Planning the first launch abort test of the Dragon capsule.
Planning the first launch abort test of the Dragon capsule.
The in-flight abort test will take place along Florida’s space coast. During the test, a Dragon spacecraft will launch on a standard Falcon 9 rocket and an abort command will be issued approximately 73 seconds into the flight. At that point, the spacecraft will be flying through the area of maximum dynamic pressure, or Max Q, where the combination of air pressure and speed will cause maximal strain on the spacecraft.
Dragon will be outfitted with about 270 special sensors to measure a wide variety of stresses and acceleration effects on the spacecraft. An instrumented mannequin, similar to a crash test dummy, also will be inside. The spacecraft’s parachutes will deploy for a splashdown in the Atlantic, where a ship will be pre-positioned for simulated rescue operations. The test spacecraft will be returned to Port Canaveral by barge so data can be retrieved and incorporated into the system’s design.
The test is presently scheduled for the summer of 2014.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Planning the first launch abort test of the Dragon capsule.
The in-flight abort test will take place along Florida’s space coast. During the test, a Dragon spacecraft will launch on a standard Falcon 9 rocket and an abort command will be issued approximately 73 seconds into the flight. At that point, the spacecraft will be flying through the area of maximum dynamic pressure, or Max Q, where the combination of air pressure and speed will cause maximal strain on the spacecraft.
Dragon will be outfitted with about 270 special sensors to measure a wide variety of stresses and acceleration effects on the spacecraft. An instrumented mannequin, similar to a crash test dummy, also will be inside. The spacecraft’s parachutes will deploy for a splashdown in the Atlantic, where a ship will be pre-positioned for simulated rescue operations. The test spacecraft will be returned to Port Canaveral by barge so data can be retrieved and incorporated into the system’s design.
The test is presently scheduled for the summer of 2014.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Did any of the NASA capsules undergo a full-up, real launch test of the abort system?
That’s a very good question. I seem to remember that they did. I know they did abort tests of the Mercury capsule, but the rocket used was not a full Redstone but a short version called Little Joe, launched out of Wallops. I’m not sure if similar tests were done with Gemini or Apollo.
The Little Joe II was used for Apollo. I remember building a model of it as a kid.
YES! I had forgotten about Little Joe II.
I would think that SpaceX will not waste a full sized Falcon 9 on this test, but then, who knows? NASA might be forcing them to jump through hoops.
Or, they might see this as an opportunity to test a vertical landing of that first stage! Now, wouldn’t that be cool!
The press release referred to Max-Q occurring ca. 73 sec. after launch for the in-flight abort test. I believe this is the normal timing for reaching Max-Q on a Falcon 9 launch carrying a full propellant load. If the in-flight abort test is run with an F-9R first stage equipped with flight-article landing legs, SpaceX could, one presumes, fly with a propellant load sufficient only to achieve Max-Q, then support a controlled return-to-launch-site (RTLS) recovery on one engine. This would be, in effect, a more eventful than usual up-and-down flight of the sort SpaceX already plans to run with the Grasshopper 2 at Spaceport America in New Mexico later this year. Doing so would avoid wasting a perfectly good F-9R first stage, but the lighter propellant load should cause a higher-G-than-normal liftoff and climbout and a correspondingly shorter time before Max-Q is reached if all nine 1-st stage engines are used at full power for liftoff. Maybe running all the 1st-stage engines at less than 100% throttle could compensate for the lighter propellant load. Or perhaps fewer than nine engines could be started for liftoff on this test in order to preserve the velocity/timing/altitude profile of a normal launch. I hope a more detailed flight plan description is published as the abort test date draws nearer. SpaceX likes to squeeze maximum useful results out of each flight mission. Adding a Grasshopper-oid RTLS test to the mandated in-flight abort test would be very much in keeping with this test philosophy. Plus, the resulting video would be uber-cool!
They could use less fuel and just add weights, but what mass would be cheaper than just fully fueling it?
Then again, do you want a fully fueled rocket trying to land?
In any case, for it to be a real test the abort would have to occur at the right altitude and velocity.
It should be a good show!