SpaceX successfully tested the parachute system on its Dragon capsule on Friday.
SpaceX successfully tested the parachute system on its Dragon capsule on Friday.
And in a competing test, NASA successfully tested Orion’s parachute system the day before.
Both systems plan test flights later this year to prove the safety of the spacecraft.
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SpaceX successfully tested the parachute system on its Dragon capsule on Friday.
And in a competing test, NASA successfully tested Orion’s parachute system the day before.
Both systems plan test flights later this year to prove the safety of the spacecraft.
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.
awesome, yet as I proclaimed Many moons ago. This is All nearly 50year old Tech. Yes , it is Modernized, but really, it is the What that NASA was doing in the mid ’60’s,
This test was key for the Pad Abort test, since they need to change the parachute deploy model, to account for a low altitude abort, to deploy that much faster than on a normal reentry profile. One more step closer…
I am very glad to see both successful tests, but I’m not sure if they were “competing”. Even if they were, Orion won because it held it’s test first.
Actually, SpaceX wins, since Dragon has launched and reentered with the previous parachute design 4 times. This was a test of a second version of the parachute system, to handle low altitude aborts. I.e. Icing on the cake. Still beats out Orion, since it has actually flown. (Assuming Orion ever actually flies).
And that’s fine, if there was a competition. You may have your hopes and perspectives on the matter, but I can tell you that there is no “competition” with SpaceX from the Orion side, and being that Elon Musk is a very smart man, I don’t think there is a “competition” going on there, either.
SpaceX is doing what they should, which is make incremental improvement with each action his company takes. Chasing a “competitor” instead is a ticket to going off their plan, and invites failure. My hat is off to him for sticking to his goals instead of becoming caught up in trying to please the fanboy circus on both sides.