Elon Musk Shares Video of Simulated Crew Dragon Mission to International Space Station

SpaceX has already conducted a successful uncrewed test flight of Crew Dragon.

By Gadgets 360 Staff With Inputs From IANS | Updated: 2 January 2020 11:05 IST

Elon Musk Shares Video of Simulated Crew Dragon Mission to International Space Station

Photo Credit: Twitter/ Elon Musk

An image showing simulated Falcon 9 rocket

Highlights

Elon Musk has shared a video simulation of Crew Dragon
Musk tweeted a two minute video on Monday
Capsule is seen docking with the ISS and then detaching

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has shared a video simulation of what the company's Crew Dragon mission to the International Space Station (ISS) could look like. The two-minute clip that Musk tweeted on Monday shows flight crew boarding the capsule-like spaceship Crew Dragon, countdown, take off and separation of the vehicle from the Falcon 9 rocket. In the simulation, the capsule is seen docking with the ISS and then detaching before returning to the earth with the help of parachutes. It is normal for the companies to release animated footage before the actual launch to hype it.

NASA hopes the capsule could be ready for its first crewed "Demo-2" test flight to the ISS in the first quarter of 2020, Engadget reported.

Simulation of first crewed flight of Falcon 9 / Dragon 2020 @NASA pic.twitter.com/BSDPYTcVIG
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 30, 2019

In November, SpaceX completed a series of static fire engine tests of its new passenger spacecraft, Crew Dragon, paving the way for an in-flight launch escape demonstration.

In April, during a similar set of engine tests, the spacecraft experienced an anomaly which led to an explosion and loss of the vehicle. No one was injured during the tests. SpaceX said that the initial tests were "completed successfully, but the final test resulted in an anomaly on the test stand."

In the following months, a team made up of SpaceX and NASA personnel determined that a slug of liquid propellant in the high-flow helium pressurisation system unexpectedly caused a titanium ignition event resulting in an explosion.

Based on that investigation's findings and months of testing, SpaceX redesigned components of the system to eliminate the possibility of slugs entering the high-flow pressurisation system.

Earlier this year, SpaceX conducted a successful uncrewed test flight of Crew Dragon, which flew to the space station, docked and then returned home.

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