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Edomann
QUOTE (rlorenz @ Jan 14 2024, 06:09 PM) *
Cassini operated this way. I mean, it wasnt designed to operate this way (see my Haynes Cassini-Huygens Owners Workshop Manual) - it had a regulator, but somehow the regulator stuck open with a high leak rate - not enough to pop the propellant tank right away, thankfully, so the operators were able to close the upstream latch valve (which turned out to have a rather lower leak rate than specc'd, fortunately) and burped it later to maintain the ullage pressure as the fuel depleted. Sounds like Peregrine jumped to that approach - higher risk, but simpler/lighter

Biprops are hard to get right - a lot of failures/anomalies attributable to this piece of the system - Mars Observer, Akatsuki, Cassini, JUNO.....



Isn’t it usual to use a pyrotechnic valve to isolate the He tank? Solenoid valves present the risk of valve bounce during periods of very high vibration during the launch; the valve stem lifts off the seat. The pyrovalve provides a hermetic seal until the charge is ignited, so it ensures zero leakage during the launch phase and is only fired when that is complete.

I know that the thrusters on the mission have no previous flight heritage; I’m wondering whether other fluid-flow components in the propulsion system also lack heritage.

Ed
mcaplinger
QUOTE (Edomann @ Jan 28 2024, 08:58 PM) *
Isn’t it usual to use a pyrotechnic valve to isolate the He tank? Solenoid valves present the risk of valve bounce during periods of very high vibration during the launch; the valve stem lifts off the seat. The pyrovalve provides a hermetic seal until the charge is ignited, so it ensures zero leakage during the launch phase and is only fired when that is complete.

Of course. The Peregrine leak only started after the Triton Space pyrovalves were fired. They apparently worked fine and the issue was downstream.

QUOTE
I know that the thrusters on the mission have no previous flight heritage; I’m wondering whether other fluid-flow components in the propulsion system also lack heritage.

Possibly not, but heritage only goes so far. The components on Cassini and Juno had tons of heritage, but that didn't keep them from misbehaving.
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