SpaceX Crew Dragon Test Announced (and Boeing Too)

This week NASA announced that they will be conducting the first test flight of the crewed version of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, and it is scheduled to happen on January 7^th 2019.

The first test of the SpaceX Crew Dragon will in fact be unmanned, as the company needs to demonstrate that the capsule is indeed safe for crews to ride in, as well as nailing a few of the more operational elements of the mission.

NASA announced the test along with a list of other tests from competitors as part of their long-running Commercial Crew Program.

Figure 1: SpaceX Crew Dragon and Boeing's CST-100 Starliner. (Image courtesy of NASA.)

So in addition to January’s low Earth orbit test (named SpaceX Demo-1), we should expect to see the following other tests from SpaceX and Boeing in the next year:

Test Flight Planning Dates:

Boeing Orbital Flight Test (uncrewed): March 2019

Boeing Pad Abort Test: Between OFT and CFT

Boeing Crew Flight Test (crewed): August 2019

SpaceX Demo-1 (uncrewed): January 7, 2019

SpaceX In-Flight Abort Test: Between Demo-1 and Demo-2

SpaceX Demo-2 (crewed): June 2019

As you can see from the list, both companies will follow a similar test campaign designed to bring their respective spacecraft into maturity for crewed spaceflight.

You may notice that SpaceX isn’t listed as requiring a Pad Abort Test—this is because the company already completed its test back in 2015.

So after both companies have successfully demonstrated orbital flight capabilities, and after Boeing finishes its Pad Abort Test, both companies will be required to demonstrate an In-Flight Abort Test, in which they will have to prove their ability to protect crew in the result of an on-pad or in-ascent emergency.

Then, if all goes well, SpaceX will perform its Demo-2 test with a crew onboard in June 2019, while Boeing will be doing its test in August 2019.

According to NASA, the test flight crews have been selected and are already in training, with NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley training for the Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission. NASA astronauts Eric Boe and Nicole Aunapu Mann and Boeing astronaut Chris Ferguson are in preparation for the Boeing test in August.

Figure 2: NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins and Bob Behnken at SpaceX's rocket facility in Texas. (Image courtesy of NASA.)

So what else do we know about the Demo-1 flight?

For starters, they won’t be risking the mission on a reused Falcon 9 rocket. They will be using a brand new one with the newly designed COPV (composite overwrapped pressure vessel) which, as you may recall, has been redesigned as the old one was the cause of the Falcon 9 explosion back in 2016.

And it’s also likely that the crew will be wearing the SpaceX spacesuits (or more correctly, they are “get me down” suits, meaning they are designed for protection at altitude rather than being designed for EVAs in vacuum and the like). We got a glimpse of the SpaceX suit when they launched the dummy in the Tesla earlier this year, and recently we saw photos of the actual astronauts sporting the garments. You can see NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley in the spacesuits in the image below.

Figure 3: Suited and booted. (Image courtesy of NASA.)

With last week’s announcement that we may be treated to the sight of a giant sea-based catcher’s mitt catching bits of falling spacecraft, it’s going to be an interesting few months for space fans, that’s for sure! And you can bet that we’ll be bringing you some pretty exclusive photos from each crewed launch as well. Stay tuned!