SpaceX is a vision which Elon Musk has for the world. Every resource which the company has is being directed towards making space flight cheaper. Crew Dragon spacecraft is one of his ambitious missions.
The company figured out that rockets are expensive because they could be used just once. The brilliant minds in SpaceX came together to invent reusable rocket boosters.
These boosters return to the earth’s atmosphere once they deliver the payload. In this journey of putting humans into space, SpaceX underwent a major field test.
Crew Dragon Spacecraft: Safety System
One of the important safety systems of the Crew Dragon was tested. It was an escape module. It was tested on the field with a Falcon 9 reusable rocket boosters.
Of course, this test was conducted without the presence of a crew. Since the escape modules were meant to be tested, the launch was aborted manually. The In-Flight Abort protocol was in effect.
This made the Crew Dragon eject from the rocket boosters. This took place roughly a minute and a half after the launch. The ultimate goal of the project was to make sure the astronauts stay safe if the launch does not go as planned. But everything went as planned.
The eight Super Draco engines which the Crew dragon has pushed it away from the boosters. They were capable of propelling half of a mile in just under 8 seconds.
Completed Escape Test SuccessfullyÂ
Splashdown of Crew Dragon in the Atlantic Ocean! pic.twitter.com/V1C2Xfd9Mk
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 19, 2020
During this manoeuvre, the astronauts might experience up to 4Gs of force. Once the escape pod reaches a safe distance, parachutes are employed. It went as planned and safe splashing of the escape pod over the Atlantic ocean was accomplished.
In case if the situation is found to happen in real-time, an elite Air Force rescue team would get employed. This is to rescue the astronauts as quickly as possible. But the mission objective did not include faster recovery.
The objective was to rescue the pod with its entire integrity. It is to be considered that the falcon 9 boosters used for the test, has already been in three previous launch missions.
Those boosters also were the first set of boosters which SpaceX ever manufactured. The mission went as planned. It resulted in an extensive explosion due to the available fuel present in the boosters.
Similar Pod Test in 2015
This is not the first time when SpaceX tested the glory of their escape pod system. A test very similar to this took place as early as 2015. SpaceX has only been getting good at it.
The company came across fatal errors in the operation of the Super Draco in 2019. SpaceX managed to rectify the mistakes when they started working with NASA. SpaceX has previously conducted several successful unmanned missions.
A Crew Dragon was launched with the help of a falcon 9 into the orbit. Once the capsule was safely docked to the International Space Station, the falcons flew back the earth safely.
Final Thoughts
SpaceX is almost ready to conduct manned space mission since it has fulfilled a lot of conditions. SpaceX and NASA together hosted a press meeting where Musk exclaimed that the plan for the project was perfect.
He also added that the plan was executed with remarkable accuracy. He said that the spacecraft will be double-checked after its recovery to ensure that there are no errors during the actual mission.
