SpaceX performed a hot fire test of the Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon vehicle onboard
on 24th January.
The test took place at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
SpaceX has a contract from NASA to ferry American astronauts to the ISS, a job currently outsourced
to Russian Soyuz craft.
The SpaceX company announced on next day, it has completed a static test fire for a
rocket carrying its Crew Dragon capsule.
The success of the firing paves the way for an unmanned test flight as early as February.
SpaceX confirmed that it completed a static fire test of the Falcon 9 rocket that will
propel the Dragon II capsule into orbit.
In a static fire test, the rocket remains tethered to the launch tower so it can't
go anywhere while the engines light up.
Next month, the rocket will be free to shoot for the moon.
Well, for the International Space Station.
"If test flight of Dragon goes well next month, NASA astronauts will fly to Space Station
this summer!"
Musk told his 24 million Twitter followers, in an emoji-laden message that he later explained
was because "the youth love em."
The short test was released by SpaceX via Twitter.
Sources close to SpaceX indicate the test flight is scheduled for February 23, but there
has been no confirmation from the company itself.
The company plans to complete the first unmanned flight from this launch pad.
Its seems that the static fire was shorter than planned.
SpaceX hasn't released any comment about whether their testing was successful, but
the company's public communications suggest it is satisfied with moving ahead to the next
stage: SpaceX and Boeing are working hard to get
their vehicles ready for the critical testing.
Some NASA staff are working without pay alongside their commercial partnership colleagues, due
to the ongoing Trump led shutdown.
In this video, Engineering Today will discuss about SpaceX Crewed Dragon Test Flight Plans
for Next Month.
Why for both SpaceX and NASA, the launch is critical?
Why NASA watches carefully over its commercial partner?
Lets get started.
Both Boeing and SpaceX have contracts with NASA to develop spacecraft suitable for crewed
missions.
Boeing's CST-100 Starliner, is also currently in testing stages.
Both crafts will carry seven astronauts.
The Spacex Crew Dragon will launch using SpaceX's recently tested Falcon 9 rockets, while the
Boeing's Starliner will use United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rockets.
The USA has not had a spacecraft suitable for crewed missions in operation since 2011,
when the Space Shuttle was retired.
The capsule is part of a broader mission to send American astronauts to the International
Space Station.
Since NASA canceled the space shuttle program in 2011, the agency has been using Russian
Soyuz rockets, at Baikonur Cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan, to ferry astronauts to and from
the space station.
This contract, which costs $81 million per seat, is set to expire in November 2019.
The Spacex Dragon II capsule is a modified version of the Dragon, that has been flying
uncrewed cargo missions to the ISS over the last few years.
However, NASA's testing and certification process is understandably much more stringent,
than the cargo contract.
SpaceX has experienced a few launch failures, but the manned flights will include additional
safety measures like a launch abort system.
NASA was initially hesitant to allow astronauts aboard the spacecraft during fueling, which
is SpaceX's preferred process.
However, the agency relented after additional design reviews.
NASA would have been overseeing the test, the American Space Agency recently completed
a workplace and safety audit on SpaceX and Boeing.
"In the coming months, prior to the crew test flights of Crew Dragon and Starliner, NASA
will be conducting a cultural assessment study in coordination with our commercial partners,
to ensure the companies are meeting NASA's requirements for workplace safety, including
the adherence to a drug-free environment," said the NASA statement at the time of the
announcement.
The rocket will now be moved back to SpaceX's Horizontal Integration Facility at the company's
Florida site.
SpaceX has been sharing the development journey of the Dragon Crew, from its initial design
iterations to its current testing.
The February test will cover all parts of a typical mission to the ISS for ferrying
crew back and forth.
The mission, will begin with a launch from historic launch pad 39-A at Kennedy Space
Center.
The Falcon 9 booster will release the second stage before heading back down to Earth.
(it's unclear if SpaceX will attempt to land that booster).
The Dragon capsule will head into orbit, and conduct automated docking with the ISS, where
it will remain for several weeks.
Finally, it will re-enter the atmosphere and splash down in the ocean.
SpaceX has been working on propulsive landing technology, but NASA won't let the company
used that on crewed flights just yet.
The company plans to reuse that booster later for an in-flight launch abort test.
NASA website currently states the launch will take place no earlier than February.
This will be followed by an in-flight abort test, before a "Demo-2" crewed launch
in June 2019.
The summer launch will see two astronauts embarking on the first Crew Dragon flight:
one is former Marine Corps colonel, Douglas Hurley, and another is former Air Force colonel,
Robert Behnken, both of which have been astronauts since 2000.
Boeing is set to follow a similar trajectory.
The company's uncrewed orbital test flight is scheduled for March, followed by a pad
abort test, leading up to a manned test flight in August.
The test flight will include three astronauts: former Air Force test pilot Eric Boe, retired
Navy captain Christopher Ferguson, and former lieutenant colonel Nicole Aunapu Mann.
SpaceX had initially targeted the Demo-1 launch for December 2016.
Delays have pushed the Commercial Crew Program back repeatedly, and time is running out.
NASA only has seats aboard Russian Soyuz capsules booked through the end of the year.
Boeing's CST-100 Starliner capsule is a bit more delayed, thanks to a fuel leak discovered
in testing last year.
Boeing hopes its first demonstration flight will take place in March.
Crewed flights with both vehicles could start as soon as this summer.
The cargo iteration of Dragon made history in 2012.
It became the first commercial spacecraft to deliver cargo to the International Space
Station.
Images of the interior of the Crew Dragon was shared by SpaceX a year ago.
SpaceX says, the spacecraft was designed for an 'enjoyable ride', and has four seats
for its crew made from the 'highest-grade carbon fiber, and Alcantara cloth.'
The lucky crew will have views from the seats of 'Earth, the Moon, and the wider Solar
System.'
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