On April 20, a spaceship developed by SpaceX exploded during an uncrewed ground test, as it prepared to carry astronauts to the International Space Station, upon successful completion of the test. An investigation conducted by SpaceX with the guidance of NASA and the USAF revealed that the seven-person capsule, called Crew Dragon had blown due to a valve problem.
Now, nearly three months after the explosion, Kathy Lueders of NASA called the anomaly discovery a huge gift, as the explosion has helped both SpaceX and NASA to follow more stringent safety standards in upcoming manned space missions.
"In a lot of ways, this was a gift for us, because it was a test on the ground. We had the ability to find an issue with the hardware, and be able to find the hardware, and be able to assess the hardware. Through this process, we will continue to learn things that will help us fly safer," said Kathy Lueders, QZ reports.
In last May, Hans Koenigsmann, SpaceX's vice president of mission assurance had confirmed that the test launch had destroyed the spaceship completely. He added that the leaky component on the system had caused the violent reaction during the launch, and it, in turn, resulted in an explosion.
Koenigsmann added that only 80 percent of the investigation is completed now, and the remaining 20 percent probe will help to find other probable minor issues that need to be solved.
A few months back, Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX had revealed that his ultimate aim is to colonize humans on Mars. Musk added that he wishes to visit Mars even if the chances of survival are pretty low. The SpaceX founder also made it clear that the future government that will be established on Mars after human colonization will be based on direct democracy.
