Valor Margolus
BY MARCIA DUNN / AP MAY 2, 2019
(CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.) — SpaceX finally confirmed Thursday its crew capsule was destroyed in ground testing two weeks ago and conceded that the accident is “not great news” for the company’s effort to launch astronauts this year.
Hans Koenigsmann, a company vice president, told reporters it’s too soon to know what went wrong during the April 20 test or whether the crew Dragon capsule’s test flight in March — minus astronauts — contributed to the failure. Flames engulfed the capsule a half-second before the launch-abort thrusters were to fire.
SpaceX still cannot access the testing area at Cape Canaveral for safety reasons, according to Koenigsmann. The company does not want to disturb any evidence that could provide clues to the failure, he noted.