Space X, the American company of Elon Musk, passed a final test before the mid-2020 dispatch of NASA astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS).
This latest emergency ejection test of the Falcon 9 launcher capsule, moments after the launch from Cape Canaveral on Sunday, was originally scheduled for mid-2019 but was delayed after the explosion of a Crew Dragon capsule. in April on a test bench.
A few minutes after takeoff, the Falcon 9 thrusters simulated a failure about 19 km above the ocean.
Immediately, the eight SuperDraco engines in the Crew Dragon capsule successfully propelled the spacecraft away from Falcon 9 at a top speed of 600 km / h. After the separation, parachutes from the spacecraft were deployed to slow the fall. The Crew Dragon capsule landed in the ocean before being recovered from a Space X ship. Elon Musk described this test as "perfect".
Crew Dragon separating from Falcon 9 during today's test, which verified the spacecraft's ability to carry astronauts to safety in the unlikely event of an emergency on ascent pic.twitter.com/rxUDPFD0v5
- SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 19, 2020For NASA, this is the last straight line to regain its autonomy in space transport. The U.S. agency awarded $ 4.2 billion to Boeing and $ 2.5 billion to SpaceX in 2014 to develop separate capsule systems capable of carrying astronauts.
With the cessation of the space shuttle program in 2011, NASA was dependent on the Russian spacecraft Soyuz for trips to the space station.
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This Dragon capsule can transport cargo or seven people to the ISS. On March 3, 2019, the capsule was the first spacecraft in history to dock independently with the ISS.
This success of Space X allows it to take a lead over its rival Boeing. In late December, the Boeing Starliner capsule landed in New Mexico after failing to join the ISS. Starliner’s first manned flight is also scheduled for 2020.