How to watch SpaceX show NASA the Crew Dragon capsule can escape if a launch goes wrong
Plan for success. Prepare for failure. SpaceX is setting out to prove that a critical safety system will be able to save astronaut lives in the event of a launch emergency.
The Crew Dragon in-flight abort test is scheduled for Jan. 18. This is a required step before NASA will allow astronauts to fly to the International Space Station in the SpaceX capsule as part of the Commercial Crew Program.
NASA announced on Tuesday it will livestream the event, with coverage starting at 4:45 a.m. PT [0745 ET, 1245 UTC] on Saturday. SpaceX and NASA are targeting 5 a.m. PT [0800 ET, 1300 UTC] for the launch, but the test has a four-hour launch window to work with.
Crew Dragon will take a ride on a Falcon 9 rocket, which won't survive the test. The launch will take place at Florida's Kennedy Space Center, which will allow the rocket to break up over the Atlantic Ocean. It could be quite an eye-opening experience.
[...] If all goes well, the Crew Dragon capsule will separate from the rocket, deploy parachutes and float gently down to the water.
An animation of the in-flight abort (IFA) test is available on YouTube.
Also at Ars Technica.
(Score: 1) by Sulla on Saturday January 18 2020, @12:10AM
https://www.space.com/34086-spacex-boeing-test-crew-vehicle-abort-systems.html [space.com]
While I am unsure how insurance works for manned launches. I presume that the more extensive your testing the cheaper your insurance rates will be. It looks like SpaceX will not be recovering the booster from tomorrows launch, so the cost of the test is somewhere less than the 57m they charge others to launch and I am unsure what their margin is. Boeing might be willing to take a greater risk than Spacex is able to. If one of the first 10 Boeing manned launches fails, it won't ruin their companies future. Not sure if SpaceX could weather that.
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam