pad abort test

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Section sources.[https://web.archive.org/web/20020228155202/http://www.astronautix.com/project/mercury.htm Mercury Pad Abort Tests][https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4001/p2a.htm NASA History Archives]

The Mercury program included several pad abort tests for the launch escape system with a boilerplate crew module.

• 1959 July 22 – First successful pad abort flight test with a functional escape tower attached to a Mercury boilerplate
• 1959 July 28 – A Mercury boilerplate with instruments to measure sound pressure levels and vibrations from the Little Joe test rocket and Grand Central abort rocket/escape tower

Image:Apollo Pad Abort Test -2.jpg

The Apollo program included several pad abort tests for the launch escape system with a boilerplate crew module.

• Pad Abort Test-1 was conducted on November 7, 1963, and
• Pad Abort Test-2 was conducted on June 29, 1965.

Both tests were conducted at the White Sands Missile Range.

China Manned Space Program included one pad abort test for Shenzhou spacecraft, called "zero-altitude flight test"({{lang-zh|零高度飞行试验}}), conducted on October 19, 1998 9:00 am, one year prior to first Shenzhou spacecraft mission with a successful result.{{cite news |title=中国惟一一次航天逃逸装置零高度飞行试验揭秘 |url=https://news.sina.cn/sa/2003-10-15/detail-ikknscsi1495860.d.html |work=news.sina.cn |date=15 October 2003 |language=zh}}

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{{see also|List of Constellation missions|Boilerplate (spaceflight)#Orion boilerplate}}

The Orion pad abort test was conducted on May 6, 2010 at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.{{Cite web |date=10 May 2010 |title=Orion Pad Abort 1 Video Highlights |url=http://vimeo.com/11631855}}[http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/main/index.html NASA's Project Constellation] Official Site{{Cite web |last=Administrator |first=NASA |date=2013-06-06 |title=Orion Pad Abort 1 Test a Spectacular Success |url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/status_reports/orion_pa-1_status_05_06_10.html |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=NASA |language=en}} The Launch Abort System lifted the Orion Boilerplate to a height of approximately 6000 feet above the ground and landed 6,900 feet downrange about 150 seconds later.{{Cite web |year=2010 |title=OrionPA-1 |url=https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/450267main_Pad%20Abort%201%20Poster_large.pdf|access-date=October 24, 2022 |website=nasa.gov |location=Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center |format=PDF}} The Abort test resulted in no damage to the test article and the mission was considered a complete success.

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The SpaceX Dragon 2 Pad Abort Test was conducted on May 6, 2015 at approximately 0900 Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). (A video clip released by SpaceX shows the timestamp of the moment of launch as 13:00:00). The vehicle splashed down safely in the ocean to the east of the launchpad 99 seconds later.{{cite web|last1=Clark|first1=Stephen|title=SpaceX crew capsule completes dramatic abort test|url=http://spaceflightnow.com/2015/05/06/spacex-crew-capsule-completes-dramatic-abort-test/|website=Spaceflight Now|accessdate=14 May 2015|date=6 May 2015}} A fuel mixture ratio issue was detected after the flight in one of the eight SuperDraco engines, but did not materially affect the flight.{{cite web|title=SpaceX Crew Dragon pad abort: Test flight demos launch escape system|url=http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-050615a-spacex-dragon-pad-abort.html|website=CollectSpace|accessdate=14 May 2015|date=6 May 2015}} More detailed test results were to be subsequently analyzed by both SpaceX and NASA engineers.{{cite web |last=Bergin |first=Chris |title=Dragon 2 conducts Pad Abort leap in key SpaceX test |url=http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2015/05/dragon-2-pad-abort-leap-key-spacex-test/ |work=NASASpaceFlight.com |accessdate=6 May 2015 |date=6 May 2015}}

{{main|Boeing Pad Abort Test}}

The pad abort test of Boeing's Starliner craft was conducted at 14:15 UTC on November 4, 2019 at the White Sands Missile Range.{{Cite web|date=2019-11-04|title=Boeing/Starliner in successful Pad Abort Test; some issues observed|url=https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2019/11/boeing-starliner-critical-pad-abort-test/|access-date=2020-06-23|website=NASASpaceFlight.com|language=en-US}} The capsule was lifted to {{Cvt|1350|m|ft|abbr=}} and landed with airbags approximately 90 seconds after liftoff. Though the test was deemed a success, one of three main parachutes failed to deploy properly.{{Cite web|date=2019-11-04|title=Boeing performs Starliner pad abort test|url=https://spacenews.com/boeing-performs-starliner-pad-abort-test/|access-date=2020-06-24|website=SpaceNews.com|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|last=Clark|first=Stephen|title=Boeing tests crew capsule escape system – Spaceflight Now|url=https://spaceflightnow.com/2019/11/04/boeing-starliner-pad-abort/|access-date=2020-06-24|language=en-US}}

{{main|ISRO Pad Abort Test}}

File:ISRO Pad abort test Crew Module lifting off.jpg]]

On 5 July 2018, Indian Space Research Organisation successfully conducted a pad abort test at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. A first in a series of tests to qualify a crew escape system.{{Cite web|url=https://www.isro.gov.in/update/05-jul-2018/successful-flight-testing-of-crew-escape-system-technology-demonstrator|title=Suiccessful Flight Testing of Crew Escape System – Technology Demonstrator – ISRO|website=www.isro.gov.in|language=en|access-date=2018-07-05}}

After a smooth countdown of five hours, the crew escape system, along with the simulated crew module with a mass of 12.6 tonnes, lifted off at 07.00 AM (IST) at the opening of the launch window from its pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. The test was over in 259 seconds, during which the crew escape system along with crew module soared skyward, then arced over the Bay of Bengal and floated back to Earth under its parachutes about 2.9 km from Sriharikota.

China Manned Space Program included one pad abort test for the Mengzhou spacecraft, called "zero-altitude escape flight test" ({{lang-zh|零高度逃逸飞行试验}}), conducted on June 17, 2025 12:30 am BJT from Site 95A of Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center with a successful result.{{cite news |title= 梦舟载人飞船零高度逃逸飞行试验取得圆满成功 我国载人月球探测工程研制工作取得新的重要突破 |url=https://www.gov.cn/yaowen/liebiao/202506/content_7028387.htm |work=Xinhua News Agency |date=17 June 2025|language=zh}}

• Soyuz T-10-1, a Soyuz mission which ended with the use of the launch escape system

{{reflist}}

Category:Human spaceflight

Category:Safety engineering