Crew Dragon In-Flight Abort’s successful completion clears way for crewed flights

SpaceX successfully completed yet another milestone under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program to send astronauts to the International Space Station. Image Credit: Jim Siegel / SpaceFlight Insider

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — SpaceX and NASA conducted an experimental flight of the Crew Dragon ahead of anticipated crewed missions to the sole destination located in low-Earth orbit.

This In-Flight Abort Test (or “IFA”) was carried today, Sunday January 19 at 10:30 a.m. EST (15:30 UTC) launching from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A. Today’s test showed yet again that the $2.6 billion which SpaceX was awarded under the agency’s Commercial Crew Program – wasn’t wasted.

The objective of the IFA was to prove the Crew Dragon has a capable emergency escape system. With the IFA over and done, NASA should give SpaceX the green light for the craft to begin ferrying astronauts back and forth to the International Space Station.

“So far, what we’ve seen is what we expected,” NASA astronaut Victor Glover said during a press conference held after the test.

In terms of this morning’s launch and the attempt SpaceX made yesterday, only weather caused an issue. High winds and rough seas in the recovery zone caused enough concern that the test was pushed from yesterday to today. As of this writing, no technical issues were detected and Crew Dragon has checked off yes another “to do” box on the list of items that need to be accomplished before the company is able to launch crews to the space station.

The IFA demonstrated that if something should go wrong “in-flight” that crews could be pulled away from the rocket to safety. Image Credit: NASA

The Falcon 9 rocket used on this morning’s flight itself is crew-rated. For the IFA, it carried the Crew Dragon spacecraft and flew for approximately 90 seconds before SpaceX initiated the test. The Dragon capsule is fitted with 4 thruster pods, with each pod containing two SuperDraco engines. The purpose of these engines is to pull the Crew Dragon capsule to safety in the unlikely event of a catastrophic failure of the Falcon 9 rocket. This system proved to be successful in both ground and flight testing—as witnessed by this morning’s actual Falcon 9 launch.

“This was a test, but it looked beautiful and now the real work begins,” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said. He went on to note that with the successful completion of the IFA the orbiting lab was a destination of which astronauts could soon travel. “We have to make some decisions on our end, from a NASA perspective: do we want that first crew to be a short duration [mission] or do we want it to be a longer duration? If it’s going to be a longer duration, then we have to have some additional training for our astronauts to actually be prepared to do things on the International Space Station that we weren’t planning to have that initial test crew necessarily do.”

And those options are needed – fast. At present NASA is plunking down more than $70 million a pop for each seat when one of the agency’s astronauts fly aboard Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft. When asked about plans for NASA to cease flying crew aboard Soyuz, Bridenstine balanced his confidence in the Commercial Crew Program’s progress with wanting to ensure that crews could fly as needed: “At this point, as much confidence as we have in the team, I think it’s probably not prudent to go that direction.”, confirming that “we’re going to buy another Soyuz seat.”

The Falcon 9 rocket did not make its way to space but was destroyed in flight after the Crew Dragon jettisoned away from the booster. When the Dragon jettisoned to safety, the rocket was no longer aerodynamic and broke apart in “Dragon Fire” according to Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX. Had the rocket not broken apart, the booster and remaining fuel would have exploded on direct impact with the ocean.

While the Crew Dragon spacecraft used during today’s test (seen at the top, flying away from the fireball at more than twice the speed of sound) is going to be recovered – the Falcon 9 rocket wasn’t. After its role in the test was finished it had lost its aerodynamic properties and was destroyed. Photo Credit Marc Boucher / SpaceFlight Insider

SpaceX is recovering all debris from the staged anomaly along with the Crew Dragon capsule. With the success of this test, this particular Dragon capsule is now expected to transport cargo to the Space Station instead of transporting astronauts.

The sacrificed booster had modifications prior to launch: the legs and grid fins were removed–along with the second stage engine. Other than these modifications, it proceeded as a normal Dragon launch to the orbiting lab until the rocket reached “Max Q”. Max Q is the term used within the industry to describe the point where the largest forces of air are being pushed against the rocket. This was a crucial function for this ultimate test of the Crew Dragon’s launch abort system.

To simulate a failure of the Falcon 9 rocket, all engines were manually shut down. The Crew Dragon immediately detected this and automatically triggered an in-flight abort by firing the SuperDraco engines. In turn, the engines began to separate the Crew Dragon from the simulated failure and danger of the
Falcon 9 rocket.

Once the SuperDraco thrusters stopped firing, it oriented itself for descent and made an apparently nominal parachute landing in the ocean. In a real-world emergency, if the booster were to break apart or there was an explosion, an electrical connection that runs the length of the rocket would sever. Once the Dragon detected this connection was broken, it would trigger the in-flight abort system. For SpaceX’s founder, Elon Musk, today’s test was further validation of the company’s design.

“Because of the integrated design, we are able have launch abort capability all the way to orbit.” Musk said.

Tagged: Crew Dragon Falcon 9 In Flight Abort International Space Station Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A Lead Stories rocket SpaceX

Theresa Cross grew up on the Space Coast. It’s only natural that she would develop a passion for anything “Space” and its exploration. During these formative years, she also discovered that she possessed a talent and love for defining the unique quirks and intricacies that exist in mankind, nature, and machines. Hailing from a family of photographers—including her father and her son, Theresa herself started documenting her world through pictures at a very early age. As an adult, she now exhibits an innate photographic ability to combine what appeals to her heart and her love of technology to deliver a diversified approach to her work and artistic presentations. Theresa has a background in water chemistry, fluid dynamics, and industrial utility.

No excuses appear to be necessary for this mission. It just worked congrats SpaceX

⚠ Commenting Rules

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

document.getElementById(comment).setAttribute( id, a3229784e5e03d69aa2cde5caeff9fb5 );document.getElementById(d6fdb4c9bf).setAttribute( id, comment );

Name *

Email *

Website

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.

© 2013 - 2023 Spaceflight Insider. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Privacy Policy.

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.

Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.

Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.