| Recurring |
unknown |
a) The article does not mention any previous incidents of a similar nature happening again within SpaceX or with its products and services. Therefore, there is no information available to suggest that this specific software failure incident has happened again at SpaceX or with its products and services.
b) The article does not provide any information about similar incidents happening at other organizations or with their products and services. Hence, there is no data available to indicate that this specific software failure incident has occurred again at multiple organizations. |
| Phase (Design/Operation) |
design, operation |
(a) The software failure incident related to the design phase can be attributed to a faulty valve in the Falcon 9 rocket's Merlin engine. The issue was traced back to a valve that controls the flow of nitrogen used to purge the engine before ignition. This valve was stuck open, allowing liquid oxygen to flow into the gas generator injector, leading to higher pressure in the combustion chamber of engine five [12053].
(b) The software failure incident related to the operation phase occurred during the first launch attempt of the Falcon 9 rocket. The problem with the stuck valve during operation caused the liquid oxygen to flow into the gas generator injector, resulting in high pressure in the combustion chamber of engine five. This led to the flight computer shutting down the engines and aborting the launch [12053]. |
| Boundary (Internal/External) |
within_system |
(a) within_system: The software failure incident described in the article is primarily within the system. The failure was attributed to a faulty valve within the Falcon 9 rocket's Merlin engine, specifically a check valve that allowed liquid oxygen to flow into the gas generator injector, leading to higher pressure in the combustion chamber of engine five [12053]. The issue with the valve causing the high pressure and subsequent shutdown of the engines was an internal system component failure. |
| Nature (Human/Non-human) |
non-human_actions, human_actions |
(a) The software failure incident in the article was not directly related to non-human actions. The failure was attributed to a faulty valve that led to the aborted launch attempt of the Falcon 9 rocket by SpaceX. The issue was specifically traced back to a stuck valve that allowed liquid oxygen to flow into the gas generator injector, resulting in higher pressure in the combustion chamber of one of the Merlin rocket engines [Article 12053].
(b) The software failure incident in the article was primarily due to human actions. SpaceX engineers identified the problem with the valve that caused the high-pressure issue in the combustion chamber of the rocket engine. The decision to abort the launch and replace the faulty valve was made by human operators and engineers involved in the launch attempt [Article 12053]. |
| Dimension (Hardware/Software) |
hardware |
(a) The software failure incident in the article is related to hardware. The incident was caused by a faulty valve in the rocket engine, specifically a check valve that controls the flow of nitrogen used to purge the engine before ignition. This stuck valve allowed liquid oxygen to flow into the gas generator injector, resulting in higher pressure in the combustion chamber of engine five, leading to the aborted launch attempt [12053].
(b) There is no information in the article indicating that the software failure incident was due to contributing factors originating in software. |
| Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) |
non-malicious |
(a) The software failure incident described in the article is non-malicious. The failure was attributed to a faulty valve in the rocket engine that led to the aborted launch attempt by causing higher than acceptable pressure in the combustion chamber of one of the Falcon 9's Merlin rocket engines. SpaceX engineers identified the issue with a valve that controls the flow of nitrogen used to purge the engine before ignition, which resulted in the turbopumps operating at a slightly higher power level, leading to the high pressure detected in the combustion chamber [Article 12053].
(b) There is no indication in the article that the software failure incident was malicious. |
| Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) |
unknown |
The articles do not mention any software failure incident related to poor decisions or accidental decisions. |
| Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) |
unknown |
(a) The articles do not mention any software failure incident related to development incompetence.
(b) The software failure incident mentioned in the articles was not accidental but rather due to a specific technical issue with a valve that led to the aborted launch attempt by SpaceX [12053]. |
| Duration |
unknown |
The articles do not mention any software failure incident related to permanent or temporary duration. |
| Behaviour |
crash, omission, value, other |
(a) crash: The software failure incident in the article can be categorized as a crash. The Falcon 9 launch was aborted due to a last-half-second shutoff caused by a high-pressure issue in the combustion chamber of one of the Merlin rocket engines. This resulted in the flight computer shutting down the engines, leading to the launch being aborted [Article 12053].
(b) omission: The software failure incident can also be linked to an omission. The problem was traced back to a stuck valve that allowed liquid oxygen to flow into the gas generator injector, causing the high pressure in the combustion chamber. This omission of the valve to function correctly led to the failure of the launch attempt [Article 12053].
(c) timing: The timing of the software failure incident is crucial. The issue with the stuck valve causing the high pressure in the combustion chamber occurred just before the launch attempt. This timing was critical as it led to the last-half-second shutoff of the engines, resulting in the launch being aborted [Article 12053].
(d) value: The software failure incident can also be attributed to a value failure. The valve that malfunctioned and caused the high-pressure problem in the combustion chamber was not providing the correct value in terms of controlling the flow of nitrogen used to purge the engine before ignition. This incorrect functioning of the valve led to the failure of the launch attempt [Article 12053].
(e) byzantine: There is no indication in the article that the software failure incident exhibited behaviors characteristic of a byzantine failure.
(f) other: The software failure incident can be further described as a failure due to a hardware-software interaction issue. The malfunctioning valve, which was a hardware component, directly impacted the software-controlled systems by allowing liquid oxygen to flow into the gas generator injector, leading to the high pressure in the combustion chamber and subsequent shutdown of the engines [Article 12053]. |