SpaceX's powerful rocket tech could put lives at risk: NASA advisors
Washington, May 7: An approach used by SpaceX to make its Falcon 9 rocket more powerful could put the lives of astronauts at risk, NASA's safety experts have warned.
To make the Falcon 9 rocket even more powerful, SpaceX came up with the idea of keeping the propellant at super-cold temperatures to shrink its size, allowing them to pack more of it into the tanks. But the approach comes with a major risk, The Washington Post reported on Saturday citing the experts.
The new approach requires the propellant to be loaded just before takeoff, while astronauts are aboard, but an accident during this manoeuvre, known as "load-and-go," could set off an explosion.
As NASA and SpaceX prepare to launch humans into orbit as early as this year, one watchdog group labelled load-and-go a "potential safety risk," the Post reported.
In a letter, a NASA advisory group warned that the method was "contrary to booster safety criteria that has been in place for over 50 years."
SpaceX suffered a setback in September 2016 when a Falcon 9 rocket blew up while it was being fuelled ahead of an engine test.
As a result of the explosion, a multi-million dollar satellite was lost. Although no one was hurt in the incident, it raised safety concerns in the minds of the people at NASA.
The report quoted NASA's William Gerstenmaier as saying that the agency had not decided whether it would allow SpaceX to load crews before loading the fuel.
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Sharif Murder Case: School bus driver arrested for murder
Manjeshwara, April 14: The Kasaragod police on Monday arrested a 40-year-old man in connection with the murder of an auto rickshaw driver whose body was found in an abandoned well in Kunjattur Padavu. The accused has been identified as Abhishek Shetty, a resident of Surathkal and a school bus driver at a private school in Mangaluru.
The deceased, Muhammad Sharif (52), a native of Mulki, had gone missing on the night of Wednesday, April 9. His body was discovered the following day in a remote area of Manjeshwara taluk. A post-mortem report confirmed that Sharif had been murdered.
According to the police, the motive behind the crime was an old personal enmity between the two men. Investigators are also looking into the possibility of others being involved in the incident or having aided Shetty in committing the crime.
Police said Shetty has a criminal record, with at least three previous cases registered against him, including one related to the supply of ganja.
The investigation made progress after CCTV footage from the Talapady toll gate revealed that Sharif’s auto rickshaw had been rented on the night he went missing. Based on this clue and further inquiries, police were able to track down and arrest Shetty.
