SpaceX and NASA are investigating a parachute problem that occurred in the last two capsule flights.
One of the four main parachutes was inflated at a slow speed during the return of four astronauts to Earth last November. The same thing happened last week when the Dragon cargo capsule was carrying science experiments back from the International Space Station. In both cases, the sluggish parachute eventually opened and inflated—though more than a minute late—and the capsule slid safely down the Florida coast.
SpaceX and NASA officials said Friday they want to better understand what’s going on, especially before launching another crew in a month or two. “They’re taking extra precautions with this important system, looking at photos and inspecting parachutes for clues,” said Steve Stich, NASA’s commercial crew program manager.
SpaceX’s William Gerstenmaier, a former NASA official, told reporters, “We’re not taking anything for granted”. SpaceX’s first private flight to the space station, with three businessmen buying tickets and their retired astronaut escort, is set to blast off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on March 30. NASA’s next astronaut ferry flight will take place on April 15.
Officials said the lagging parachute also occurred during development and in previous cargo missions and maybe a natural feature of the multi-chute design. Despite the slow opening of one of the four large slopes, the capsules still descended at a safe rate, he said. Gerstenmaier said the ancestry data was close to normal.
According to officials, only three out of four parachutes are needed to make a safe splashdown off the Florida coast. Similar parachutes are used on Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule and NASA’s Orion moon capsule, neither of which has yet launched astronauts. These, too, sometimes lag behind when inflated, Stitch said, and so the SpaceX probe’s results will be shared.
Source: ©The Associated Press
