Crew Dragon – Page 25 – Spaceflight Now

SpaceX crew capsule completes dramatic abort test

May 6, 2015 Stephen Clark

A rocket-powered prototype of SpaceX’s human-rated crew capsule vaulted off a launch pad at Cape Canaveral on Wednesday for a brief mile-high test flight of the spaceship’s emergency crew safety system.

Don’t blink: SpaceX crew escape demo will go by in a flash

May 5, 2015 Stephen Clark

SpaceX plans to launch an unmanned test model of the company’s Dragon crew capsule Wednesday on a whirlwind 107-second flight through the skies over Cape Canaveral.

Photos: Dragon prototype poised for abort test

May 5, 2015 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s new Dragon crew ferry craft is in position for a key test Wednesday of the capsule’s safety system designed to whisk astronauts away from a dangerous rocket mishap during launch.

SpaceX preps for test of Dragon capsule’s life-saving abort system

May 4, 2015 Stephen Clark

A spaceship designed to ferry astronauts into orbit by 2017 is set for a major test Wednesday, when SpaceX plans to blast the capsule away from Cape Canaveral on a mile-high demo flight to simulate the craft’s ability to protect occupants in the event of a catastrophic rocket mishap on the pad.

Dragon pad abort test set for early May

April 21, 2015 Stephen Clark

A major test of the system that would shoot SpaceX astronaut crews away from a failing rocket is scheduled for no earlier than May 5 from a specially-built mount at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad, NASA announced Tuesday.

SpaceX, Sierra Nevada get more time to finish flight tests

April 2, 2015 Stephen Clark

NASA has extended development agreements with SpaceX and Sierra Nevada Corp. past a March 31 deadline, giving the companies more time to complete delayed tests on commercial spacecraft intended to one day ferry astronauts into space.

Falcon Heavy rocket hangar rises at launch pad 39A

February 25, 2015 Stephen Clark

SpaceX began erecting a new hangar at a former space shuttle launch pad in Florida last week, moving the historic facility closer to launching astronauts again.

NASA presses Congress for more commercial crew funding

February 3, 2015 Stephen Clark

The Obama administration has requested more than $1.2 billion from congressional appropriators next year to meet NASA’s funding commitments for Boeing and SpaceX’s commercial crew ferry spacecraft, and anything less could delay flights of the capsules past 2017.

SpaceX nears pad abort test for human-rated Dragon capsule

January 30, 2015 Stephen Clark

SpaceX is finishing up preparations for a major test of a rocket-powered abort system for the company’s new Dragon crew ferry spacecraft, targeting launch from Cape Canaveral in March after a pair of Falcon 9 missions in February.

SpaceX confirms first Crew Dragon flights will return to ocean landings

January 27, 2015 Stephen Clark

The human-rated Crew Dragon spacecraft being developed by SpaceX will return to Earth under parachutes for splashdowns in ocean, and not execute helicopter-like propulsive touchdowns on land, a SpaceX official confirmed Monday.