Merry-go-round-missile mishap

摘要

Early in my career, I was the only engineer responsible for some missile-subassembly test equipment. I knew the system to some extent because I had written the test software, but I lacked the much-needed hardware-troubleshooting experience. I trusted myself on debugging and fixing any software issues, but what now seems like a small test station to me seemed back then like a black hole. I had to fix a problem that had caused multiple UUTs (units under test) to fail the missile's safety-arming tests. The hardware comprised a custom-built test cabin; a VXI chassis and its cabling, both of which we had adopted from another project; and a third-party-supplied centrifuge chamber. We used the centrifuge to simulate a missile launch and test the missile's ability to arm just after traveling some distance. Rotating the centrifuge for 3 to 4 seconds was supposed to cause the application of g force onto an accelerometer in the UUT, in turn causing the missile to arm. For some reason, though, it failed to do so.