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Just six weeks after landing in the Atlantic Ocean following a successful Demo-1 flight test, the same SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft was scheduled to perform several static fire tests on Saturday to verify that the propulsion systems of the capsule functioned correctly before stopping in flight. scheduled test for the summer. However, during the tests, the spacecraft suffered a significant anomaly. The incident is likely to result in additional delays in the NASA commercial team program.
On March 8 – after a four-day stay at the International Space Station – Crew Dragon returned to Earth with a splash in the Atlantic Ocean. The mission consisted of a non-built demonstration flight – called Demo-1 – to certify the Dragon crew for manned space flights.
Immediately after their return to the port, SpaceX technicians began preparing the capsule for the flight drop test. The test will allow Crew Dragon to fire its SuperDraco thrusters to get away from a Falcon 9 rocket, demonstrating the spacecraft's abort capability in the event of an anomaly with the launcher.
Map of SpaceX's Dragon Processing Facilities Near Landing Zone-1
In order to prepare the abandonment test, it is now understood that static fires yet to be unveiled Crew Dragon thrusters have been scheduled to occur Saturday morning at Cape Canaveral. As for the test location, SpaceX originally planned to build a test bed for Crew Dragon near Landing Zone 1.
It is not yet clear whether this proposed test stand was to be used in static fires scheduled for Saturday, although the tests took place near SpaceX's Landing Zone 1.
According to sources, Saturday's tests had to include several tests. First, the vehicle's Draco thrusters – used primarily for on-orbit holding – had to be lit on the test stand on two separate occasions. This would be followed by a SuperDraco thrower shot an hour or two later. SuperDraco thrusters are used to perform interruptions in flight.
In Saturday's tests, a major anomaly occurred on the test bench. In a statement to NASASpaceflight.com, SpaceX provided the following information: "Earlier in the day, SpaceX performed a series of engine tests on a Crew Dragon test vehicle on our test bench located in the area of Landing 1 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The initial tests were successful, but the final test resulted in an anomaly on the test bench.
"Our main focus is to ensure that our systems meet stringent safety standards and to detect such anomalies prior to flight. Our teams study and work closely with our NASA partners. "
According to the information collected, the fact that the anomaly occurred during the final test suggests that the anomaly was probably related to the ignition of SuperDraco engines.
Although details of the anomaly have not yet been confirmed, the severity of the rumor will likely lead to delays in NASA's Crew Commercial (CCP) program. As part of CCP, Boeing and SpaceX were tasked with restoring the capacity of US crewed space flights by providing crew rotations to and from the International Space Station.
Boeing's Starliner spacecraft and SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft will be used for NASA's Commercial Crew Program – made by Nathan Koga for NSF / L2
Before today's anomaly, many thought SpaceX was ahead of Boeing in the program with a greater chance of having a crew in flight by the end of the year. Boeing is currently facing some setbacks. Now, with today's incident, the entire commercial crew schedule has been questioned.
This is worrying because the United States bought seats on the Russian rocket Soyuz to bridge the gap between the end of the space shuttle and the commercial crew online. Unfortunately, NASA will soon run out of seats, which could create problems for NASA if Commercial Crew does not connect in the next year.
It will likely take several weeks before the full impact of the anomaly is understood, as teams will have to spend time reviewing the data and determining the way forward.
Prior to this weekend's incident, SpaceX's progress on the Crew Dragon spacecraft continued. The company has successfully completed an unprepared test flight into orbit – called the Demo-1 mission – in March of this year. The test was almost flawless and no major incidents were reported.
The company was then able to prepare the capsule for testing this weekend, just six weeks after the same crew spent about an hour in the corrosive environment of salt water as a result of the crash of the Demo-1 mission.
Had Saturday's static fires worked as expected, SpaceX would have been on the verge of conducting the flight abortion trial in mid-July.
The abandonment test will see a Falcon 9 rocket with a standard first leg and a near-standard second leg – a dummy MVAC engine being the notable difference – a launch from the Kennedy Space Center with the Crew Dragon spacecraft . Then, during the period of maximum aerodynamic pressure, Crew Dragon will execute a surrender.
The abandonment sequence will see a SuperDraco engine firing followed by the jettison of the vehicle trunk. Then, the parachute deployment sequence will begin to prepare the spacecraft for a landing in the Atlantic Ocean.
According to the environmental assessment of the test, the launcher will be destroyed after the abortion of Crew Dragon.
Although Musk has previously stated that the test would be the fourth flight of the B1048 first-stage booster, it is now understood that the plans have changed and that the launch will instead feature the fourth flight of the B1046, the very first Block 5 booster.
It is believed that B1048 was instead unveiled for the first mission of SpaceX's Internet Starlink constellation, scheduled for May.
Once the SpaceX teams have solved the problem of the week-end anomaly with Crew Dragon and have regained the hardware availability for the flight drop test, the next goal will be the equally important mission of Demo-2.
The crew of SpaceX DM-2, Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley. (Credit: NASA)
Demo-2 will see NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken inaugurate the International Space Station on a brand new Dragon Crew to certify SpaceX for operational crew rotation missions at the station.
The exact timing of the Demo-2 mission is being evaluated by the NASA and SpaceX teams. However, before today's anomaly, it was clear that very late or early fall, the launch could take place as soon as possible.
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