SpaceX specialists conducted a successful ground fire test of the engines and evacuation system of the manned Crew Dragon spacecraft. This was announced on the official SpaceX Twitter account, and later more detailed information appeared on the website of the American space agency NASA.
Engine testing was carried out near the landing zone at Cape Canaveral. Let us recall that in April of this year, during similar engine tests, an emergency situation occurred, which led to an explosion and destruction of the spacecraft. A subsequent study of the incident, which was carried out by SpaceX and NASA specialists, showed that a portion of liquid fuel in the helium pressurization system unexpectedly caused ignition, which is why the explosion occurred. Based on this research, SpaceX engineers redesigned the system components to ensure that such situations would not occur again.
Full duration static fire test of Crew Dragon's launch escape system complete – SpaceX and NASA teams are now reviewing test data and working toward an in-flight demonstration of Crew Dragon's launch escape capabilities
- SpaceX (@SpaceX)
“A full static fire test of the Crew Dragon launch escape system has been completed - SpaceX and NASA specialists are currently analyzing the data and are working to demonstrate the capabilities of the Crew Dragon in-flight rescue system,” SpaceX said in a statement.
Today's tests helped test the evacuation system ahead of the Crew Dragon's upcoming flight tests. It is expected that after analyzing the data received and checking the equipment, SpaceX and NASA specialists will announce the date when the Crew Dragon will be tested in flight. It is possible that a demonstration of the capabilities of the in-flight evacuation system will take place in the coming months.
Source: 3dnews.ru