Here's a recap of what the Falcon 9 mission was supposed to do, and what the setback means for NASA's space program
SpaceX’s latest attempt to resupply the International Space Station with their Flacon 9 model rocket, Dragon, failed when it exploded shortly after launching from Florida on Sunday. While it’s not the first ISS-bound mission to have failed in the last few months (the third actually) it’s SpaceX’s first failed mission, and an integral one at that. So what do we know so far?
Firstly the launch was for an unmanned cargo supply mission to the ISS so, thankfully, no crew members were on board. The mission was to be the seventh in SpaceX’s contract with NASA. The ISS is an orbital station and lab, set up by the US and Russia in 1998. The Dragon was loaded up with research equipment as well as supplies for the crew on board the space station - two Russians and one American. All three astronauts are conducting health research, including how blood pressure, and the reduction of it in zero G, affects the brain and eyes.
So how much cargo was on board the rocket? A lot. Two tonnes of it a lot. All now disintegrated in the upper atmosphere. It was carrying about 1,500 pounds of food and provisions, about a 1,000 pounds of hardware and research equipment, an International Docking Adapter, made to allow various spacecraft to easily link with the space station, and a replacement part for the water filtration unit, which is wearing out.
In addition, the Dragon also had on board the customised HoloLens, being sent up to the ISS to aid in future training and assist programs for austronauts. Good thing Microsoft isn't too bummed out by the loss.
However Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator of NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, has said that the organisation is prepared for these kinds of losses, though he called this one “a significant loss”.
The astronauts aboard the ISS have enough provisions to comfortably last them a few months, and there will be other cargo missions soon - namely Progress missions from Russia on July 3 and again on July 22, and an Orbital mission from Japan on August 16. The next US launch will be SpaceX’s next mission, scheduled for September.
Lastly, as we’ve already said, it seems that an upper stage engine was the problem. Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted that initial analysis points to a buildup of pressure in the liquid oxygen tank of the upper stage engine, which caused the rocket to fall apart. No confirmation on that however, as investigations are underway and while take a long time to figure out the exact cause.
And while the program is designed in such a way as to accommodate for mission failures, Gerstenmaier said, “We didn't expect to lose three in a one-year time frame." While NASA hasn’t yet been able to parse any data from the debris they’ve found, they’ve asked nearby residents to report anything they might think is debris from the rocket to a hotline or their local authorities.
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 "dnaTechScience, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), SpaceX, Elon Musk, International Space Station (ISS), SpaceX Falcon 9")
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