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As the historic return of human spaceflights from American soil is rapidly approaching, SpaceX takes a moment to highlight the crew’s latest Dragon achievement. During a general press conference on the commercial crew and the International Space Station held on Friday, May 1, SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell released new 4K footage of the recent Crew Dragon in-flight abortion test. The test, conducted on January 19, 2020 from LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center, demonstrated the Dragon’s ability for the crew to keep astronaut occupants safe in the event of a miscarriage scenario. launch climb emergency.
Before making his comments and answering questions, Shotwell drew attention to the video highlighting the Super Draco launch exhaust system, a defining character difference between Crew Dragon and the capsule charging variant used to transport missions from resupply to and from International Space. Station.
The Flight Abortion test was the final demonstration of the redesigned Super Draco abort thrusters after a catastrophic explosion in March 2019 that resulted in the complete loss of the Dragon capsule from Demonstration Mission 1.
Super Draco thrusters are used to quickly propel the capsule away from a failed first-stage booster and ensure the safety of all crew members on board. Along with eight Super Draco abort thrusters, the Crew Dragon capsule also features sixteen Draco maneuver thrusters. These work in an abortion scenario to ensure attitude control: flip and orient the capsule to prevent loss of control and ensure proper orientation for parachute deployment.
The wrap-up video included footage of the Super Draco powertrain running successfully and propelling the Crew Dragon pod away from the first-stage Falcon 9 booster that was undergoing intentional engine shutdown. Shortly after, the video shows a never-before-seen view of the capsule expelling its trunk before the parachute was deployed.
The wrap-up video differs from the typical SpaceX launch webcast in that it presents a more behind-the-scenes look at launch and splash procedures. SpaceX engineers along with NASA astronauts and company founder Elon Musk are seen inside firing room 4 of the Launch Control Center at Kennedy Space Center.
The facility was once used to monitor manned launches during the space shuttle era. The next time it will be used will be during the first manned launch of a new human spaceflight vehicle since the first manned space shuttle flight in 1981. The next Crew Dragon Demonstration 2 mission is scheduled to take off no earlier than 4:23 pm ET on Wednesday, May 27.
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