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The first flight test of an unmanned SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft is scheduled for January, NASA announced yesterday. The test marks a milestone for the United States, which has not been able to deliver astronauts independently into space since 2011, the year the Space Shuttle program was withdrawn.
Mark your schedule, dear friends, the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft's undeveloped test flight, called Demo-1, is scheduled for January 7, 2019 at 11:57 pm ET. A Falcon 9 rocket will take off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and transport the capsule to the International Space Station. The space agency will closely monitor the performance of the rocket, Crew Dragon, the operation of the ground system and the docking procedure.
"After the test flights, NASA will review the performance data and solve the problems needed to certify the operational mission systems," the space agency wrote in a statement. However, "as with any manned spaceflight development, learning from each test and making the necessary adjustments to reduce the crew's risk may override planning dates," NASA added.
If all goes well, and NASA declares that the Crew Dragon capsule is suitable for human occupants, a second test, called Demo-2, will take place – fingers crossed – in June. The Demo-2 test will again use a Falcon 9 rocket, but this time two NASA astronauts – Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley – will be delivered to the ISS, reports Spaceflight Now.
Before demo 2, however, NASA intends to conduct a flight dropping test, during which the unmanned crew abandonment system will be used, dropping the capsule from the top of a Falcon 9 shortly after its launch, according to Space News.
But we are a little ahead of ourselves; the Demo-2 and Demo-2 test will only take place if the Demo-1 test is considered a success by NASA.
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This is undoubtedly a very important test for the US space program. Since 2011, the United States has to rely on other partners to bring its astronauts into space, namely the Russians and their Soyuz program. The precariousness of this arrangement was recently highlighted after Soyuz's unsuccessful launch on October 11, 2018 – an incident that virtually made access to NASA astronauts inaccessible to locals while waiting for a Russian account of the 39; incident. And given that the contract between NASA and the Russian Soyuz program expires this month, it is feared that the US does not have access to the ISS for about a year.
Yes, additional problems or delays with the Dragon Crew would be bad, but not catastrophic. Boeing is also working on the crew capsule, the CST-100 Starliner, which is due for unmanned testing in March 2019, according to NASA, and a pilot test in August 2019. For these tests, Boeing will use the United Launch Alliance Atlas. 5 rocket.
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Importantly, some of the dates of these tests could be affected by a re-examination of NASA's workplace safety culture at both SpaceX and Boeing.
Earlier this week, NASA announced that it would conduct a "cultural assessment study" of both companies, "including respect for a drug-free environment," before crew allowed. NASA said "we fully expect to[s] our business partners to meet all workplace safety requirements when performing our assignments. Although NASA does not openly admit, the study of cultural assessment is a likely reaction to the now infamous appearance of SpaceX president Elon Musk on the Joe Rogan podcast when he (apparently) smoked pot and drank whiskey during the show.
Well done, Elon.
[NASA, Spaceflight Now, Space News, Reuters via CBC]Source link
