The part in question was an accelerometer in the inertial guidance system, which was intended to detect changes in the rocket’s motion so that deviations from the flight trajectory could be corrected. Being a critical part, one might expect the manufacturer to make it difficult for the accelerometer to be installed in the wrong way.
Well, as it turns out, the manufacturer did make it so that the part could only be installed in one direction. When investigators recovered the guidance system from the wreckage, they found out that the accelerometer had been hammered into place by some assembly worker who apparently wanted to do way more work than was actually necessary to install it.
Flight control system installed upside down? The installer was probably a Ruski who defected, came to America and his job was installing MCAS in B737-MAXs
ReplyDeleteI assume they can pretty quickly identify that "some assembly worker." After all, how many Proton Ms are being assembled, and by people who have very specific jobs?
ReplyDeleteWho checked the installers work? I know my car dealer has a quality team that checks work completed.
ReplyDeleteAnything with the name Proton-M had to be Russian and the socialist system demands timelines .....on time spent and work done.
ReplyDeleteComrade was getting things done on time!
Here in the US we have had our share of errors. Mars Climate Orbiter and Genesis are the first that come to mind.
ReplyDeleteGot called out to a boat one time to investigate why the crypto gear wasn't working. Turns out the Master Chief Boatswain Mate took it upon himself to attach the cannon plug. This thing had about 50 pins in a circular formation and about 3 or 4 various shaped keyways, but some how he managed to force the plug on out of alignment. It took channel locks to remove the plug and all the pins were mangled. Gotta love BMs.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in the Navy, there was an old sea story about when waveguides were first installed on ships the bosun gang would hit them with the chipping hammers used to remove old hull/deck paint. The waveguides were damaged and so radar didn't work. Somebody called in the lead Bosun and informed him not to hammer the new "pipes" because they were important. So he took it upon himself to make new brass plates that said "Do Not Hammer" and promptly screwed them into the waveguides.
DeleteThat....that right there is a Bosun Mate to a tee!!!
DeleteI worked with an engineer whose previous job was on Hubble. He says that Hubble's astigmatism was because the engineer who designed the polishing fixture didn't make it assembleable in only one orientation. It was installed 90° off.
ReplyDeleteChipper42
...the term "Poka-Yoke" comes to mind...but that went away with to boomer who took an "early retirement"...
ReplyDeleteNope, we still use the term in automotive.
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