How an engineer saved Elon Musk's SpaceX from shutting down in 2008

American billionaire Elon Musk once revealed that SpaceX would have been finished had the fourth launch of Falcon 1 rocket failed. However, that didn’t happen and the company went on to become one of the biggest private players in the global space industry. SpaceX successfully launched the Falcon 1 rocket in its fourth attempt in September 2008, which opened the gates for the firm to partner with NASA and even send astronauts into Earth’s orbit 12 years later. 

But none of this would have been possible if an engineer named Zachary 'Zach' Dunn hadn’t solved a problem in the Falcon 1 rocket prior to its fourth launch. According to Business Insider, which has acquired a pre-launch copy of Liftoff, a book about the early days of SpaceX, Elon Musk had given just two weeks to prepare for the fourth launch of Falcon 1. SpaceX had hired a military plane to transport the rocket to the launch site.

How Zach Dunn saved SpaceX? 

Ahead of the launch, the rocket and SpaceX engineers were being transported to the launch site by the military aircraft. However, when the flight approached for landing, SpaceX workers heard a “popping noise” in the back of Falcon 1, where the fuel tank is located. SpaceX employee Anne Chinnery, who was the operations manager, asked engineers to shift at the front of the plane fearing the rocket’s fuel tank could explode because of the sudden change in pressure inside the aircraft. 

As all of them were going to the front of the aircraft to avoid an accident, Zach Dunn stepped-up and slipped inside the rocket to open the rear vent, which allowed air to flow into Falcon 1. In the end, the rocket suffered minor damages, all of which were fixed before the launch. The rocket successfully entered the Earth’s orbit, marking the beginning of the Falcon series spacecraft and SpaceX as a behemoth. Zach Dunn went on to become the senior vice president at SpaceX before leaving the company in 2020. Musk posted a message on Twitter to acknowledge Zach's contributions and also bid adieu to the employee who saved SpaceX.