NASA and SpaceX are investigating a reoccurring problem with trailing parachutes on SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule, which are crucial elements the spacecraft need to land when it returns from orbit. The two spaceflight partners, on the other hand, are downplaying the severity of the issue, arguing that the parachutes are still functioning securely despite the misbehavior.
The parachute issue arose on SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule's two most recent landings. One of the spacecraft's four primary parachutes was slower to fully inflate than the other three during each of those descents to Earth. During a broadcast of the Crew Dragon carrying four astronauts home from the International Space Station in November, the trailing parachute was readily apparent. The Dragon's January touchdown, which returned supplies from the International Space Station, was not livestreamed, but according to Space News, one of the Dragon's parachutes lagging there as well.
NASA and SpaceX officials attended a news conference today to discuss the parachutes ahead of SpaceX's upcoming Dragon crew mission. NASA and SpaceX have stated that they are studying the data in order to better understand the behavior.
The fourth parachute took 75 seconds longer to fill than the other three during the November landing, and the slow parachute took 63 seconds longer to inflate during the January touchdown. Despite this, NASA said that the vehicles dropped at a regular rate. NASA and SpaceX both assert that the Dragon will land safely even if the fourth parachute does not deploy. During the press briefing, Steve Stich, manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, which manages Dragon, remarked, "You could have one parachute entirely gone and still be cleared to land."
While the Dragon teams intend to do a thorough examination of the parachutes, no substantial hardware or design modifications to the Dragon vehicles are expected. During the press conference, Bill Gerstenmaier, vice president of build and flight reliability at SpaceX, remarked, "This is more of a learning exercise of how we can enhance our design and technical understanding of parachute functioning."
NASA's Crew Dragon spacecraft is a critical piece of gear for the International Space Station's upkeep. At the time, the capsule is one of only two spacecraft capable of transporting humans to and from the ISS. A different variant of the spaceship is in charge of transporting goods to the station.
Despite a disastrous cargo flight in 2015, SpaceX has been securely carrying Dragon capsules to and from the station for years, with the vehicle's first passengers scheduled to travel in May 2020. SpaceX successfully launched a new four-person crew, Crew-3, to the station aboard Crew Dragon in November, only days after returning another crew, Crew-2. During Crew-2's nighttime landing, spectators noted that one of the four parachutes took longer to fill than the others as the spacecraft descended through the atmosphere. Before the Crew Dragon splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico, the slow chute filled, and all four astronauts were able to evacuate the ship safely.
NASA and SpaceX both stated that the behavior was typical after the splashdown. During a news conference following the splashdown, Stich remarked, "These parachutes have displayed this behavior," adding that NASA "looked at that data, and it was within the family of some of our tests." SpaceX also stated that it thoroughly analyzed footage and data from the landing before flying Crew-3, but that this was to be anticipated. During the November press conference following the landing, Gerstenmaier noted, "It functioned essentially the way it was meant to perform."
The problem resurfaced with the recent return of a cargo version of the Dragon, known as CRS-24, from the International Space Station on January 24th. Because NASA did not broadcast the landing live, the trailing parachute went unnoticed for approximately a week. During today's press conference, Kathy Lueders, NASA's associate administrator for space operations, stated that the space agency no longer does livestreams of cargo landings due to costs, but that the agency now plans to hold press conferences following the completion of cargo missions in the future.
At today's press conference, NASA and SpaceX reaffirmed their claim that this had happened previously. "We find this trailing parachute phenomena with these big ring-cell parachutes," Stich explained. "We've observed that in previous testing and on other [freight] flights as well." Three of the parachutes may "shadow" the other parachute as it deploys, forcing it to deploy more slowly, according to personnel.
NASA and SpaceX said they want to visit the vendor that provides SpaceX's parachutes and lay out the chutes to see if anything appears odd, in addition to studying the data again to better understand the behavior. They also intend to do a "inflation analysis" to see whether all of the cargo landing characteristics were within acceptable limits. If all goes well, NASA will try to approve SpaceX to launch Crew-4, the company's next crewed mission, on April 15th. At the end of March, SpaceX aims to launch a private crew of astronauts to the International Space Station for the firm Axiom.
SpaceX and NASA believe no alterations are required for the Crew-3 Crew Dragon spaceship presently stationed with the International Space Station. This spring, that capsule, whose parachutes couldn't really be adjusted anyhow, will return with a crew of four.
Gerstenmaier declined to say if the Crew Dragon was capable of landing with two parachutes. Instead, he pointed out that during parachutist testing, SpaceX simulated the loss of one parachute and discovered that the three others picked up the slack. In fact, he claimed, the faulty parachute aided in the inflating of the three other parachutes. "We don't think this is going to become much worse," he added. "In reality, it has the ability to self-correct."
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