Failed Strut Doomed CRS-7 Mission; No Falcon 9 Launches Before September, Says Elon Musk

Three weeks after the catastrophic loss of a Falcon 9 v1.1 booster, which exploded just 139 seconds after leaving Space Launch Complex (SLC)-40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.—dooming the seventh dedicated Dragon cargo ship, bound for the International Space Station (ISS)—SpaceX CEO Elon Musk described the status of his company’s ongoing investigation on Monday, 20 July, and revealed that a failed helium tank strut appeared to be the root cause. In summarizing the developments, Mr. Musk noted that the accident occurred rapidly, that software modifications might have saved its precious Dragon payload and that the failure is not expected to impair SpaceX’s goal of launching its first Commercial Crew missions from 2017 onwards. At the same time, he added that the Hawthorne, Calif.-based launch services company does not expect to fly another Falcon 9 v1.1 until September 2015 at the soonest.

Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.americaspace.com

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