Since Steve Walton mentioned them in his recent post The Dark Horse, I thought I’d post the video that is the only reason I have any idea what they actually are and how they function:
Here’s the written version if you find that easier to digest: Why Have SpaceX, Boeing & Blue Origin Ditched Abort Towers?
(Now, let’s see if the embedded video survives publishing, or if it gets stripped out like the last one I tried…)
2 replies on “The Latest Generation of Launch-Abort systems”
No video. I embed videos by putting the YouTube URL on a line by itself, and it seems to work (even got Vimeo to work!).
Launch abort systems are an interesting topic when it comes to risk. Does having one increase the risk during a normal launch? Would you like to have one that only worked half the time if you needed it, or have nothing? (Or stay home until the ride is safe?)
(Aha, yes–that finally worked. So I need to remember to ignore all the helpful ways the text editor *says* to embed the video and just do a naked link. Good to finally have that straightened out!)
The issue of risk and how to address it is an enormous complicating factor. After all, when was the last time we had a tower failure that required use of an abort-launch system? If those systems are a complicating factor that increase the likelihood of some other failure, are they worth using at all?
The Gemini program is one he talks about in another video, but there’s a case where the “emergency escape” system was a set of ejection seats that almost certainly would’ve killed the astronauts because of where they were installed inside the capsule. In attempting to mitigate risk, they just made it worse!