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takyon writes:

After Thursday test firing, SpaceX may be a month from commercial crew launch

On Thursday afternoon at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, SpaceX performed a hot-fire test of the Falcon 9 rocket that will fly its first commercial crew demonstration mission. This flight will not carry crew members but will serve as a test of the launch system, Crew Dragon spacecraft, and the company's ability to dock the vehicle safely with the International Space Station.

[...] Typically, such a firing occurs one to two weeks before the launch of a rocket. NASA and SpaceX, however, have yet to confirm a launch date for the mission. The current public no-earlier-than date for the flight is February 16, but sources indicated to Ars that, in terms of internal planning, the current NET date is February 23.

Before a formal launch date is set, officials with the company and space agency must still give the mission a green light during a final review process. These reviews will proceed despite the partial government shutdown, as key NASA personnel designated for the commercial crew program are continuing to work without pay in support of the flight.

[...] In addition to life-support systems that can support up to seven astronauts, the Crew Dragon has several key upgrades that must be tested in spaceflight, such as solar panels built into the spacecraft rather than extended panels.

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MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1984

SpaceX's new astronaut taxi won't make its inaugural trip to the International Space Station (ISS) this month after all.

SpaceX and Boeing are developing commercial space capsules — called Crew Dragon and CST-100 Starliner, respectively — to carry NASA astronauts to and from the orbiting lab.

SpaceX had been targeting Feb. 23 for Crew Dragon's shakeout cruise to the ISS, an uncrewed flight called Demo-1. Starliner was scheduled to perform a similar mission in March. But launch dates for both flights have just been pushed to the right, NASA announced today (Feb. 6). [Crew Dragon and Starliner: A Look at the Upcoming Astronaut Taxis]

"The agency now is targeting March 2 for launch of SpaceX's Crew Dragon on its uncrewed Demo-1 test flight. Boeing's uncrewed Orbital Flight Test is targeted for launch no earlier than April," NASA officials wrote in the status update.

Source: https://www.space.com/43250-spacex-boeing-commercial-crew-test-launches-delayed.html

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martyb writes:

SpaceX Crew Dragon Capsule Gets NASA Thumbs-Up for March Test Flight :

NASA and SpaceX got together on Friday and scrutinized the Crew Dragon Demo-1 mission to determine if it's truly ready to launch to the International Space Station in March. So far, so good.

The result of the flight readiness reviews is that NASA is confirming the targeted launch time of 11:48 p.m. Pacific on Friday, Mar. 1 (2:48 a.m. Eastern on Saturday, Mar. 2) from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The capsule will ride to space on a Falcon 9 rocket.

Crew Dragon won't have any humans on board for this initial test flight, but it will carry supplies and equipment to the ISS.

Submitted via IRC for Bytram

Dragon aces final NASA review, now set for test flight on March 2

On Friday, key NASA officials gathered in a large meeting room at Kennedy Space Center. Here, for decades, NASA managers reviewed analyses about the next space shuttle mission and, more often than not, cleared the vehicle for launch. But after 2011, there were no more crew vehicles to review.

That changed this week when NASA convened a "flight readiness review" for SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft for its initial test flight, without people on board. By Friday evening, the meeting was over and, among the NASA and SpaceX officials, the verdict was in—Dragon was ready for its demonstration mission as part of the commercial crew program on March 2. Launch time for the Falcon 9 rocket is 2:48am ET (07:48 UTC), from Kennedy Space Center. "I'm ready to fly," NASA's commercial crew program manager, Kathy Lueders, said succinctly.

The mood was ebullient among NASA leadership as well as SpaceX's top official on the scene, Hans Koenigsmann, the company's vice president of build and flight reliability. He, too, had participated in the flight readiness review in the storied room where so many shuttle meetings had been held. "It was a really big deal for SpaceX, and me personally," he said.

[...] This will not be a pro forma test. Although Lueders and the other NASA officials are comfortable with the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft for this test flight, there are still some issues they want to close out before astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken launch into space on an identical rocket and capsule.

NASA is still gathering data about the rocket and spacecraft's composite overwrap pressure vessels, or COPVs, which are essentially bottles that store rocket fuels at extremely high pressures. Engineers also want to ensure that there is enough margin in the Dragon's parachutes for a safe landing under various conditions, and study some concerns about the propellant feed system in the Dragon spacecraft. Finally, a mannequin will fly inside the vehicle during the test flight to determine stresses on humans during the flight.

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martyb writes:

SpaceX set to Launch Critical Dragon Demonstration Mission Tonight:

It's finally go time. For the first time since 2011 and the space shuttle's retirement, a rocket and spacecraft stand on a launch pad in Florida capable of blasting humans into space. Launch time is set for 2:49am ET (07:49 UTC) Saturday from Kennedy Space Center. NASA and SpaceX have worked toward this goal for nine years. It hasn't always been easy, but now here we are.

This particular Dragon won't carry humans, just a single mannequin named Ripley as an homage to Sigourney Weaver's iconic character in the movie Alien. Ripley will wear a flight suit and be well instrumented in order to determine conditions inside the spacecraft. "The idea is to get an idea of how humans would feel in her place basically," Hans Koenigsmann, the vice president of build and flight reliability at SpaceX, said at a news briefing Thursday.

[...] This uncrewed flight must go off smoothly before NASA and SpaceX can proceed to crewed missions and end the space agency's dependence on Russian transportation to the station. So much must go right from start to finish. It will begin about an hour before Saturday morning's launch, when NASA will be closely watching the load-and-go fueling operations of the Falcon 9 rocket, which will occur with astronauts on board during crewed flights.

NASA engineers also want to see how Dragon performs in orbit, how smoothly it docks with the space station, and the condition of the vehicle's interior once the hatch opens. (Hopefully there will be no free freon.) Then, perhaps the most critical phase of the mission will come during the return to Earth, when Dragon re-enters Earth's atmosphere and lands in the Atlantic Ocean, under parachutes. This is presently expected to occur on Friday, March 8, at around 8:45am ET.

There are some great pics in the story, well worth loading and reading all the way through.

This is a new booster (per NASA's specification) which is scheduled for a landing attempt on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You.

The launch is being live-streamed on YouTube. Video usually starts 15-20 minutes before launch.

Also at BBC and CNET.

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takyon writes:

Boeing delays by months test flights for U.S. human space program: sources

Boeing Co has delayed by at least three months its first uncrewed flight to the International Space Station under NASA's human spaceflight program, and pushed its crewed flight until November, industry sources said on Wednesday.

Reuters reported last month that NASA has warned Boeing and rival contractor SpaceX of design and safety concerns the companies need to address before flying humans to space.

Boeing's first test flight was slated for April but it has been pushed to August, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. The new schedule means that Boeing's crewed mission, initially scheduled for August, will be delayed until November.

Also at Spaceflight Insider, Astronomy Magazine, and BGR.

Related:

*SPOILER* (click to show) *SPOILER* (click to hide)

Boeing Crewed Test Flight to the ISS May be Upgraded to a Full Mission
SpaceX and Boeing Not Ready to Transport Astronauts to the International Space Station
SpaceX, Boeing (and NASA) Push Back 1st Test Launches of Private Spaceships
NASA Prepared to Purchase Two More Soyuz Seats From Roscosmos
SpaceX Crew Dragon Capsule Gets NASA Thumbs-Up for March Test Flight
Unmanned Crew Dragon 2 Docks With ISS
Dragon has Docked-But the Real Pucker Moment for SpaceX's Capsule Awaits [Updated]

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