SpaceBanter.com - View Single Post - Falcon 1 Staging Recontact

**richard schumacher**

In article ,
(Derek Lyons) wrote:

Or something as simple as thrust created by gas exhausting from the
(new) cooling system. Geez Louise. Does Falcon 1 use anything other
than explosive bolts and springs for stage separation? How many more
basic errors can they afford to re-discover?

Other than the two mentioned, what can be used for stage sep?

FLSC - flexible linear shaped charge, used to cut through the skin of
the bird. Or 'zip tubing' (I forget the exact term) which is a thick
walled pipe/tube filled with fiberglass and a low explosive, when
fired the tube expands and fractures the skin.

One could also use tension ties or cables with the appropriate
cutters. (As Apollo did to retain both the CM and the LES.)

Those are methods for cutting the stages apart. Then you need something
to ensure that they continue moving away from each other: thrusters on
the first stage to slow it, or firing the second stage just before
separation.