Mission type | Technology demonstration |
---|---|
Operator | SpaceX |
Mission duration | 8 minutes and 54 seconds |
Apogee | 42 km (138,000 ft)[1] |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft | Crew Dragon C205 |
Spacecraft type | Crew Dragon |
Manufacturer | SpaceX |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 19 January 2020, 15:30:00 UTC |
Rocket | Falcon 9 Block 5 (B1046.4) |
Launch site | Kennedy LC-39A |
Contractor | SpaceX |
End of mission | |
Recovered by | GO Searcher |
Landing date | 19 January 2020, 15:38:54 UTC |
Landing site | Atlantic Ocean |
SpaceX insignia |
Crew Dragon In-Flight Abort Test (officially SpaceX In-Flight Abort Test) was a test of the Crew Dragon abort system. The test was conducted on 19 January 2020. It involved the launch of a Falcon 9 from Launch Complex 39A on a suborbital trajectory, followed by an inflight abort of Crew Dragon at max Q. The capsule successfully escaped, while booster B1046 broke up due to aerodynamic forces, as expected.
The 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. SpaceX 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,[2] however, SpaceX and NASA considered it safer to use a flight representative capsule rather than the test article from the pad abort test.[3] The flight would have launched from Vandenberg SLC-4E onboard a modified three engine Falcon 9, which was possibly F9R Dev2.[4]
After the change of plan, the test would have used the C204 capsule from Demo-1, however, C204 was destroyed in an explosion during a static fire testing on 20 April 2019.[5] Capsule C205, originally planned for Demo-2 was used for the In-Flight Abort Test [6] with C206 being used for Demo-2.
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. After delaying for visibility, Falcon 9 lifted off at 15:30 UTC, at Kennedy Space Center from LC-39A.
Falcon 9 flew nominally until separation, at which point the Crew Dragon separated and the booster was destroyed. Crew Dragon followed its suborbital trajectory to apogee, at which point the spacecraft's trunk was jettisoned. Draco thrusters were then used to orient the vehicle for the descent. All major functions were successfully executed, including separation, engine firings, parachute deployment, and landing. Dragon 2 splashed down at 15:38:54 UTC just off the Florida coast in the Atlantic Ocean.[7] The Dragon C205's unpressurized trunk section survived Reentry and was recovered by GO Navigator in more or less intact condition, being the only dragon's trunk to survive a reentry and to be recovered successfully.[8][9][10]