A leaky valve caused a SpaceX crew capsule
to explode during a ground test back in April,
destroying the spacecraft and dealing a blow to
the company’s effort to launch astronauts.
The company announced the preliminary results
of its accident investigation.
SpaceX’s crew Dragon capsule had just returned,
minus astronauts, from a successful test flight
to the International Space Station and was
undergoing a ground test April 20 at Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station. The abort-system
thrusters were 100 milliseconds away from firing,
when the spacecraft exploded and was destroyed.
Hans Koenigsmann, a SpaceX vice president,
said a check valve allowed a slug of liquid oxidizer
to leak into the high-pressure abort system.