SpaceX Discovered Unforeseen Heat Shield Damage On Crew Dragon After ISS Return

SpaceX'south Dragon DM-1 capsule during recovery at Port Canaveral in March 2019 showing the fell effects of orbital re-entry. These furnishings were also encountered by the DM-two mission and they probable led to above-nominal rut shield erosion. The DM-one mission was Coiffure Dragon's unmanned mission to the International Space Station. Prototype: NASA

Officials from the National Helmsmanship and Infinite Administration (NASA) and SpaceX conducted the showtime series of press briefings today. These marking the beginning of the kickoff official flights to the International Infinite Station (ISS) from American soil. Present at the outset conference was NASA Administration Jim Bridenstine, Associate Administrator of the Man Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate Kathy Leuders and SpaceX'south Vice President Build and Flight Reliability Hans-Jorg Koenigsmann.

NASA'southward get-go official crewed flight to the ISS, Crew-i volition take to the skies on Oct 31st. Given that it will utilise SpaceX'due south Dragon 2 spacecraft that was tested through the Demo-2 mission earlier this year, the conference revealed important details about Dragon'south performance. In particular, the officials elaborated on 2 minor bug that the spacecraft exhibited and their fixes for them.

SpaceX States Dragon ii Oestrus Shield Problems Were Not Life-Threatening To Astronauts Aboard Dragon-2 Endeavour

The Demo-2 mission was piloted by astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley. They were charged with evaluating the vehicle's performance to and from the ISS. Post-obit splashdown off the declension of Pensacola, Florida in Baronial. Following this, NASA and SpaceX worked to evaluate whatsoever anomalies that the vehicle might accept demonstrated during the mission.

The ii issues, which both Ms. Leuders and Mr. Koenigsmann described every bit relatively minor in today's conference related to the vehicle'southward oestrus shield and barometric measurement system. Dragon's heat shield ensures that the vehicle can sustain loftier temperatures during re-entry into the Earth's temper. The vehicle's barometric measurement system determines when its drogue parachutes deploy at splashdown.

SpaceX'due south VP led his remarks by highlighting the two problematic areas and his company's adjustments for improvement. During the briefing, he was pressed multiple times for more than details. His most elaborate respond came in response to a query from Chris Davenport of The Washington Postal service who asked the executive to elaborate on the heatshield problems.

In response, Mr. Koenigsmann replied:

First of all this was a small area in the oestrus shield, particularly the area around what we call the tension ties which hold the body and the Dragon spacecraft together. In this item area we saw a period miracle that we didn't look, and we saw erosion to exist deeper than we predictable. Nonetheless I mean this heat shield is massive and over the entire acreage there was very picayune erosion. Erosion in the particular expanse was a little bit deeper. But cypher to be concerned, at all times the astronauts were safe and the vehicle was working perfectly. This is something nosotros just establish in the inspection and looked at it and decided okay we should probably yous know reinforce the heat shield in this particular area. It's actually iv areas around the tension ties; a very small area compared to the overall average of the oestrus shield.

I think Kathy's comment [referring to a remark by Leuders on how the vehicle's 'screens' were upgraded] regarding the screen refers to the filter that filters the air going into the barometric pressure sensor. That particular filter has been opened upwardly a piffling fleck so that it's less constrained, and that has the effect that we measure the barometric pressure more than accurately when we come up down and deploy the [drogue] parachute right on time. That is something that was also not a item problem the last time, you know going forward it is a rubber improvement and will brand certain that nosotros will launch astronauts and state them of course safely in the upcoming years.

The SpaceX Dragon'southward rut shield was developed jointly by NASA and the company. Higher up is the Phenolic-Impregnated Carbon Ablator (PICA) shield undergoing testing at NASA's Ames Research Eye in 2013. Image: Ames Inquiry Centre/NASA

Rut Shield Erosion Likely Acquired Past Airflow Disturbance States Executive

The SpaceX executive was so further pressed for details around the company's improvements to the heat shield. In response to a question from Douglas Messier from Parabolic Arc, he stated that the problems appeared to stem from displaced airflow from the tension ties.

Specifically, according to Mr. Koenigsmann:

The all-time mode I tin explain without slides and lots of information is that these tension ties that connect the torso and the spacecraft they cause some disturbance in the airflow around them, so information technology digs a deeper hole into the rut shield after that because at that place'southward probably a vortex or something like that. I don't know the exact technical details on this ane only the fact is that i item tile has basically more erosion than the others. It tunnels basically into the tile. Like I said earlier, this was always a prophylactic situation. It never got to [the] structure. The estrus shield was working great. Then it's something that is relatively easy to prepare past putting a more resistant or erosion resistant material in that item place.

He went on to country in response to another question that SpaceX had not experienced the problem with the Demo-i mission. Additionally, Koenigsmann also speculated that perhaps the erosion stemmed from the Demo-2 mission'southward increased weight and dissimilar trajectory.

Finally, Ms. Leuders expressed her agency's conviction in the upgrades that SpaceX performed to replace the weaker tiles and stated that NASA was "very satisfied" with the pattern.

NASA and SpaceX's Coiffure-1 mission is undergoing certifications earlier its planned liftoff next month. The Dragon 2 vehicle for this mission will consummate Human Rating Certification by early October stated Ms. Leuders, with its Flying Readiness Review expected to take place a week before launch.