[ad_1] Tomorrow’s test will demonstrate Crew Dragon’s ability to separate from Falcon 9 and carry astronauts to safety in the unlikely event of an emergency on ascent pic.twitter.com/Cji4S5JDHl — SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 17, 2020 Last March, Crew Dragon successfully flew to the ISS and back, and if all goes well, a crewed flight could occur […]
Category: Spacex
SpaceX plans to test Crew Dragon’s launch escape system on January 18th
[ad_1] Dates for tests like these can be tentative due to weather or last-minute glitches. However, SpaceX completed a static fire test of the Falcon 9’s first stage on January 11th, clearing the path for the upcoming Crew Dragon demonstration. If all goes according to plan, this will be the last major test for Crew […]
SpaceX video shows a simulated Crew Dragon mission to the ISS
[ad_1] The two-minute clip shows flight crew boarding the capsule, countdown, take off and separation from the Falcon 9 rocket. There’s a patriotic shot of an American flag patch, dramatic music and a look back at Earth. The video shows the capsule attaching to the ISS, circling the planet a few times and then parachuting […]
Watch SpaceX try to catch both halves of a Falcon 9 nose cone at 7:10PM ET
[ad_1] If you’ve seen footage of a rocket launch, you’ll have some sense of all the moving parts involved with trying to recover a nose cone — even if you don’t know the name of the components. The nose cone of a rocket is made up of two halves, called the payload fairing. These shield […]
Elon Musk wins defamation trial over British cave diver
[ad_1] A lawyer representing Vernon Unsworth called Elon Musk a “billionaire bully,” and sought up to $190 million in damages but a jury decided in his favor anyway. They ruled that his series of tweets last year that referenced Unsworth as a “pedo guy” and promised a “signed dollar” if it was true were not […]
SpaceX’s first Starship pops its top during a ‘pressure test’ in Texas
[ad_1] SpaceX has already moved on to manufacturing its next generation of ‘Mk3’ Starship frames, but the original model Elon Musk stood in front of two months ago popped open during an apparent “pressure test” at the company’s Boca Chica, TX site. According to site watchers like LabPadre, the top flew some 500 feet in […]
SpaceX successfully completes Crew Dragon engine tests without an explosion
[ad_1] The company conducted the tests near Landing Zone 1 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, starting with two one-second burns for two of the Crew Dragon’s 16 Draco thrusters. Those thrusters will be used for maneuvering and attitude control, as well as for re-orientation of the spacecraft. The Crew Dragon team then […]
SpaceX completes crucial tests of its Crew Dragon parachutes
[ad_1] That’s a pretty big milestone, as it beats a goal that CEO Elon Musk had set last month. “We certainly want to get … at least on the order of 10 successful tests in a row before, before launching astronauts,” he said. “So that seems like where the behavior of the parachutes is consistent, […]
SpaceX’s next Crew Dragon test could happen next week
[ad_1] An “anomaly” that occurred during another static fire test in April caused an uncrewed capsule to explode. Earlier this month, SpaceX suggested the problem was due to a leak somewhere between the launch abort and orbital maneuvering systems. It has redesigned that part of the capsule. The capsule will eventually transport as many as […]
SpaceX hopes to offer satellite internet to customers by mid-2020
[ad_1] Shotwell added that the approval request for 30,000 extra satellites didn’t necessarily mean SpaceX would build and launch them all. It needs considerably fewer satellites (about 24 launches’ worth) to cover the planet. Rather, this is overhead that would let SpaceX offer customized service for clients. Elon Musk reiterated at the roundtable that SpaceX […]