‘Not Great News.’ SpaceX Confirms Its Crew Capsule Was Destroyed in Ground Testing

(CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.) — SpaceX finally confirmed Thursday its crew capsule was destroyed in ground testing two weeks ago and conceded that the accident is “not great news” for the company’s effort to launch astronauts this year. Hans Koenigsmann, a company vice president, told reporters it’s too soon to know what went wrong during the April 20 test or whether the crew Dragon capsule’s test flight in March — minus astronauts — contributed to the failure. Flames engulfed the capsule a half-second before the launch-abort thrusters were to fire. SpaceX still cannot access the testing area at Cape Canaveral for safety reasons, according to Koenigsmann. The company does not want to disturb any evidence that could provide clues to the failure, he noted. The company has concluded, meanwhile, that the smaller, simpler cargo version of the Dragon capsule is safe to fly to the International Space Station. SpaceX was on track to launch a Falcon rocket with station supplies early Friday morning, although approaching storms threatened yet another delay. Earlier in the week, the flight was postponed by a major power shortage at the space station. An old power-switching unit failed Monday, slashing the space station’s power by 25% and ruling out any deliveries. By Thursday, flight controllers had replaced the box and restored full power to the orbiting outpost. Because the April 20 accident occurred so close to SpaceX’s landing si...
Source: TIME: Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Uncategorized onetime space Source Type: news