Disputes between NASA and SpaceX delayed the first flight of Crew Dragon

Brief retelling from RIA II

Disputes between NASA and SpaceX over safety requirements have delayed preparations for the first flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft.

One of the reasons for the controversy was the number of on-board computers: Elon Musk advocated one computer, and NASA demanded three.

The first manned flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft with NASA astronauts took place on May 30, 2020.

JAKARTA, September 28 - RIA Novosti. Disputes between NASA and Elon Musk's SpaceX company about safety requirements, including the number of on-board computers, delayed preparations for the first flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft, Russian test cosmonaut Nikolai Tikhonov told RIA Novosti.

The first test launch of Crew Dragon took place on March 2, 2019: the ship went to the International Space Station without a crew.

“NASA says, ‘Make three computers.’ Musk says, ‘I’ll make one computer. Why do I need three computers?" He evaluates reliability from the point of view of functionality: functions are performed, there is a functional reserve. "But if your computer fails, what will you do?" - "I will control it with my hands. Why do I need three computers?" - "No, you have to make three computers. This is security." They argued about this for more than four years," Tikhonov said.

According to him, the requirements for on-board computers were just one of the points on which the parties could not agree. According to the astronaut, NASA has not agreed on a whole list of decisions related to the safety of the spacecraft.

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“And while they were arguing and talking, more than four years passed,” the agency’s interlocutor noted.

The first human flight began on May 30, 2020, when a Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida carrying NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley. This launch was the first manned launch from US soil since the end of the Space Shuttle program in 2011.