{"id":17918,"date":"2019-10-10T18:10:40","date_gmt":"2019-10-10T10:10:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/nasas-chief-and-spacexs-elon-musk-mend-fences-and-give-best-guess-for-crew-dragons-big-flight\/"},"modified":"2019-10-10T18:10:40","modified_gmt":"2019-10-10T10:10:40","slug":"nasas-chief-and-spacexs-elon-musk-mend-fences-and-give-best-guess-for-crew-dragons-big-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/nasas-chief-and-spacexs-elon-musk-mend-fences-and-give-best-guess-for-crew-dragons-big-flight\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s chief and SpaceX\u2019s Elon Musk mend fences \u2013 and give \u2018best guess\u2019 for Crew Dragon\u2019s big flight"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"NASA's
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine (center) participates in a Crew Dragon flight simulation at SpaceX\u2019s California headquarters with NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is peering over Bridenstine\u2019s shoulder. (NASA Photo \/ Aubrey Gemignani)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine visited SpaceX\u2019s headquarters in California today, for what was seen as an opportunity to smooth over differences and update expectations for SpaceX\u2019s first-ever crewed spaceflight.<\/p>\n

Over the past few years, the first flight of SpaceX\u2019s Crew Dragon to the International Space Station with NASA astronauts aboard has been repeatedly rescheduled, leading to moments of frustration for Bridenstine. But after meeting with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and others at the company\u2019s facilities in Hawthorne, Calif., the NASA chief suggested the goal was in sight.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf everything goes according to plan, it will be in the first quarter of next year,\u201d Bridenstine told reporters.<\/p>\n

He and Musk hastened to add that, when it comes to rocket science, everything doesn\u2019t always go according to plan. Musk acknowledged that he can be overly optimistic about schedule estimates.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy philosophy is to generally say what we think our best guess is, and then bring people along for the ride,\u201d Musk said. \u201cAnd then, if things don\u2019t go quite as well as expected, hopefully cheer us on. It\u2019s full disclosure. \u2026 Sometimes we\u2019ll be wrong, but I think it\u2019s more interesting to be along for the ride and not try to pretend everything is super-great. There\u2019s always issues. Space is hard, obviously.\u201d<\/p>\n

A crewless Crew Dragon spacecraft made a successful practice trip to the space station in March \u2014 but that was followed by a setback in April, when the Crew Dragon that was slated for use in an in-flight launch abort test blew up on a test pad.<\/p>\n

The accident investigation concluded that there was a leaky valve between the plumbing for the abort system\u2019s SuperDraco thrusters and the lines for the orbital maneuvering system\u2019s less powerful Draco thrusters. At the end of the abort test, pressurized propellant ripped through one of the system\u2019s lines.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like a bullet,\u201d Musk explained. \u201cIf it hit anything that was remotely combustible at the end of that line \u2026 it will even light titanium on fire, which is what it did.\u201d<\/p>\n

To resolve the issue, Musk said SpaceX replaced the system\u2019s check valves with fittings known as burst disks, which should isolate the two sets of plumbing.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow there\u2019s a few less valves, which is good, because it\u2019s going to prevent these kinds of errors,\u201d Bridenstine said, turning toward Musk. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t have said that earlier, but since you just said it, we\u2019re OK saying it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Musk said the propulsion system would be tested over the next three weeks.<\/p>\n

Another nagging issue has to do with the Crew Dragon\u2019s parachutes: In drop tests, SpaceX\u2019s parachutes had a hard time surviving a high-speed descent with enough redundancy to meet safety concerns. Musk said his team has now designed a \u201cMark 3\u201d parachute with stronger Zylon fiber lines and risers that should stand up better to the aerodynamic stresses.<\/p>\n

Musk said he thought the Mark 3 parachutes \u201care possibly 10 times safer\u2019 than the previous Mark 2 model. The current development plan calls for SpaceX to see how the new parachutes hold up during a series of 10 drop tests.<\/p>\n

\u201cDepending on how the next 10 drop tests go, we will know how many more drop tests we need,\u201d Bridenstine said.<\/p>\n

Musk said SpaceX wants to see 10 successful tests in a row.<\/p>\n