Space News by Jeff Foust — March 24, 2020
SpaceX said March 24 that one of the final parachute tests for its Crew Dragon spacecraft went awry, a problem it blamed on the test setup and not a flaw with the parachutes themselves.
In a statement, SpaceX said that it attempted to perform a parachute test by dropping a test article from a helicopter. The company didn’t describe the test article, but in some past tests it has used a mockup of a Crew Dragon spacecraft.
The test article, though, became unstable as the helicopter ascended. “Out of an abundance of caution and to keep the helicopter crew safe, the pilot pulled the emergency release,†SpaceX said.
Because the helicopter was not yet in position for the test, the parachute system on the test article was not armed, “and as such, the parachute system did not initiate the parachute deployment sequence,†the company said. The test article was destroyed but no one was injured.
More:
https://spacenews.com/spacex-reports-problem-in-crew-dragon-parachute-test/
