SpaceX fires up redesigned Crew Dragon as NASA reveals SuperDraco thruster “flaps”

On November 13th, SpaceX showed that a proposed static fire test using a Crew Dragon’s powerful abort thrusters was finished without any difficulty, a strong indication that the business has successfully redesigned the spacecraft to protect against a catastrophic April 2019 burst from reoccurring.

Pending a far more comprehensive analysis, Wednesday’s dormant fire must leave SpaceX on track to perform Crew Dragon’s next flight test prior to the conclusion of 2019.

Full duration static fire test of Crew Dragon’s launch escape system whole — SpaceX and NASA teams are currently reviewing test information and working toward an in-flight demonstration of Crew Dragon’s launching escape capacities pic.twitter.com/CMHvMRBQcW

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 13, 2019

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In an unexpected boom of transparency, SpaceX and NASA published photographs of the Crew Dragon capsule’s dormant fire test just a couple hours later it was finished, an excellent indication that the ‘quick-look’ data analysis immediately following the test was extremely optimistic. Spaceflight Now was first to visually confirm that the test had occurred, publishing a photograph that demonstrated a whitish cloud of smoke produced by the static fire around 3:15 pm EST (20:15 UTC).

Had a failure similar to the April 2019 explosion occurred, which cloud could have likely been tinged reddish by unburnt dinitrogen tetroxide (NTO) oxidizer, and also the different look of November 13th’s exhaust cloud was seen as the very first tentative indication that this static fire had gone more successfully.

BREAKING: #SpaceX Crew Dragon suffered an anomaly during test fire today, based on 45th Space Wing. Smoke could be found on the shores. “On April 20, an anomaly occurred at Cape Canaveral AFS during Dragon 2 static test fire. Anomaly was contained and no injuries.” pic.twitter.com/If5rdeGRXO

— Emre Kelly (@EmreKelly) April 20, 2019

SpaceX appears to get test-fired thrusters on its Crew Dragon capsule at Cape Canaveral, also a test that paves the way to get a launch abort test. EARLIER STORY: https://t.co/mJKujDVeNU pic.twitter.com/AspZxFCMRq

— Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) November 13, 2019

Alongside pictures of the SuperDraco thruster evaluation published by NASA and SpaceX soon following its conclusion, SpaceX confirmed that the test was completed without difficulty. Irrespective of whether everything done exactly as intended, this usually means that factory-fresh Crew Dragon capsule C205 made it throughout the test unscathed, likely securing SpaceX along with NASA a large quantity of uninterrupted telemetry information, in addition to the hardware itself.

Only hours following C205’s dormant fire was finished, NASA published a comprehensive update, verifying that the tests were finished with no difficulties that were apparent.

This afternoon, @SpaceX finished a collection of static fire engine tests including #CrewDragon's launching escape system.Now, SpaceX and @NASA will1⃣ Review information from the test2⃣ Perform hardware inspections3⃣ Establish date date for In-Flight Abort Test: https://t.co/4SbwBhGgX4 pic.twitter.com/kPpM729jtm

— NASA Commercial Crew (@Commercial_Crew) November 13, 2019

NASA described the test in a lot more detail than SpaceX, imagining that it started with the ignition two of Crew Dragon’s 16 Draco maneuvering thrusters, each performing two one-second burns. C205’s SuperDraco abort thrusters then initiated and burnt for a total of 9 minutes to simulate required abort performance, followed with the reignition of two Draco thrusters instantly following SuperDraco cutoff.

Each capable of producing several dozen pounds of push, equally Crew and Cargo Dragon utilize Draco thrusters to orient themselves in orbit, rendezvous with the International Space Station, and lower their orbits to Earth’s air. Crew Dragon’s Draco thrusters are also made to control its attitude during abort situations, stabilizing and flipping the spacecraft to protect against a loss of command and ensure proper orientation during crisis parachute deployment. The Draco firings during Crew Dragon’s November 13th static fire have been supposed to simulate that.

Aside from confirming that SpaceX has successfully redesigned Crew Dragon to mitigate the failure mode that resulted in capsule C201’s catastrophic burst in April 2019, the Draco static fires specifically represented the burns Crew Dragon C205 will have to perform to successfully finish its In-Flight Abort (IFA) test. According to NASA and SpaceX, with the static fire finish, the two groups will currently comb through the information generated and inspect Crew Dragon to confirm its health and the operation of its redesigned high-flow pressurization system, and also execute any essential refurbishment.

A fighter of SuperDraco thrusters is envisioned here soon after setup on Crew Dragon C206, the spacecraft set to launch astronauts for the very first time ever. (SpaceX)

SuperDraco’s puzzle “flaps”

NASA’s post on Crew Dragon’s fire that is dormant demonstrated the following detail: that the SpaceX spacecraft’s SuperDraco thrusters have flaps! A bit of retroactive speculation suggests that SuperDracos are shut out with plugs of some sort to create a seal against the surroundings before Crew Dragon is rolled out to the launching pad. Perhaps, in the event of a SuperDraco ignition, SpaceX comprised actuating flaps as a method of resealing these thrusters prior to splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean.

“Immediately following the SuperDracos closed down, two Dracos thrusters fired along with eight SuperDraco flaps shut, mimicking the order needed to reorient the spacecraft in-flight to a parachute deploy attitude and shut the flaps prior to reentry. The series, from SuperDraco startup to flap closure, spanned about 70 minutes. ”NASA, November 13th, 2019

In retrospect, flaps (actuating covers) are an obvious explanation for those cutouts observable directly under each SuperDraco pod. (SpaceX)

Given that the obvious utility of these flaps appears to be quite restricted and their associated actuators have to survive the 9+ successive seconds of hellish states in the event of a real abort, it seems like an excessively complicated system to add on Crew Dragon. Nevertheless, the capability to guarantee that SuperDracos are water-sealed prior to splashdown would create Crew Dragon reuse and far more easy to refurbish.

The SuperDraco flaps might also be a holdover from earlier propulsive Crew Dragon landings have been canceled, although the use-cases for such a system still stay unclear. The flaps’ raison d’etre could be as simple as preventing water intrusion that might cause Dragon to sink following splashdown.

The fact that Crew Dragon C201’s flaps seemed to be unchanged following launching and recovery suggests that they are more of a copy in the event that the abort thrusters have to be used. (NASA)

Irrespective of the reason they exist, NASA suggests that SpaceX’so called November 13th static fire demonstrated that they worked exactly as expected, closing shortly after the mimicked abort burn off to seal Crew Dragon against water intrusion. If NASA and SpaceX’s deep-dive reviews and data analysis uncover no red flags, it’s extremely likely that SpaceX will able to start C205 because of the In-Flight Abort test some 4-8 months from now.

In the event the IFA also goes as planned, Crew Dragon might be ready for its inaugural NASA astronaut launch as early as February or March 2020.

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