SpaceX Postpones Crew Dragon Launch Due To Red ‘Nail Polish’ In Its Engines
Image via L Galbraith / Shutterstock.com
SpaceX and NASA have revealed that it had to postpone the Crew Dragon spacecraft launch from 31 October 2020 to 14 November 2020 due to a “nail polish” blunder.
According to Teslarati, the delay was caused by a hardware issue in the form of a tiny layer of protective lacquer in its engines.
When asked about the substance, Hans Koenigmsann, SpaceX’s vice chairman of build and flight reliability, responded, “It was described to me as a lacquer, basically a nail polish I think is a good analogy. In this case, it had a red color.”
Koenigsmann confirmed that the two replacement engines in Falcon 9 have already been installed. However, the four astronauts — three from NASA and one from Japan’s Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) — will be placed into “soft” quarantine at their homes before the official takes place on 14 November 2020.
Q: What material did SpaceX find in the engine release valve? Are the engines for Crew-1 from the same production line as the problematic ones?
— Michael Sheetz (@thesheetztweetz) October 28, 2020
Koenigsmann: "It was described to me as a lacquer, basically a nail polish I think is a good analogy. In this case it had a red color."
[via Teslarati, cover image via L Galbraith / Shutterstock.com]
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