Author Topic: Crew Dragon downrange abort procedure (Read 5513 times)

satcomopsuk · « **on:** 04/23/2020 06:20 pm »

In the article here..

https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/01/16/spacex-abort-test-serves-as-practice-run-for-astronauts-rescue-teams/
mention is made of the abort procedure and in particular ,

"If required, thrusters on the Crew Dragon or Starliner spacecraft would fire after an abort to ensure the capsule lands within about 300 miles of eastern Canada or Ireland, NASA officials told CBS News. "

I'm curious to know what arrangements , if any , are being made to deploy rescue services to Ireland in advance of the launch in late May.

A Nav Warn issued in February prior to the test included reference to a point off the Irish coast which seemed to back up the Irish connection.. Point "D"

260952Z FEB 19
NAVAREA IV 134/19(GEN).
WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.
EASTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.
FLORIDA.
CANADA.
IRELAND.
1. HAZARDOUS OPERATIONS, ROCKET LAUNCHING
020740Z TO 020820Z MAR, ALTERNATE
050630Z TO 050710Z MAR:
A. IN AREA BOUND BY
28-37-00N 080-38-00W, 28-47-00N 080-31-00W,
28-56-00N 080-19-00W, 28-53-00N 080-16-00W,
28-41-00N 080-23-00W, 28-35-00N 080-27-00W,
28-34-00N 080-37-00W.
B. IN AREA BOUND BY
31-21-00N 077-35-00W, 31-50-00N 077-13-00W,
32-06-00N 076-31-00W, 31-58-00N 076-24-00W,
31-28-00N 076-54-00W, 31-11-00N 077-26-00W.
C. IN AREA BETWEEN
47-58-35N 46-35-21N AND 051-18-33W 049-30-08W.
D. IN AREA BETWEEN
53-01-57N 51-30-47N AND 011-50-53W 011-11-35W.
2. CANCEL THIS MSG 050810Z MAR 19.

Will a team from Patrick AFB deploy to Shannon or will local SAR services be put on standby ?

Zed_Noir · « **Reply #1 on:** 04/24/2020 10:51 am »

For abort recovery off Ireland, probably the USAF 352^nd Special Ops Wing will staged operations from Shannon airport from their RAF Mildenhall based in the UK. Likely a couple of MC-130Js and a few CV-22Bs.

300 miles offshore is about an hour flight time to get to the abort recovery site with fixed wing transport aircraft and tiltrotor VTOLs.

Also available USAF C-17s cargo planes might airdrop rescue assets onto any abort recovery site along the ascend path from airbase in North Carolina or the UK. In addition any USN or USCG ships near the abort recovery site will be diverted there.

satcomopsuk · « **Reply #2 on:** 04/24/2020 11:23 am »

Thanks Zed_Noir that's an excellent thought , makes sense.

I track the CV22s and their associated MC130s on an almost daily basis out of Mildenhall.
They rarely venture much further than the north west coast of England on exercise , so it will be interesting to see if they head to Shannon prior to launch day along with their support crews.

Arb · « **Reply #3 on:** 04/24/2020 11:40 am »

Quote from: satcomopsuk on 04/24/2020 11:23 am

Thanks Zed_Noir that's an excellent thought , makes sense.

I track the CV22s and their associated MC130s on an almost daily basis out of Mildenhall.
They rarely venture much further than the north west coast of England on exercise , so it will be interesting to see if they head to Shannon prior to launch day along with their support crews.

If that's the case then several rehearsals should have occurred which, as you track daily, you should have seen. So perhaps not.

YMMV

satcomopsuk · « **Reply #4 on:** 04/24/2020 11:52 am »

Good point.....and I have certainly not seen any rehersals , but during the crew[less] test flight was the mission only to test for a US coastal / early stage abort , not long range?
If so it would have been a waste of resources to drag CV22s and C130s out to Shannon knowing they would never be called on.

Nor have I noticed any special ops deployment from CONUS to Shannon other than during POTUS flights.

OnWithTheShow · « **Reply #5 on:** 04/24/2020 02:51 pm »

Isnt the goal to be to the capsule within 1hr after an abort? Probably a naval or Irish coast guard vessel in or near the recovery zone?

Alexphysics · « **Reply #6 on:** 04/25/2020 12:22 am »

Quote from: OnWithTheShow on 04/24/2020 02:51 pm

Isnt the goal to be to the capsule within 1hr after an abort? Probably a naval or Irish coast guard vessel in or near the recovery zone?

That's the goal after nominal recovery. In the event of an abort the timeframe goes all the way up until 24 hours. The capsule is supposedly rated to accomodate the crew for such a long time.

Garrett · « **Reply #7 on:** 05/27/2020 12:00 pm »

I was looking for some information on abort procedures and thought I'd group what I found here.

First, Chris Gebhardt's article
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2020/05/examining-crew-dragons-launch-abort-modes-and-splashdown-locations/

Then, Stephen Clark's article from Spaceflight Now:
https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/05/26/spacex-crew-launch-comes-with-new-weather-constraints-for-downrange-aborts/
(Thanks to Kabloona for pointing me to this article in the DM2 discussion thread).

With 50 possible oceanic abort locations, this could be what causes an eventual scrub. The weather is good here in Western Europe at the moment, so let's hope not.

I've attached the ground track from the Spaceflight Now article. I would love to know what was the original document that this came from?

As I'm originaly from Ireland, I'm interested in finding out more about the "Shannon Abort Landing Area". From the SFN article, all that is said is:

Quote

Payne said NASA and SpaceX have shared information about the Crew Dragon launch trajectory, along with instructions on how to open the capsule’s hatch and retrieve the crew members, with maritime rescue teams in Canada and Ireland.

As the term "Shannon" is used, one could suspect that some US military aircraft will also be on stand-by at Shannon Airport, which is often used for US military refueling. But it may also because they could use Shannon's radio comms and radar.

sdsds · « **Reply #8 on:** 08/01/2020 01:37 am »

Relevant to abort splashdowns but also to relatively nominal ones: has there been a definitive answer regarding whether Crew Dragon can end up in the dreaded "Stable 2" configuration and/or if mitigation for this has been tested?

sdsds · « **Reply #9 on:** 08/03/2020 12:29 am »

There was mention in today's coverage of the procedure that would be used to get Crew Dragon upright if somehow it didn't settle into "Stable 1." Allowing water into some internal areas of the service section ~~module~~, perhaps.

Vettedrmr · « **Reply #10 on:** 08/03/2020 01:36 am »

Quote from: sdsds on 08/03/2020 12:29 am

There was mention in today's coverage of the procedure that would be used to get Crew Dragon upright if somehow it didn't settle into "Stable 1." Allowing water into some internal areas of the service module, perhaps.

Don't know what the procedure is, but it doesn't involve the trunk (which is jettisoned prior to entry).

Have a good one,
Mike

sdsds · « **Reply #11 on:** 08/03/2020 01:47 am »

Agreed, it has nothing to do with the jettisoned trunk. What terminology does SpX use to describe the volumes within the capsule outer mold line but outside the pressure vessel?

RobW · « **Reply #12 on:** 08/03/2020 02:13 am »

Service section.

Ollopa11 · « **Reply #13 on:** 07/31/2021 03:23 pm »

Resurrecting a very old thread, this tweet from today is relevant. It would seem to demonstrate that the Irish Coast Guard (with it's commercial contractor CHC Helicopter) can safely reach the Shannon Abort Landing Area. That might explain why the USAF 352nd Special Ops Wing or similar did not deploy assets to SNN for the two Crew Dragon launches.

https://twitter.com/RTatten/status/1421408756521390082?s=20

https://t.co/3YXOuVAwW7?amp=1