Crew Dragon In-Flight Abort Test (Dragon C205)

Launch, orbit & landing data: Designation  20sub1 Launch date - time  19 Jan 2020 - 15:30 UTC Launch site  KSC, LC-39A Launch vehicle  Falcon-9 v1.2 Mass (kg)   kg Landing date - time  19 Jan 2020 - 15:38:54 UTC Landing location  splashed down in Atlantic Ocean

Capsule C205 in assembky at SpaceX headquarters in Hawtborne, California. At this time, it was assigned to fly on DM-2. Credit: Xspace

Description:

• The In-Flight Abort (IFA) was the last major test of Crew Dragon before Demo Mission 2 (DM-2), when astronauts will fly on Dragon for the first time. SpaceX performed the first abort test in May 2015.
• The main objective of the IFA was to demonstrate Crew Dragon′s ability to escape a Falcon 9 rocket in case of an off-nominal launch. This could be caused by a wide variety of factors, including engine failures, tank ruptures, or a deviating trajectory. Like the two previous Crew Dragon test flights, the IFA carried no crew.

Mission details:

• Crew Dragon C205 In-flight abort test was launched from KSC LC39A at 1530 UTC Jan 19, 2020 on a Falcon 9 for a suborbital trajectory to conduct a separation and abort scenario in the troposphere at transonic velocities shortly after passing through max Q, where the vehicle experiences maximum aerodynamic pressure.
• The main objective of the IFA (In-flight abort) was to demonstrate Crew Dragon′s ability to escape a Falcon 9 rocket in case of an off-nominal launch. This could be caused by a wide variety of factors, including engine failures, tank ruptures, or a deviating trajectory. Like the two previous Crew Dragon test flights, the IFA carried no crew.
• The launch failure was simulated by shutting down the core stage B1046 nine Merlin 1D engines near the time of maximum aerodynamic pressure (Max-Q). This occurred around 90 seconds into flight.
  Crew Dragon′s computers interpreted the engine shutdown as a loss of thrust, and activated its eight SuperDraco engines to carry it away from the uncontrolled rocket.
• The Super Draco thrusters pushed Dragon to a 44 km apogee. The spacecraft followed its suborbital trajectory to apogee, at which point the spacecraft′s trunk was jettisoned. The smaller Draco engines were then used to orient the vehicle for the descent. All major functions were 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.
• The Falcon 9, as predicted, did not survive long after the engine shutdown. Dragon was already at safe distance away from the rocket when it disintegrated (7 seconds after separation). The second stage – still attached to the first stage′s interstage – survived the first stage′s explosion, and survived until impact with the ocean.
  This was because Falcon 9 had no control after its engines shut down and broke apart due to aerodynamic forces.
  Because of this, SpaceX did not attempt to recover the first stage. Had the vehicle not broken apart, it would have impacted the Atlantic Ocean further downrange. SpaceX has stated that they will attempt to recover all of the floating debris from the disintegrated Falcon 9.
• Meanwhile, after its SuperDraco engines shut down, Crew Dragon coasted until apogee – the highest point of its flight. The small fins on its trunk – the cylinder with solar panels mounted under the capsule – kept Dragon stable and oriented forward. Once it reached apogee, the trunk was jettisoned and the capsule repositioned for descent.
  As the capsule descended towards the ocean, its small drogue parachutes deployed to slow and stabilize its descent. The four main parachutes deployed, and slowed it to a safe speed for splashdown in the Atlantic ocean, about 31km downrange. SpaceX′s recovery ship GO Searcher was stationed nearby to retrieve the capsule.
  Go Searcher then transported the vehicle back to Port Canaveral for closer inspections.
• The test objective was to demonstrate the ability to safely move away from the ascending rocket under the most challenging atmospheric conditions of the flight trajectory, imposing the worst structural stress of a real flight on the rocket and spacecraft. The abort test was performed using a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket with a fully fueled second stage with a mass simulator replacing the Merlin engine.
• Earlier, this test had been scheduled before the uncrewed orbital test, however, SpaceX and NASA considered it safer to use a flight representative capsule rather than the test article from the pad abort test.
• This test was previously planned to use the capsule C201 from SpaceX Demo-1, however, C201 was destroyed in an explosion during a static fire testing on 20 April 2019. Capsule C205, originally planned for Demo-2 was used for the In-Flight Abort Test with C206 being planned for use during Demo-2.
• This was the final flight test of the spacecraft before it begins carrying astronauts to the International Space Station under NASA′s Commercial Crew Program according to current schedules.
• Prior to the flight test, teams completed launch day procedures for the first crewed flight test, from suit-up to launch pad operations. The joint teams are beginning full data reviews that need to be completed prior to NASA astronauts flying on the system during SpaceX′s Demo-2 mission.
• The Falcon 9 flying on the test flight included the first stage B1046 – the first Block 5 booster. B1046 flew three previous missions, one from each of SpaceX′s launch pads. B1046 was also the first Falcon 9 booster to fly a third mission. Due to the near-certainty of the vehicle disintegrating after the abort – eliminating the possibility of a recovery attempt – B1046′s landing legs and grid fins were removed.
  The IFA was B1046′s fourth flight. It was the third Falcon 9 booster to fly a fourth time.

External links:

• AmericaSpace: In-Flight Abort flight
  
• AmericaSpace: In-Flight Abort test video
  
• AmericaSpace: In-Flight Abort test ready
  
• AmericaSpace: In-Flight Abort test