Crew Dragon In-Flight Abort Test

For the Commercial Crew Program, NASA requires participating companies to include and test a launch escape system in their crew-carrying vehicles.{{Cite web |last=Cooke |first=Douglas R. |date=9 December 2012 |title=Commercial Crew Transportation System Certification Requirements for NASA Low Earth Orbit Missions |url=https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/504982main_CCTSCR_Dec-08_Basic_Web.pdf |website=NASA}} Prior to this, the last time American crewed spaceflight implemented the capability to escape a rocket during an emergency or anomaly was on the Saturn IB launch vehicle during Skylab missions and Apollo-Soyuz.{{Cite web |title=SATURN IB FACT SHEET {{!}} Spaceline |url=https://www.spaceline.org/cape-canaveral-rocket-missile-program/saturn-ib-fact-sheet/ |access-date=2023-02-13 |language=en-US}} The Saturn's successor, the Space Shuttle, had no system to eject the crew compartment from the rest of the spacecraft and launch stack at any time after two-person test flights had ended,{{Cite web |title=A Quick History of Launch Escape Systems |url=https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/quick-history-launch-escape-systems |access-date=2023-02-13 |website=airandspace.si.edu |date=7 October 2016 |language=en}} and had limited launch abort options.{{Cite web |last1=NASA |last2=United Space Alliance |title=Contingency Aborts |url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/383441main_contingency_aborts_21007_31007.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150226074439/http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/383441main_contingency_aborts_21007_31007.pdf |archive-date=26 February 2015 |website=NASA |author1-link=NASA |author2-link=United Space Alliance }} The Space Shuttle program had fourteen astronaut casualties during its 30-year duration, half of which occurred when a booster rocket failed during ascent.{{Cite web |last=Borenstein |first=Seth |title=A look at people killed during space missions |url=https://phys.org/news/2014-11-people-space-missions.html |access-date=2023-02-13 |website=phys.org |language=en}} NASA heavily emphasized crew safety during successor programs.{{Cite web |last=Regan |first=Rebecca |title=Safety Requirements Shape Commercial Crew Designs |url=https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/crewsafety.html |access-date=2023-02-13 |website=www.nasa.gov |language=en}} The need for an effective launch escape system was further amplified by the launch failure of Soyuz MS-10 in 2018,{{Cite web |last=Nardi |first=Tom |date=2020-01-16 |title=A SpaceX Falcon 9 Will Blow Up Very Soon, And That's OK |url=https://hackaday.com/2020/01/16/a-spacex-falcon-9-will-blow-up-very-soon-and-thats-ok/ |access-date=2023-02-12 |website=Hackaday |language=en-US}} during which American astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin had their lives saved by the rocket's abort system.{{Citation |title=Space X launch scrubbed, flight aims to test safety procedures | date=18 January 2020 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8WYmgZtlzE |language=en |access-date=2023-02-12}}File:SpaceX In-flight Abort Illustration.jpgThe SpaceX in-flight abort test was envisioned as a separation and abort scenario in the troposphere at transonic velocities during max Q, where the vehicle experiences maximum aerodynamic pressure. Dragon 2 would use its SuperDraco abort engines to push itself away from the Falcon 9 after an intentional premature engine cutoff. The vehicle would reorient, deploy parachutes and soft-land in the Atlantic Ocean. Earlier, this test had been scheduled before the uncrewed orbital test,{{cite news|last=Foust|first=Jeff|url=http://spacenews.com/spacex-seeks-to-accelerate-falcon-9-production-and-launch-rates-this-year/|title=SpaceX seeks to accelerate Falcon 9 production and launch rates this year|publisher=SpaceNews|date=February 4, 2016|access-date=March 21, 2016|quote=Shotwell said the company is planning an in-flight abort test of the Crew Dragon spacecraft before the end of this year, where the vehicle uses its thrusters to separate from a Falcon 9 rocket during ascent. That will be followed in 2017 by two demonstration flights to the International Space Station, the first without a crew and the second with astronauts on board, and then the first operational mission.}} however, SpaceX and NASA considered it safer to use a capsule capable of spaceflight rather than the test article from the pad abort test.{{cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/feature/more-fidelity-for-spacex-in-flight-abort-reduces-risk/|title=More Fidelity for SpaceX In-Flight Abort Reduces Risk|last=Siceloff|first=Steven|publisher=NASA|date=July 1, 2015|access-date=June 19, 2016|quote=In the updated plan, SpaceX would launch its uncrewed flight test (Demo-1), refurbish the flight test vehicle, then conduct the in-flight abort test prior to the crew flight test. Using the same vehicle for the in-flight abort test will improve the realism of the ascent abort test and reduce risk.|archive-date=16 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160616202356/http://www.nasa.gov/feature/more-fidelity-for-spacex-in-flight-abort-reduces-risk/|url-status=dead}} {{PD-notice}} The flight would have launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base SLC-4E on board a modified three-engine Falcon 9, which was possibly F9R Dev2.{{cite web|last=Bergin |first=Chris|title=SpaceX conducts tanking test on In-Flight Abort Falcon 9|url=https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2015/04/spacex-tanking-tests-in-flight-abort-falcon-9/|publisher=NASASpaceFlight.com|date=2015-04-10|access-date=2020-07-08}}

After the change of plan, the test would have used the C204 capsule, which successfully flew Demo-1, however, C204 was destroyed in an explosion during a static fire test on 20 April 2019.{{cite web|url=https://www.spacex.com/news/2019/07/15/update-flight-abort-static-fire-anomaly-investigation|title=UPDATE: IN-FLIGHT ABORT STATIC FIRE TEST ANOMALY INVESTIGATION |last=Shanklin|first=Emily|date=2019-07-15|publisher=SpaceX|access-date=2020-01-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190718220856/https://www.spacex.com/news/2019/07/15/update-flight-abort-static-fire-anomaly-investigation|archive-date=18 July 2019|url-status=dead}} Capsule C205, originally planned for Demo-2, replaced C204 in the In-Flight Abort Test; C206 was subsequently used for Demo-2. The capsule was fitted with sensors on its seats, which measured the forces exerted on the crew if they would go through a Dragon launch abort.{{Cite web |last=NASA |date=17 January 2020 |title=SpaceX In-Flight Abort Test Prelaunch News Conference |url=https://images.nasa.gov/details-KSC-20200117-VP-CDC01-0001-SpaceX_In-Flight_Abort_Test_Prelaunch_News_Conference-3239500 |website=NASA Image and Video Library}} NASA and SpaceX also decided to test the newly developed Mark 3 parachute system for Dragon this flight, as they deemed it much safer to use for crewed missions than the then-operational Mark 2.

The Dragon escape test was to be a full-scale simulation conducted on a previously flown Falcon 9. Originally, the flight-proven first stage chosen to be used for the test was B1048,{{Cite web |last=Musk |first=Elon |date=February 22, 2019 |title=Crew Dragon high altitude abort test |url=https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1098768310844313601 |access-date=2023-02-02 |website= |language=en |via=Twitter}} but it was eventually decided to be B1046, the first of the human-rated Falcon 9 Block 5 boosters to be built and flown. The launch stack included a fully loaded second stage with a dummy weight instead of a functional vacuum engine.{{Cite web |last=Atkinson |first=Ian |date=2020-01-17 |title=SpaceX conducts successful Crew Dragon In-Flight Abort Test |url=https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2020/01/spacex-crew-dragon-in-flight-abort-test/ |access-date=2022-11-08 |website=NASASpaceFlight.com |language=en-US}}

As the flight was the final test before SpaceX and NASA were to fly crew to the International Space Station, it was used by all parties involved to practice various procedures surrounding the launch and abort.{{Cite web |last=Clark |first=Stephen |title=SpaceX abort test serves as practice run for astronauts, rescue teams |url=https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/01/16/spacex-abort-test-serves-as-practice-run-for-astronauts-rescue-teams/ |access-date=2023-02-16 |website=Spaceflight Now |language=en-US}} Prior to the actual abort test, NASA and SpaceX conducted an all-in simulation of events leading up to an actual crew launch, including crew suit-up and travel to the pad. For this test, preparing recovery vessels and personnel for emergency and contingency situations was deemed particularly important. After delaying because of weather and visibility issues, Falcon 9 lifted off at 15:30:00{{nbsp}}UTC, at Kennedy Space Center from LC-39A, on January 19, 2020.

File:SpaceX In-Flight Abort Test 4z4-OLSfdSc.webm of the abort test (video)]]

The abort test was a full simulation of a malfunction on a nominal trajectory to the International Space Station. The abort was triggered by a command from ground control.{{Citation |title=How Space X Can Save Astronauts From A Rocket Explosion {{!}} Nasa & Space X: Journey To The Future | date=4 October 2020 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fPMvMtAu5E |access-date=2023-04-08 |language=en}}. At T+1:25 minutes, the booster engines shut down and the capsule separated itself from the booster. The abort was triggered at a speed of Mach 2.2. Dragon flew approximately {{Convert|1|mi|km|abbr=on}} away from Falcon within a few seconds and experienced a maximum acceleration force of around 3.5 Gs.{{Citation |title=Elon Musk & NASA Discuss Successful In Flight Abort Test | date=19 January 2020 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggxhLa2xJOA |access-date=2022-12-23 |language=en}}.

As expected, the rocket disintegrated into a fireball after its blunt end was exposed to the supersonic airstream following the escape of Dragon; as a result, the booster began tumbling and its propellant tanks gave way. The second stage was seen breaking apart from the booster in one piece, and it remained so until it impacted the ocean and exploded.{{Cite web |last=Manley |first=Scott |date=19 January 2020 |title=SpaceX Explodes A Rocket To Show That It's Safe |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-HOQrinzlY&ab_channel=ScottManley |website=YouTube}}

The capsule followed its suborbital trajectory to an apogee of around 138.000 ft (42 km), and jettisoned its trunk and fins into the ocean before positioning itself for descent and successfully deploying both drogue chutes and all four main parachutes. All major functions to be performed during abort were executed without anomalies. Capsule C205 splashed down at 15:38:54{{nbsp}}UTC just off the Florida coast in the Atlantic Ocean.{{Cite web |title=NASA, SpaceX Complete Final Major Flight Test of Crew Spacecraft |url=https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-spacex-complete-final-major-flight-test-of-crew-spacecraft/ |access-date=2024-05-16 |website=NASA.gov |language=en-US}} The capsule's unpressurized trunk section survived reentry and was recovered by GO Searcher in more or less intact condition, being the only Dragon trunk to survive a reentry and to be recovered successfully.{{cite web|title=SpaceX surprises after recovering spacecraft 'trunk' in one piece|url=https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-crew-dragon-trunk-recovery/|publisher=Teslarati|date=22 January 2020|access-date=22 January 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/kyle_m_photo/status/1219062943125508097|title=The trunk is on board GO Navigator|website=Twitter|access-date=2021-10-08}}{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1219340904407977984|title=Dragon trunk from in-flight abort test is in surprisingly good shape! |website=Twitter|access-date=2021-10-08}}

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• Orion Pad Abort 1 and Ascent Abort 2
• Boeing Pad Abort Test
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