SpaceX Dragon capsule to miss berthing date at space station after thruster issue

LOW EARTH ORBIT A commercial vessel carrying a ton of supplies for the International Space Station ran into thruster trouble shortly after liftoff Friday and will miss its docking date, despite a day spent scrambling by flight controllers to fix the problem.

In a press conference Friday afternoon, SpaceX founder Elon Musk said the company had resolved issues that prevented three of the four sets of thrusters on the company's unmanned Dragon capsule from kicking in, delaying the release of solar panels -- and ultimately preventing the vehicle from making its planned docking date.

Dragon's twin solar wings swung opened two hours later than planned as SpaceX worked to bring up the idled thrusters, which Musk said should happen shortly.

Weve been deeply engaged in trying to find out what went wrong with the Dragon thruster system, Musk said over the phone from SpaceX mission control in California. "Im optimistic that well be able to turn all four thruster pods on and restore full control soon, he added.

The Dragon is equipped with 18 thrusters, divided into four sets, and can maneuver adequately even with some unavailable. The thruster issues caused SpaceX to miss its scheduled rendezvous.

Fortunately, we have quite a bit of flexibility in our birthing date, explained Michael Suffredini, International Space Station program manager. Musk noted that the capsule could orbit safely for up to a month before docking, if needed. And because the cargo is largely scientific, a delay won't put the station crew in any jeopardy.

The problem cropped up following Dragon's separation from the rocket upper stage, nine minutes into the flight. The liftoff was right on time and appeared to go flawlessly; the previous Falcon launch in October suffered a single engine failure that resulted in the loss of a communications satellite that was hitching a ride on the rocket.

This is the first major trouble to strike a Dragon in orbit. Two similar capsules, launched last year, had no problem getting to the orbiting lab.

It was a little frightening there, Musk admitted, stressing that the Falcon rocket performed perfectly despite the minor troubles with the Dragon capsule. More than 1 ton of space station supplies are aboard the cargo craft, including some much-needed equipment for air purifiers.

SpaceX has a $1.6 billion contract with NASA for 12 deliveries to restock the space station, and hopes the venture will lead to transporting astronauts there in a few years. A company-sponsored demo mission kicked everything off last May.

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SpaceX Dragon capsule to miss berthing date at space station after thruster issue