NASA, SpaceX must ‘maintain focus’ after astronauts hospitalized, safety panel says

NASA’s safety panel urged the agency and SpaceX to “maintain focus” amid recent mission setbacks, equipment malfunctions and last week’s hospitalization of a crew returning from the International Space Station.

At an Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel meeting Thursday, committee member and former astronaut Kent Rominger said NASA and SpaceX must “guard against letting the high pace of operations [cloud] their judgment” and focus on aging equipment, Space News reported.

The warning comes a week after four astronauts were hospitalized upon returning to Earth from an eight-month mission on the Crew-8 Dragon, one of them staying overnight for an unspecified “medical issue,” according to officials.

It was the latest in a series of recent anomalies for SpaceX. Its Falcon 9 launch vehicle, which sent the Crew-8 Dragon into space, was grounded three times between July and September for various malfunctions, according to reports.

In July, the partially reusable rocket was grounded after experiencing an engine malfunction that an investigation found was caused by an oxygen leak. It was the first failure in more than seven years for the reliable Falcon 9, which is the world’s most active rocket.

But Falcon 9 launches were then halted in August when a Falcon 9 booster tipped over during a landing and ignited a large blaze. The overworked rocket was back to launching Starlink satellites three days later.

In September, the Falcon 9 rocket launched a crew to the ISS and on its return, missed its targeted splashdown zone because of a suspected fuel leak. The vehicle was then grounded indefinitely and the Federal Aviation Administration said it is requiring an investigation.

“When you look at these recent incidents over the last handful of weeks, it does lead one [to] say that it’s apparent that operating safely requires significant attention to detail as hardware ages and the pace of operations increases,” Rominger said.

“Both NASA and SpaceX need to maintain focus on safe Crew Dragon operations and not take any ‘normal’ operations for granted,” he added, noting the “incredibly busy” year SpaceX has had.

When the four astronauts were splashing down in Pensacola, Florida, on Oct. 25, one parachute took longer to unfurl than expected — but Rominger said that was “within the family of expected performance.”

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been a NASA’s partner for years, launching nine crews and 44 flights to and from the ISS. It is the only US company currently sending astronauts to the space station.

The panel also discussed the August decision to bring the Boeing Starliner back to Earth and leave astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams at the ISS because of safety issues aboard that spacecraft.

“NASA clearly demonstrated the attributes of a healthy safety culture, and we applaud NASA for ensuring that their cultural approach led to the appropriate risk-managed outcomes,” ASAP Chair Susan Helms said on Thursday.

ASAP was formed in 1968 to evaluate NASA’s safety performance and advise the agency on ways to improve performance.