Nuked The flight tested the emergency escape system on the company’s new passenger spacecraft. Spacex destroyed one of its Falcon 9 rockets in the process – on purpose.
Spacex was testing its new crew Dragon capsule for NASA’s commercial crew program. This weekend’s test, known as an in-flight abort test, helped to ensure that the crew dragon can keep its crew safe in the unlikely event of an emergency.
Early analysis of the test flight indicated that everything went according to plan. Spacex CEO Elon Musk said it was a’picture-perfect mission’.
The crew dragon’s escape system is made up of eight SuperDraco engines. superdracos can propel the spacecraft up and away from the decaying rocket. A recovery boat would then meet up with the capsule and rescue the crew inside.
Spacex has tested out this escape system before, but only when the crew dragon was on the ground. The company and NASA wanted to see the escape system in action while the capsule is zooming into the sky on top of a rocket.
Spacex launched one of its used Falcon 9 rockets at 10:30am et on Sunday from Cape Canaveral, Florida. At 84 seconds after launch, the rocket and capsule were feeling stress during flight, the superdracos fired and the rocket’s main engines cut off. The crew dragon then went through the entire escape routine and successfully splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean as planned.
The capsule reached a peak altitude of 131,000 feet, pulling up to 3.5 GS at one point during the test. Spacex had two smart Dummies inside the capsule to help gather data about how the maneuver would affect future crew members.
Spacex expected to lose its Falcon 9 rocket during this test. The rocket was fully fueled for this launch, causing the propellant to light up.
The crew dragon could have survived if it had been right on top of the fireball. Musk said the spacecraft has a very powerful base heat shield.
Nasa astronauts Bob behnken and Doug Hurley watched the launch from Florida today, as did their families. The test is now complete, the next big flight of the crew Dragon will have people on board.
The launch is a key one leading up to the launch, says Hurley.’we have a whole bunch of different things that go through your mind, emotions that you experience during a launch,’ he adds.
The crew dragon that will be used for that test is slated to be ready by the end of the February. Spacex and NASA will need to do more tests of its parachutes, which it upgraded last year.
Nasa has had to rely on Russia to transport the agency’s astronauts to and from the ISS. Until the vehicles are ready, NASA must rely on the Soyuz rocket.
Nasa and SpaceX are getting excited about the prospect of flying people this year from Florida. Despite that reality reality, both NASA and NASA are flying people from Florida.
