It’s been five days since the SpaceX’s passenger vehicle, the Crew Dragon, exploded during the Dragon Super Draco Static Fire Test and space engineers continue to be baffled on what caused it. According to The Verge, it’s still too early to pinpoint the cause of the explosion and Elon Musk’s space company still doesn’t know if it will affect the initial schedule of Crew Dragon’s next major launch. The second demo launch could already bring human passengers onboard. SpaceX is already looking hard at trying to find the reason why the Crew Dragon experienced the mishap. But what could have caused the explosion? According to the report, the Crew Dragon blew up while SpaceX was firing up engines embedded within the spacecraft. The capsule, which had a successful first launch to the International Space Station early this year, is equipped with eight small thrusters known as SuperDraco engines, which are intended to play an important role in case of glitches during space flights. The thrusters were intended to bring the Crew Dragon away from danger should the SpaceX rocket (either the Falcon 9 or the Starship) encounters a fatal malfunction. During the test last weekend, however, while conducting tests of the engines at the company’s landing pad at Cape Canaveral the engines ignited. The explosion was captured by NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) and a video was uploaded on Twitter which has now been deleted. Those who saw the video showed the Crew Dragon capsule engulfed in smoke. The engines were held down during the test, so it doesn’t actually “launch.” The NASA department said that despite what happened it should be noted that SpaceX followed all safety protocols and that no injuries were incurred. “NASA and SpaceX immediately executed mishap plans per the agency and the company’s guidelines, and SpaceX is leading the investigation, with active NASA participation. The investigation will take time before the root cause analysis is completed,” Patricia Sanders, ASAP chair, said during a meeting. Both agencies are now focusing on salvaging materials, gathering data and creating the timeline leading to the event to know exactly what went wrong. Even before the first successful demo of Crew Dragon, Musk already had an inkling that the capsule could be destroyed during static testing. The accident could have been necessary to ensure that no such event will happen once the human passengers finally get a ride on the Crew Dragon. Photo: JIM WATSON/Getty Images)<doc-sep>By Six weeks after the spacecraft completed its orbital launch debut, SpaceX’s first flight-proven Crew Dragon capsule suffered a catastrophic explosion seconds before a planned SuperDraco test fire. In the last nine years, SpaceX has successfully built, tested, launched, and recovered Cargo and Crew Dragons 18 times, including five instances of Cargo Dragon capsule reuse, all with minor or no issues. The April 20th event is the first time in the known history of SpaceX’s orbital spacecraft program that a vehicle – in this case, the first completed and flight-proven Crew Dragon capsule – has suffered a total failure. Regardless of the accident investigation’s ultimate conclusions, the road ahead of Crew Dragon’s first crewed test flight has become far more arduous. ARTICLE: SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft suffers an anomaly during static fire testing at Cape Canaveral –https://t.co/ZWkBhqGs5F 📸Nathan Koga Render. @cbphoto1 (embedded tweet in the article) pic.twitter.com/C5pED0IFVk — Chris B – NSF (@NASASpaceflight) April 20, 2019 According to information acquired by NASASpaceflight.com, SpaceX was in the middle of a series of static fire tests meant to verify that the flight-proven capsule was in good working order after Crew Dragon’s inaugural mission to orbit. The spacecraft was to be tested near SpaceX’s Cape Canaveral Landing Zone facilities, where the company has a small but dedicated space for Dragon tests. Crew Dragon C201’s testing began earlier on Saturday, successfully firing up its smaller Draco maneuvering thrusters. This transitioned into a planned SuperDraco ignition, what would have been the first such integrated test fire for capsule C201. SpaceX planned to rapidly reuse Crew Dragon C201 for an upcoming in-flight abort (IFA) test, in which the spacecraft would be required to successfully escape from Falcon 9 at the point of peak aerodynamic stress (Max Q). Based on a leaked video of the failure, one or several faults in Crew Dragon’s design and/or build led to a near-instantaneous explosion that destroyed the spacecraft. Sound in the background seems to indicate that the explosion occurred several seconds before the planned SuperDraco ignition, a major concern given their pressure-fed design. As pressure-fed rocket engines specifically designed to be the basis of a launch escape system, Crew Dragon and its SuperDraco thrusters are meant to be ready to ignite at a millisecond’s notice once they are armed in a flight-ready configuration. It’s safe to say that ten seconds away from a specifically planned ignition is one of those moments, although there is a limited chance that SpaceX’s static fire procedures intentionally diverge from an abort-triggered ignition. Regardless, the fact that Crew Dragon was destroyed before the ignition of its SuperDracos is not an encouraging sign. Instead of a problem with its high-performance abort thrusters, it can be tentatively concluded that Crew Dragon’s explosion originated in its fuel tanks or propellant plumbing. Such an immediate and energetic explosion points more towards a total failure of propellant lines or valves (or their avionics), while another – and potentially far more concerning – cause could be one of Crew Dragon’s pressure vessels. In a space as enclosed as a Dragon capsule, the rupture of a pressure vessel could trigger a chain reaction of pressure vessel failures, freeing both oxidizer (NTO) and fuel (MMH). Known as hypergolic propellant, NTO and MMH ignite immediately (and violently so) when mixed. It’s quite possible that the accident investigation to follow will be SpaceX’s most difficult and trying yet. Regardless of the specific cause, the footage of Crew Dragon C201’s demise does not support any positive conclusions about the fate of astronauts or passengers, had they been aboard during the violent explosion. Seemingly triggered in some way by the very system meant to safely extricate Crew Dragon and its astronauts from a failing Falcon 9 rocket, major work will need to be done to prove to NASA that the spacecraft is safe. Sadly, Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft – funded in parallel with Crew Dragon under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program – suffered a far less severe but no less significant failure during a static fire test of its own abort thrusters. Boeing was forced to remove the impacted hardware from its flight plans to extensively clean, repair, and rework the service module. NASA has been notified about the results of the @SpaceX Static Fire Test and the anomaly that occurred during the final test. We will work closely to ensure we safely move forward with our Commercial Crew Program. pic.twitter.com/yE2J5yGzA7 — Jim Bridenstine (@JimBridenstine) April 21, 2019 NASA is now faced with the fact that both of the spacecraft it supported with CCP have exhibited major failures related to their launch escape systems. Crew Dragon’s catastrophic explosion comes as a particularly extreme surprise given how extensively SpaceX has already tested the SuperDraco engines and plumbing, as well as the successful completion of the spacecraft’s launch debut. In the process of DM-1 launch preparations, Crew Dragon likely spent a minimum of 80 minutes with its SuperDraco thrusters and propellant systems primed and ready to abort at any second, apparently without a single mildly-concerning issue. Godspeed to SpaceX and NASA as they enter into this challenging and unplanned failure investigation. Check out Teslarati’s newsletters for prompt updates, on-the-ground perspectives, and unique glimpses of SpaceX’s rocket launch and recovery processes. SpaceX’s Crew Dragon suffers catastrophic explosion during static fire test<doc-sep>Explosive Situation Sometimes, when you fill a small metal capsule with rocket fuel, it will explode. That’s what appears to have happened this past weekend when SpaceX attempted a static test of its Dragon 2 capsule. “Crew Dragon capsule explodes,” wrote Scientific American. Business Insider called it a “large explosion.” Quartz said that it “blew up.” There’s even a grainy video of the test that seems to show a fireball. But SpaceX? The company called it an “anomaly.” Glossy Language You’d never know what happened if you only read SpaceX’s prepared statement, which downplayed the apparent explosion as much as possible. Advertisement Advertisement “Earlier today, SpaceX conducted a series of engine tests on a Crew Dragon test vehicle on our test stand at Landing Zone 1 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The initial tests completed successfully but the final test resulted in an anomaly on the test stand. Ensuring that our systems meet rigorous safety standards and detecting anomalies like this prior to flight are the main reason why we test. Our teams are investigating and working closely with our NASA partners.” SpaceX isn’t the only space agency to use “anomaly” to describe a spacecraft glitch. There are several instances where NASA has used the word to characterize launch problems or spacecraft communication issues. But we haven’t found an instance where NASA said “anomaly” when it meant “explosion” — in that regard, SpaceX stands alone. When something blows up, NASA says so. Perhaps the problem that led to an explosion was an “anomaly”; it would be confusing if it was expected. But the explosion itself? Calling it anything but is a disservice. Keep It Vague Hey, we get it. Spacecraft explosions conjure images of tragedy: death, wasted money, canceled research. It makes sense for a leader in space technology to avoid that connotation. But if SpaceX insists on calling an explosion — one that was seemingly documented on video — an “anomaly,” then who’s to say when the company will clear the air, on this test or any future endeavor? Advertisement Advertisement READ MORE: Smoke seen for miles as SpaceX Crew Dragon suffers ‘anomaly’ at Cape Canaveral during engine test fire [Florida Today] More on the explosion: Update: Vid Appears to Show SpaceX Capsule Exploding During Test As a Futurism reader, we invite you join the Singularity Global Community, our parent company’s forum to discuss futuristic science & technology with like-minded people from all over the world. It’s free to join, sign up now!<doc-sep>
SpaceX's Crew Dragon appears to EXPLODE in leaked video On Saturday, SpaceX tested the emergency escape rocket system for its new human-capable Crew Dragon spacecraft. A US Air Force spokesperson told local press the incident, at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, had been contained and no-one had been injured. The explosion occurred after a static-fire test of the emergency abort system on the new Crew Dragon space capsule, which is intended for use by NASA's Commercial Crew program to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station. Watch the leaked footage HERE A statement from SpaceX said: "Earlier today, SpaceX conducted a series of engine tests on a Crew Dragon test vehicle on our test stand at Landing Zone 1 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. “The initial tests completed successfully but the final test resulted in an anomaly on the test stand.” On Sunday, an unverified video on Twitter claimed to show the space capsule exploding during the test. This minor setback comes after a series of successes of Elon Musk’s company, with the unmanned Crew Dragon successfully entering orbit for the first time last month. READ MORE:Mars boost: Successful launch for Elon Musk's reusable Falcon Heavy Elon Musk's SpaceX is hoping to get the contract from NASA to ferry astronauts to the moon Crew Dragon pre-launch This latest incident, however, could delay plans to launch a manned mission to the International Space Station later this year. Not since the end of the Space Shuttle programme in 2011 has the US been able to send its own astronauts into orbit. It has had to rely instead on Russia and its Soyuz spacecraft. Images of smoke coming from the space capsule have been circulating on social media. Falcon Heavy launch was a success and booster used retro to land SpaceX: Falcon Heavy’s side boosters successfully land on Earth