SpaceX's first launch site was at Omelek Island. It appears that the challenging environment may have contributed to one of the failures. "Why the nut cracked

SpaceX's first launch site was at Omelek Island. It appears that the challenging environment may have contributed to one of the failures. "Why the nut cracked is still a bit of a mystery. Musk said the "prevailing thought" among investigators, which included a mix of government and SpaceX personnel, is that the heat and humidity on Omelek Island was a factor. Though the nut was anodized to guard against corrosion, Musk said, it may have been scratched at some point, compromising its protection against the elements. "We had a series of countdowns [during which] the rocket was exposed for quite a bit of time," Musk said. "And the vehicle hangar for about three months was not climate controlled." Another possible contributing factor, Musk said, is that there was an adverse reaction--so-called galvanic corrosion--between the aluminum nut and the pipe fitting itself, which was made of stainless steel. Musk said SpaceX will replace the $5-a-piece aluminum nuts with less-expensive stainless steel nuts to avoid that problem in the future." https://www.space.com/2643-falcon-1-failure-traced-busted-nut.html https://www.space.com/2643-falcon-1-failure-traced-busted-nu...