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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

SpaceX and NASA detail cause of Dragon test failure, crewed flight this year looks 'increasingly difficult' [techcrunch.com]

SpaceX held a press conference on Monday to discuss the results [spacex.com] of a months-long investigation conducted by itself and NASA into an anomaly that took place during a static fire test in April. The investigation found that the "anomaly" that occurred during the test was the result of oxidizer mixing with the helium component of the SuperDraco rocket engine propellant system at very high pressure.

On April 20, SpaceX held an abort engine test for a prototype of its Crew Dragon vehicle (which had been flown previously for the uncrewed ISS mission). Crew Dragon is designed to be the first crew-carrying SpaceX spacecraft, and is undergoing a number of tests to prove to NASA its flight-readiness. After the first few tests proved successful, the test encountered a failure that was instantly visible, with an unexpected explosion that produced a plume of fire visible for miles around the testing site at its Landing Zone 1 facility in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Also at Ars Technica [arstechnica.com] and Teslarati [teslarati.com].

See also: SpaceX's response to Crew Dragon explosion unfairly maligned by head of NASA [teslarati.com]

Previously: Reuters: Boeing Starliner Flights to the ISS Delayed by at Least Another 3 Months [soylentnews.org]
SpaceX Crew Dragon Suffers "Anomaly" During Static Fire Test [soylentnews.org]
Investigation Into Crew Dragon Incident Continues [soylentnews.org]

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