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The NASA manager overseeing development of Boeing and SpaceX's commercial crew ferry ships says the space agency has approved SpaceX's proposal to strap in astronauts atop Falcon 9 rockets, then fuel the launchers in the final hour of the countdown as the company does for its uncrewed missions.
The "load-and-go" procedure has become standard for SpaceX's satellite launches, in which an automatic countdown sequencer commands chilled kerosene and cryogenic liquid oxygen to flow into the Falcon 9 rocket in the final minutes before liftoff.
[...] SpaceX's "load-and-go" procedure raised concerns after a Falcon 9 rocket exploded on its launch pad at Cape Canaveral in September 2016. The fiery accident occurred in the final minutes of a countdown while propellants were flowing into the rocket before a hold-down engine firing, destroying the launcher and an Israeli-owned communications satellite on-board.
Officials from SpaceX said the Crew Dragon's escape system, comprising a set of high-thrust SuperDraco engines around the circumference of the capsule, would be quick enough to push the spacecraft and its crew away from such an explosion during fueling.
The abort thrusters will be activated and armed before fueling of the Falcon 9 during crewed launches.
SpaceX plans an unmanned, in-flight abort test prior to the first crewed flight, which is tentatively scheduled for April 2019.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday August 14 2018, @09:43AM
Who is doing that? Keep in mind that the whole point of the system is to not be there when the rocket explosion happens. The ground crew isn't present because all that crew loading happened before fueling nor is the crew on the capsule - because the launch abort system just moved them a considerable distance away from the exploding rocket and just like in orbit, they are designed to keep flying debris out of crew members.
As to reentry? It's a solved problem. SpaceX seems pretty good at solving out problems even when they aren't already solved.