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Watch SpaceX's Crew Dragon in-flight abort test at 10:30AM ET on Sunday
One of the last major steps before SpaceX flies its Crew Dragon craft with real NASA astronauts onboard is an "in-flight abort test." Scheduled to take place during a four-hour window on Saturday, Sunday or Monday morning, it will test the vehicle's ability to safely get back to Earth if there's a problem during ascent.
SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft successfully launched
Ever since the Space Shuttle program ended in 2011, NASA has relied on Russian Soyuz missions to get astronauts back and forth from the International Space Station. In order to maintain control over its own missions, the Commercial Crew program has sought replacements, with SpaceX and Boeing in competition for the contract. After a number of delays, SpaceX will go first with a test launch of its Crew Dragon vehicle, scheduled to take off from Launch Complex 39A in Cape Canaveral at 2:49 AM ET. SpaceX will have a live webcast of the Crew Demo-1 launch, which you can watch here, along with coverage from NASA TV. The broadcasts should start at 2 AM. To synchronize with the ISS, it's an instantaneous window so there's no waiting for this one -- it either will or will not go tonight.
SpaceX test firing sets path for Crew Dragon flight in February
On Thursday afternoon the rocket engines under SpaceX's Crew Dragon vehicle briefly fired up, and after a few delays the company said on Twitter that it's planning for a test flight in February. You can watch a video of the test below, which according to CBS reporter William Harwood, may have been a bit shorter than planned and could lead to a retest. Anonymous sources indicated that the test flight is tentatively scheduled for February 23rd. As Ars Technica notes, while SpaceX and Boeing prepare their vehicles for testing, NASA personnel with the commercial crew program are currently working without pay in support due to the ongoing government shutdown.
Elon Musk vs. Jeff Bezos: Billionaires bid for NASA's space shuttle launchpad
Here's an epic fight that won't take place inside the octagon: Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are apparently competing to take over a NASA launchpad... and instead of dishing out jiu-jitsu moves, they're letting money do the talking. In particular, the dotcom billionaires' space companies, Blue Origin and SpaceX, are bidding for Kennedy Space Center's historic Launch Complex 39A -- site of NASA's first and last space shuttle blast-off. Each company's plan for 39A is to launch both unmanned missions and shuttles carrying commercial customers and astronaut crews into space. Bezos' Blue Origin, however, also aims to turn it into a multi-use facility where other companies can launch their rockets for a price. NASA's keeping bidding details on the down low, but seeing as it wants to offload 39A in October to save money, we'll know soon enough who'll win this battle of the dollars.[Image credit: NASA]
