SpaceX successfully completed a launch escape demonstration of its Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket over the weekend.
A joint effort between Elon Musk’s aerospace firm and NASA, Sunday’s trial proved the SpaceX ship can safely separate from the rocket in case of an inflight emergency.
As part of the assessment—the final major evaluation before the capsule begins carrying astronauts to the International Space Station—SpaceX configured Crew Dragon to trigger a launch escape about one-and-a-half minutes after liftoff.
“As far as we can tell thus far, it’s a picture perfect mission. It went as well as one can possibly expect,” Musk, chief engineer at SpaceX, said in a statement. “This is a reflection of the dedication and hard work of the SpaceX and NASA teams to achieve this goal. Obviously, I’m super fired up. This is great.”
Members of SpaceX and the U.S. Air Force will (fingers crossed) recover the Crew Dragon—for return to the manufacturer’s Florida facility—and the Falcon 9, which broke apart in a blaze of glory (as planned).
“Today, we watched the demonstration of a system that we hope to never use, but can save our lives if we ever do,” according to Crew Dragon test flight astronaut Doug Hurley, who, alongside Bob Behnken, will fly to the ISS and back as part of the upcoming Demo-2 mission.
“It took a lot of work between NASA and SpaceX to get to this point,” he continued, “and we can’t wait to take a ride to the Space Station soon.”
As you can see in the video above, the Crew Dragon triggered launch escape about one-and-a-half minutes after liftoff. All major functions were executed: separation, engine firings, parachute deployment, landing. The spacecraft splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean 10:38 a.m..
“This critical flight test puts us on the cusp of returning the capability to launch astronauts in American spacecraft on American rockets from American soil,” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a statement.
“We are thrilled with the progress NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is making and look forward to the next milestone for Crew Dragon,” he added.
That milestone may be only a few months away.
During a post-abort test press conference on Sunday, Musk announced that his company’s first crewed mission will occur in the second quarter of this year—between April and June, as reported by CNBC.
“We’re highly confident the hardware will be ready in Q1, most likely in February, but no later than March,” he said, hinting at a sooner-rather-than-later Demo-2.
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