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SpaceX capsule was destroyed in 'anomaly': lawmaker by Staff Writers Washington (AFP) May 1, 2019 A space capsule suspected to have exploded last month in an incident characterized by manufacturer SpaceX as an "anomaly" was in fact completely destroyed, a US Senator confirmed Wednesday. "The most recent SpaceX anomaly caused the complete loss of the (crew) capsule," Senator Richard Shelby, chairman of a Senate committee that manages NASA's budget, said during a hearing. NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine told Shelby the agency, which has contracted its mission to resume carrying US astronauts to the International Space Station to Elon Musk's SpaceX and Boeing, would be carrying out a joint investigation with SpaceX. NASA and SpaceX have remained tight-lipped about what caused the serious incident during engine tests on April 25. A leaked video posted on Twitter, later indirectly authenticated by NASA, showed an explosion. NASA is counting on SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule to ferry astronauts to and from the ISS, a task handled since 2011 by Russia, with first manned flight planned before the end of the year. The capsule that exploded was to be launched by a rocket in the coming months during a full-scale test of its in-flight abort system that would allow it to return to Earth in case of an emergency. SpaceX and NASA must now urgently work to discover the cause of the explosion as well as replace the capsule -- calling into question NASA's stated goal of launching American astronauts into space from US soil by the end of 2019.
SpaceX Dragon cargo launch no earlier than May 3 Houston TX (SPX) May 01, 2019 NASA A has requested SpaceX move off from May 1 for the launch of the company's 17th commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station. On April 29, the space station team identified an issue with one of the station's Main Bus Switching Units that distributes power to two of the eight power channels on the station. There are no immediate concerns for the crew or the station. Teams are working on a plan to robotically replace the failed unit and restore full power to the station system ... read more
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