In the 1960s and 1970s deep space missions were dispatched in pairs
in case one was lost in launch or failed during its journey.
Following the triumphs of the Viking landings on Mars in 1976 and
both Voyagers spacecraft successfully surveying the outer giant
planets of the Solar System, it was decided by NASA to cut costs
and send out just a single probe. Although Magellan successfully
mapped Venus by radar, it suffered from problems during the flight.
Then came the loss of Mars Observer, whose engine exploded as it
was preparing to enter Mars' orbit because it was using
technology designed for Earth's satellites and the engine was
not suited to spending several months in space. Later came the
high-profile losses of Mars Climate Observer and Mars Polar Lander
- a consequence of the faster, better, cheaper philosophy
introduced by Dan Goldin in 1993. Even the highly successful
Galileo mission suffered a major setback when its high-gain antenna
(also based on satellite mission suffered a major setback when its
high-gain antenna (also based on satellite communication
technology) failed to deploy fully, greatly diminishing the
craft's radio transmission capabilities, forcing the ground
crew to re-programme the on-board computer to enable it to fulfil
its mission and provide stunning images of Jupiter and its moons.
In Space Systems Failures, David Harland (here working with
co-author Ralph Lorenz) describes the many quite fascinating tales
of woe involving failures of rockets, satellites and deep space
missions in his inimitable style, providing a unique insight into
the trials and tribulations of exploration at the high frontier.
TOC:List of illustrations.- List of tables.- Authors' preface.-
Acknowledgements.- Part One: Launch vehicles.- The missiles.- The
Shuttle.- Back to expendables.- Heavyweights.- Lightweights.- Boom
and bust.- The Chinese experience.- The current crop.- Part Two:
Satellites and space probes.- Failure and redundancy.- Propulsion
system failures.- Attitude control system failures.- Electrical
failures.- Environmental failures.- Structural failures.- Failures
on the ground.- Operator and software errors.- Conclusions.- Index.
1;Contents;5 2;Preface;13 3;I Launch vehicles;16 3.1;1 The missiles;17 3.2;2 The Shuttle;38 3.3;3 Back to expendables;59 3.4;4 Heavyweights;82 3.5;5 Lightweights;107 3.6;6 Boom and bust;122 3.7;7 The Chinese experience;143 3.8;8 The current crop;152 4;II Satellites and space probes;182 4.1;9 Failure and redundancy;183 4.2;10 Propulsion system failures;187 4.3;11 Attitude control system failures;216 4.4;12 Electrical failures;232 4.5;13 Environmental failures;270 4.6;14 Structural failures;290 4.7;15 Failures on the ground;320 4.8;16 Operator and software errors;339 4.9;17 Conclusions;350 5;Index;357
