SPACE X Upcoming Falcon 9 Inflight Abort Test

Scheduled for next 2 weeks SPACE X will launch a fully fueled Falcon 9 booster with a DRAGON Crew capsule on top

While passing MAX Q, area of maximum aerodynamic pressure as the booster accelerates through the lower atmosphere, the engines will be shut down

The Dragon guidance system will detect sudden loss of thrust and trigger the abort sequence, separating the capsule from the booster and firing
the SUPER DRACO thrusters to carry it away from the booster

In April a ground test of such a capsule resulted in a spectacular failure as a leaky valve failed leading to a massive explosion as the hypergolic fuels
ignited

The upcoming test will utilize a fully fueled booster so when separation occurs there will still be 1 million pounds of super chilled kerosene and liquid oxygen aboard

After separation the booster will begin to tumble and break up causing a spectacular explosion as the volatile fuels ignite

www.youtube.com...

A successful test is one of the final steps to "Man Rating" the Falcon 9 to begin shuttling humans to ISS

a reply to: firerescue


Ummm...cool...I love to hear anything Spacex related...

Here's to passing on some good luck in hopes they achieve certification for the dragon capsule...

I appreciate the heads up...thanks man...





YouSir

a reply to: firerescue

Lets hope it all goes as planned.

The US really does need to stop buying rides to the ISS from Russia.

a reply to: LookingAtMars

Blame NASA for dragging its feet and delaying the process every step of the way due to increasingly absurd safety standards and favoritism.
If they had to, they could fly a crewed mission weeks from now.
Hell, it could have been done on Dragon 1 years before the Commerical Crew Development program even started. But we cant have that.

Is this one of the final steps for certification for manned flight, or is this the rockets performance evaluation?

Basically the final step before the crewed demo mission to ISS early next year. SpaceX will be ready for Dragon Demo 2 by late December 2019 according to Musk, but Nasa bureaucracy might very well push the launch date a couple of months. Just enough to give Boeing time to play catchup as per usual.
As for the abort test, NASA demanded abort tests, but it was SpaceX who decided to do an inflight abort test for reasons. Boeing will just have a launch pad abort test for Starliner and that's apparently fine too.

The rockets arent an issue. They are using Booster B1046 for the inflight abort test. It's the first Falcon 9 Block 5 booster and has flown three times already. Block 5s are the final design iteration of the Falcon 9 family as SpaceX will be focusiing developmental ressources on Starship/SuperHeavy.
There have been more than 20 successfull launches of Block 5 boosters, no failures so far.

a reply to: mightmight

Boeing had their in flight abort test a few months ago. The decided it was not necessary to have parachutes on the test so the capsule crashed into the ocean after the abort.


It looks like SpaceX will have chutes and recover the capsule after the in flight abort.

a reply to: jrod

Uhm no, that was an abort test for the Orioin spacecraft, not Starliner. Starliner hasnt flown yet.

a reply to: mightmight

I follow space launches and missed that, I assumed it was the Starliner. Thanks for pointing that out.

There truly is a double standard with NASA's policies regarding the safety tests with Boeing and SpaceX.

SpaceX successfully test-fired the emergency thrusters on the Crew Dragon capsule. The last time they tried their capsule blew up, setting them back months.

twitter.com...

In flight abort test is next and after that DM-2, the first manned mission to the ISS.

Once his Big Farting Rocket is space ready all his other rockets will be obsolete.

That is what they were originally calling it before the project got serious. Because of the methane fuel. Always cracks me up. Elon has a pretty good sense of humor.

a reply to: jrod

There truly is a double standard with NASA's policies regarding the safety tests with Boeing and SpaceX

In another major screwup for Boeing, a recent abort test experienced a parachute failure

One of the parachutes separated as the capsule descended