm had beforehand mentioned little about its investigation over the previous six months, which was carried out with Federal Aviation Administration oversight.

In a blog post on Friday, Blue Origin mentioned it recognized “a thermo-structural failure of the engine nozzle” because the direct reason behind the difficulty, and is now modifying the engine, together with design modifications to account for higher-than-expected temperatures throughout the flight.

“Blue Origin expects to return to flight quickly, with a re-flight of the NS-23 payloads,” the corporate mentioned.

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The New Shepard rocket launches from Blue Origin’s personal facility in West Texas, carrying folks and payloads above 100 kilometers — or greater than 340,000 ft — for a pair minutes of weightlessness. The capsule is flown autonomously, with no human pilot, and floats down with the help of a set of parachutes to land within the Texas desert. The New Shepard rocket booster is reusable, returning to land on a concrete pad close to the launch web site.

Blue Origin mentioned its investigation discovered that NS-23 flight’s engine failure was as a result of “operational temperatures that exceeded the anticipated and analyzed values of the nozzle materials.” The corporate recovered fragments of the BE-3PM engine’s nozzle, discovering “clear proof of thermal harm and scorching streaks ensuing from elevated working temperatures.”

The corporate famous that its design modifications are supposed to enhance the engine’s efficiency at excessive temperature, in addition to strengthen the engine’s nozzle.

Space tourism is a niche market, so why are Virgin Galactic, SpaceX and Blue Origin betting on it?

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