Space X's Dragon spacecraft back in gear after thruster glitch*

Dragon's hookup with the International Space Station might be delayed, but two of the four thruster pods are back on line and company officials are sounding upbeat about the other two. At least three of the thrusters have to be operational for the capsule to dock with the Space Station. This is the third mission for Hawthorne-based Space X, and while there been a few miscues in previous launches, this appears to be the most serious. Via Venture Beat:

During a press conference held by SpaceX and NASA, [Space X CEO Elong] Musk said the situation is under control and the Dragon could potentially arrive at the space station on Sunday. "We are really deeply engaged in trying to figure out what went wrong with the Dragon pressure system and trying to bring it back online," Musk said. "Moments ago, we were able to bring pods one and four online and they appear to be working normally, which is great. Now trying to bring pods two and three online as well, and they are actually also looking quite good. We want to make sure have checked all parameters and things are looking good before turning them on. We are optimistic that we will be able to turn all four pods on and restore full control."

*Musk tweets:

Just want to say thanks to @nasa for being the world's coolest customer. Looking forward to delivering the goods!

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 1, 2013