Cape Canaveral, Florida - Elon Musk's SpaceX
simulated a dramatic emergency landing on Sunday to test a key
abort system on an unmanned astronaut capsule, the company's
final milestone test before flying NASA astronauts from US soil.
A Crew Dragon astronaut capsule carrying two test dummies
splashed down about 19 miles (32 km) off the coast of Cape
Canaveral in Florida after ejecting itself from a rocket that
cut off its engines 12 miles (19 km) above the ocean to mimic a
launch failure.
Moments before the launch, Musk wrote on Twitter that it was
a risky mission that was "pushing the envelope in so many ways".
The Crew Dragon capsule, an acorn-shaped pod that can seat
seven astronauts, fired thrusters to detach itself from a Falcon
9 rocket less than two minutes after liftoff, simulating an
emergency abort scenario to prove it can return astronauts to
safety. Each stage of the test prompted loud cheers from SpaceX
crew members watching the footage from back on land.
The test is crucial to qualify the capsule to fly humans to
the International Space Station, something the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration expects to come as soon as
mid-2020. It follows years of development and delays as the
United States has sought to revive its human spaceflight program
through private partnerships.
A Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket explodes as it crashes in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral during a test flight to demonstrate the capsule's emergency escape system. Picture: John Raoux/AP
NASA awarded $4.2 billion to Boeing and $2.5 billion to
SpaceX in 2014 to develop separate capsule systems capable of
ferrying astronauts to the space station from U.S. soil for the
first time since NASA's space shuttle program ended in 2011. The
space agency has since relied on Russian spacecraft for rides to
the space station.
A Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket lifts off from pad 39A during a test flight to demonstrate the capsule's emergency escape system at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. Picture: John Raoux/AP
During the test the Falcon 9 rocket's boosters shut down in
a mock failure that triggered Crew Dragon's so-called SuperDraco
thrusters to jet itself away at supersonic speeds of up to 1,500
miles per hour (2,400 kph).
The capsule deployed four parachutes to slow its descent to
the water, and carried two human-shaped test dummies on seats
fitted with motion sensors to collect data on the immense
g-force — the effect of acceleration on the body — astronauts
would be subjected to during abort.
A Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket lifts off from pad 39A during a test flight to demonstrate the capsule's emergency escape system at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. Picture: John Raoux/AP
The test was originally scheduled for mid-2019 but was
delayed after a Crew Dragon capsule exploded in April on a test
stand just before firing its launch abort thrusters, triggering
a lengthy investigation.
SpaceX-led investigators in July zeroed in on a previously
unknown explosive reaction between a titanium valve and a
propellant used to ignite the thrusters. A SpaceX official said
the company completed the investigation within the last week.