At the Kennedy Space Center, NASA had an interesting abort procedure for astronauts still on the ground at the launch site: an underground Rubber Room which astronauts could slide down into.<p>[0] <a href="https://scriptunasimages.wordpress.com/2012/11/23/inside-nasas-rubber-room/" rel="nofollow">https://scriptunasimages.wordpress.com/2012/11/23/inside-nas...</a><p>[1] <a href="http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20110012275.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/2011001...</a>
And to contrast this with the Orion capsule abort system: Crew Dragon's abort thrusters will eventually used for landing, while Orion's (much heavier) abort system is jettisoned 120 seconds into flight.<p>See <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_%28spacecraft%29#Launch_Abort_System_.28LAS.29" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_%28spacecraft%29#Launch_...</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_abort_modes" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_abort_modes</a>
I know the SuperDraco's are designed to eventually enable a soft-landing back on Earth. In this case they are only being used for the abort, and the landing will be by Parachute, presumably the powered landing approach isn't ready for testing yet. I understand the initial manned launches will use parachutes for landing as well.<p>What I'm wondering is, will they eventually carry enough fuel to both be able to do an abort, and then do a powered landing, if required? I assume so, since at that point the only cost in terms of weight to be able to do the abort as well as the landing would be the weight of the fuel for the abort itself.<p>Also if the capsule will be capable of an abort at any stage in the ascent, what preparations will be in place to allow for capsule recovery? Presumably it could come down anywhere along the line of flight, up to the point at which it achieves orbit. That could include the middle of Africa, and maybe even the Indian Ocean. Imagine a second stage engine failure.<p>None of these are criticisms of the system, it's fantastic engineering and potentially a huge win over current options. Excuse me while I got and watch Gravity again (while switching off the part of my brain that knows from KSP how orbital rendezvous work).
> Buster the Dummy already works for a great show you may have heard of called MythBusters. Our dummy prefers to remain anonymous for the time being.<p>I'd love to know what the SpaceX test dummy's name is, but for now I'm going to assume it's Edison.
Thanks for this post. It makes clear this 'pad abort test' is really a test of the amazing SuperDracos which could constitute their own launch system! SuperDracos are partially 3D metal printed and can fire months after being fueled.<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SuperDraco" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SuperDraco</a>
> Crew Dragon will accelerate from 0 to nearly 100 mph in one second. The entire test is less than two minutes long, with Dragon traveling over one mile in the first 20 seconds alone.<p>That sounds totally insane, and yet at 4.5 g's was what the Apollo crews experienced on a successful launch.
Mercury escape tower used when booster loses control, 1961.[1] Unmanned launch with a dummy.<p>[1] <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp9BnBDKa0s" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp9BnBDKa0s</a>
As a general comment, I love watching SpaceX (for several reasons). The almost monthly stream of announcements, flights and "firsts" reminds me of watching the Apollo program progress as a young child. Then I was limited to seeing what NASA happened to put on television since I couldn't read for the early parts of the program. I'm finding reading briefs like this much more exciting as an engineer.
Nice explanation of what's going on. I've always thought there was an opportunity for much more of this kind of thing during the previous launches--explaining the process to those of us who really have no idea.
I know SpaceX is looking to make space flight more like commercial flight. Given that commercial airliners don't have anything like this in their design, shouldn't the goal be to get space flight to the same failure rate as commercial flight? Thus eliminating the need for an abort system?