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

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

But ne of this would have been possible if an engineer named Zachary 'Zach' Dunn hadn’t solved a problem in Falcon 1 rocket prior to its fourth launch. According to Business Insider, which has acquired a pre-launch copy of Liftoff, a book about early days of X, Elon Musk had given just two weeks to prepare for fourth launch of Falcon 1. X had hired a military plane to transport rocket to launch site.

How Zach Dunn saved X? 

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

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