Monday, July 15, 2019

SpaceX: Leaking Component Cause Of Destruction Of Crew Dragon

Hawthorne-based SpaceX has released the results of an investigation into the destruction of its Crew Dragon in April, during a static fire engine test, blaming a leaky component for the failure. The failure on April 20th occurred during a test of SpaceX's vehicle propulsion systems, which were designed to detect system level issues prior to an "In-Flight Abort" test of the space capsule. SpaceX said that the initial tests of its twelve Draco thrusters completed successfully, but the final test resulted in the destruction of the Crew Dragon, after leaking component allowed liquid oxidizer, nitrogen tetroxide (NTO) enter high-pressure helium tubes, which caused "structural failure" within a valve. The failure is expected to delay the ultimate launch of the SpaceX Crew Dragon with astronauts on board.

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