Author Topic: SpaceX F9 : Crew Dragon In-Flight Abort Test : Jan. 19, 2020 : Discussion  (Read 357576 times)

Offline gongora

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DISCUSSION thread for Crew Dragon In-Flight Abort Test

NSF Threads for In-Flight Abort Test : Discussion / Updates / Party
NSF Articles for In-Flight Abort Test :

January 19, 2020.  Launch window is open from 8am to 2pm EST (1300-1900 UTC) on Falcon 9 (core 1046.4) from LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center.  Launch vehicle will be expended.  Second stage will not have an engine.  Abort will occur approximately 84 seconds into flight.

Environmental Assessment for the test
Booster static fired at LC-39A on January 11.



Other SpaceX resources on NASASpaceflight:
   SpaceX News Articles (Recent)  /   SpaceX News Articles from 2006 (Including numerous exclusive Elon interviews)
   SpaceX Dragon Articles  /  SpaceX Missions Section (with Launch Manifest and info on past and future missions)
   L2 SpaceX Section



Edit: Slide incorrect, still targeting later in 2018.

Tweet from Emre Kelly:
Quote
Updated commercial crew slide from KSC Director Cabana's presentation today; appears to be as expected. Uncrewed Boeing and SpaceX flights in August, crewed in November and December, respectively. More details in photo.

Boeing pad abort in April.
SpaceX in-flight abort in May?

I guess it may be time to start a mission thread for this.  If that slide is correct the date has moved up quite a bit from the previously expected slot between DM-1 and DM-2.

Let's try not to get too wild with the speculation here, it is a mission thread.  If that is the real schedule then we should start seeing more information soon.  Maybe we'll hear a little more next week at the NAC HEOMD meeting.
« Last Edit: 01/18/2020 02:07 pm by eeergo »

Offline russianhalo117

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Tweet from Emre Kelly:
Quote
Updated commercial crew slide from KSC Director Cabana's presentation today; appears to be as expected. Uncrewed Boeing and SpaceX flights in August, crewed in November and December, respectively. More details in photo.

Boeing pad abort in April.
SpaceX in-flight abort in May?

I guess it may be time to start a mission thread for this.  If that slide is correct the date has moved up quite a bit from the previously expected slot between DM-1 and DM-2.

Let's try not to get too wild with the speculation here, it is a mission thread.  If that is the real schedule then we should start seeing more information soon.  Maybe we'll hear a little more next week at the NAC HEOMD meeting.
I wonder which pad they will use.

Offline Coastal Ron

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Two questions:

1. Is this the first time we've seen Boeing forecasting an earlier crew flight than SpaceX?

2. I can understand Sierra Nevada being listed on the slide for a cargo vehicle, but can someone remind me why Blue Origin is listed on a Commercial Crew slide?  :o
If we don't continuously lower the cost to access space, how are we ever going to afford to expand humanity out into space?

Offline gongora

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I wonder which pad they will use.

Aside from Bangabandhu-1, all of the recently filed FCC STA's have been for SLC-40.  It would probably make sense to do this one from LC-39A before they swap it back to FH configuration.  Maybe we'll see some paperwork start flowing in the next month or so.

Offline vaporcobra

Two questions:

1. Is this the first time we've seen Boeing forecasting an earlier crew flight than SpaceX?

2. I can understand Sierra Nevada being listed on the slide for a cargo vehicle, but can someone remind me why Blue Origin is listed on a Commercial Crew slide?  :o

1. Boeing has basically already acknowledged that DM-2 is maybe Q4 2018, "maybe the first quarter of [2019]" earlier this year, which can effectively be taken as DM-1 NET Q1 2019. SpaceX hasn't acknowledged the probability of further slips yet - take that as you will.
http://spacenews.com/crewed-starliner-test-flight-could-slip-to-2019/

2. Blue has a Space Act Agreement with NASA, mainly for crewed flights of New Shepard but also for their orbital launch work.
« Last Edit: 03/20/2018 04:47 pm by vaporcobra »

Offline deruch

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2. I can understand Sierra Nevada being listed on the slide for a cargo vehicle, but can someone remind me why Blue Origin is listed on a Commercial Crew slide?  :o


This is an update from the Commercial Crew Program office, which includes all the outstanding agreements from previous rounds of Commercial Crew development.  Not just the CCtCap contracts with SpaceX and Boeing.  They have a CCDev2 agreement with Blue Origin that still has unfunded milestones in it.  Go back and look at the previous reports at the NAC HEO meetings from the Commercial Crew Program.  There's usually a slide for Blue Origin and SNC progress.
Shouldn't reality posts be in "Advanced concepts"?  --Nomadd

Offline gongora

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Tweet from Emre Kelly:
Quote
Updated commercial crew slide from KSC Director Cabana's presentation today; appears to be as expected. Uncrewed Boeing and SpaceX flights in August, crewed in November and December, respectively. More details in photo.

Boeing pad abort in April.
SpaceX in-flight abort in May?

Slide is not accurate.  In-flight abort is still slated to occur between Demo-1 and Demo-2.  Someone just forgot to update the slide.  In-flight abort was May 2018 when Demo-1 was April 2018.  Now that Demo-1 has slipped to August, in-flight abort has moved concurrently.

Offline meberbs

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Mention of the test in recent Teslarati article:

https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-transition-all-falcon-9-block-5-launches/

Quote
After CRS-15, which will also see its booster expended in the Atlantic, just one flightworthy Block 4 rocket will remain in SpaceX’s fleet, and that Falcon 9 booster is understood to be undergoing refurbishment for its final reflight. That mission, however, is a suborbital demonstration designed to prove that SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft can wrest its human passengers out of harm’s way in the event of a launch vehicle failure during flight

Unless I lost track of boosters, this implies that the plan is to use core 1042 for this test.

Offline Nehkara

Despite the rumours that a Block IV (specifically B1042) would be used for the in-flight abort, NexxusWolf on Reddit dropped in some info he got from a tour.

This includes that the in-flight abort will be performed by a Block V booster and it will be the 3rd flight for that booster.

Offline Prettz

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Why in the world would they use a Block 5 booster? This is not a "test as you fly" issue.

Online eriblo

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Why in the world would they use a Block 5 booster? This is not a "test as you fly" issue.
Might be first 3rd flight (easier than getting a customer to agree)? Might not be worth maintaining Block 4 capability that long? They have probably thought it through  ;)

Offline Coastal Ron

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Why in the world would they use a Block 5 booster? This is not a "test as you fly" issue.

SpaceX does have to demonstrate seven successful flights of the Block 5 before NASA will certify for crew, so due to scheduling reasons they may need to do this as a Block 5.

Or, it could be that they have run out of Block 3 & 4 by the time of this test, so Block 5 is their only option.

Or both.
If we don't continuously lower the cost to access space, how are we ever going to afford to expand humanity out into space?

Offline vaporcobra

Despite the rumours that a Block IV (specifically B1042) would be used for the in-flight abort, NexxusWolf on Reddit dropped in some info he got from a tour.

This includes that the in-flight abort will be performed by a Block V booster and it will be the 3rd flight for that booster.

FWIW, my B1042 reflight claim was also sourced. Not sure who to believe now!

Offline matthewkantar

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Since Blue was able to complete an inflight abort and recover the booster, albeit with a smaller system, maybe SpaceX will do the same?

Matthew

Offline Jimmy Murdok

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Or they are late with B5 availability and they want to use the remaining B4 in advance to keep commercial schedule going.

Offline CraigLieb

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Maybe customers have been reluctant to book 4th flight (3rd reuse) yet on block V, and doing so for the abort Demo helps show these block V are, as advertised, capable of many reuses.
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Offline Lars-J

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Maybe customers have been reluctant to book 4th flight (3rd reuse) yet on block V, and doing so for the abort Demo helps show these block V are, as advertised, capable of many reuses.

This mission has a very high probability of losing the core, so I don't think they want to use a block 5 core unless they feel they can spare one.

Offline John Alan

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Anything is expendable depending on what is needed today...   ???

Not sure why some are hung up on the fact... that sometimes a Block 5 will take one for the team...  ;)

Offline Nehkara

I need to find where, but I remember SpaceX (I think Elon) mentioning that they want to try to land the in-flight abort mission.

Offline Alexphysics

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They're supposed to have lots of Block 5 boosters built by the end of the year, I think losing an "old" Block 5 booster won't hurt too much.

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