SpaceX had a problem during a parachute test in April

SpaceX had a problem during a test of its Dragon Crew parachute system in April, NASA confirmed Wednesday. "The test was not satisfactory," said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's manned space flight manager, during a hearing of the House subcommittee. "We did not get the results we expected, the parachutes did not work as expected."

The test seems to have unfolded last month at Delamar Dry Lake, Nevada, where SpaceX was conducting one of dozens of fall tests that it plans to perform to demonstrate the safety of its spacecraft Crew Dragon. It was a "unique" test in which one of the four Dragon parachutes had intentionally failed before the test. "The other three chutes did not work properly," said Gerstenmaier.

The admission came as a result of questions from a representative from Alabama, Mo Brooks, who criticized the new space company because its advances in rocket technology are threatening the Marshall Space Flight Center, which he represents.

"Can you be more specific when you say that it was not what we wanted?" Brooks asked, obviously pressing Gerstenmaier to say publicly that the test vehicle suspended by the parachute had been damaged or destroyed.

The test mat, confirmed Gerstenmaier, was "damaged by the impact with the ground".

In his comments, however, Gerstenmaier sought to make the accident a positive learning experience for NASA and SpaceX. "It's part of the learning process," he said. "Thanks to these failures, we will learn the data and information necessary for a design that will lead to a safe design for our crews, so I do not consider it a disadvantage, which is why we try to push things."

Gerstenmaier said it was not clear if the fault had occurred because of a problem related to the test itself – maybe the release release of the # The plane was a problem – with the parachute design or some other problem. But he added that teams from SpaceX and NASA were investigating. It is unclear how this failure will affect the first crew launch of the Dragon vehicle, which already seemed unlikely before 2020 after a problem during an unrelated booster test in April.

Brooks then asked if Gerstenmaier was convinced that this parachute problem would be solved. To that, Gerstenmaier replied, "I am very comfortable, the teams are fully involved, we understand that." As Gerstenmaier advanced, Brooks interrupted him saying that he was running out of time. As Brooks spoke in the microphone, Gerstenmaier persisted. "NASA is fully committed to this issue," he said.

As Ars reported earlier this year, SpaceX had problems with the parachutes of the Cargo and Crew Dragon vehicles. (NASA's Orion capsule and Boeing's Starliner also struggled to design and test parachutes). However, during the initial flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft in March, the parachute system worked perfectly when the vehicle returned to Earth.