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30 Years of Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines in Europe Read chapter Read first chapter

2015 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

The Human Factors of an early space accident: Flight 3-65 of the X-15.

Authors : Immanuel Barshi, Irving C. Statler, Jeb S. Orr

Published in: Space Safety is No Accident

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

The X-15 was a critical research vehicle in the early days of space flight. On November 15, 1967, the X-15-3 suffered an in-flight breakup. It was the 191st flight of the X-15 and the 65th flight of this third configuration (X-15-3). It was the only fatal accident of the X-15 program. This paper presents an analysis, from a human factors perspective, of the events that led up to the accident. The analysis is based on the information contained in the report of the Air Force-NASA Accident Investigation Board (AIB) dated January 1968. Although the X-15 accident occurred in 1967, the results of the presented analysis are as relevant today as they were 47 years ago. We present the main points of our analysis and discuss their implications for the safety of space operations.

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Footnotes
1
The IFDS installed in the X-15 consisted of an inertial measurement unit (IMU), a computer, and pilot's displays of pitch, roll, and heading (which were presented on a three-axis attitude indicator) total earth reference velocity, rate of climb, and geometric height.
 
2
Fig. 2 was developed from data in Figs. 6, 8, 9, 2, and 17 and from the radio transcription in the AIB report [2].
 
Literature
1.
Jenkins, Dennis R. 2007. X-15 Extending the Frontiers of Flight. NASA SP-2007-562 (Also CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2010).
2.
NASA-USAF Accident Investigation Board. 1968. Investigation of the Crash of the X-15-3 Aircraft on November 15, 1967. NASA Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, January 1968.
3.
Barshi, I., Orr, J., & Statler, I. C. (in preparation). The Human Factors of an Early Space Accident: Flight 3-65 of the X-15. NASA TM.
4.
Tremant, Robert A. 1962. Operational Experiences and Characteristics of the X-15 Flight Control System. NASA Technical Note D-1402 December 1962.
5.
Boskovich, B. & Kaufmann, R. E. 1966. Evolution of the Honeywell First-Generation Adaptive Autopilot and Its Applications to F-94, F-101, X-15, and X-20 Vehicles. AIAA J. Aircraft vol. 3, no. 4, July-Aug. 1966, 296-304.
6.
Staff of NASA Flight Research Center. 1971. Experience With The X-15 Adaptive Flight Control System. NASA TN D-6208 March 1971.
7.
Burke, Melvin E. 1968. X-15 Analog And Digital Inertial Systems Flight Experience NASA TN D-4642 July 1968.
8.
Bilalić, M., & McLeod, P. 2014. Why Good Thoughts Block Better Ones Scientific American vol. 310, issue 3, March 2014.
9.
Orr, J. S., Statler, I. C., & Barshi, I. 2014. The X-15 3-65 Accident: An Aircraft Systems and Flight Control Perspective. Paper presented at the 7th IAASS Conference, Friedrichshafen, Germany.
Metadata
Title
The Human Factors of an early space accident: Flight 3-65 of the X-15.
Authors
Immanuel Barshi
Irving C. Statler
Jeb S. Orr
Copyright Year
2015
Book
Space Safety is No Accident

Print ISBN: 978-3-319-15981-2

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-319-15982-9

Copyright Year: 2015

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15982-9_32

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