4 ms·
It sounds like the FTS worked as intended, but the holes created in the fuel tank were undersized, allowing the tank to maintain enough pressure to remain struc
by ortusdux 4y ago
It sounds like the FTS worked as intended, but the holes created in the fuel tank were undersized, allowing the tank to maintain enough pressure to remain structurally sound. You can see 4 plumes of gas venting from the 4 locations of the FTS boxes while it tumbles. I would expect them to switch to long shaped charges, possibly radial in orientation.
It sounds to me that the FTS was triggered automatically by the onboard computer, but that Musk concedes that it possibly should have triggered (or been triggered) sooner:
Musk: Time for AFTS to kick in "was pretty long," about "40 seconds-ish."
On the other hand, rockets have blown up on the pad due to over-aggressive AFTS, so I would imagine the bounds were pretty loose for an initial test flight.