Space X Postpones Crew Dragon In-flight Abort Test To Sunday Due To Bad Weather

KEY POINTS

SpaceX delays launch escape test due to poor weather
Launch to happen on Sunday, Jan. 19
Monday, Jan. 20 is the last back day for test

SpaceX delayed the important launch abort test due to bad weather on Saturday. Now, the private spacecraft company is targeting Sunday, Jan. 19, for the launch test.

Sustained winds and rough seas in the recovery area during the four-hour launch escape mission window led to SpaceX calling off the Crew Dragon in-flight abort test scheduled Saturday.

SpaceX took Twitter to break the news to its audience. Apart from Sunday, the launch has reserved Monday, Jan. 20 as well in case the weather continues to be a hindrance.

“Standing down from today’s in-flight Crew Dragon launch escape test attempt due to sustained winds and rough seas in the recovery area. Now targeting Sunday, January 19, with a six-hour test window opening at 8:00 a.m. EST, 13:00 UTC,” SpaceX tweeted from its official account.

Meanwhile, Jim Bridenstine, NASA administrator, tweeted a photo of astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken in suits rehearsing for the experience in Crew Dragon missions.

Watch SpaceX Crew Dragon in-flight abort live online on SpaceX and NASA’s official YouTube channels from 7:45 a.m. ET on Sunday.

In the upcoming final mission, SpaceX will deliberately kill one of its rockets to showcase it has the capability to safeguard the astronauts during flight. This is the last unmanned mission for SpaceX before it invites astronauts to be a part of the future missions.

The launch escape test will check the SuperDraco-powered system, which is made to pull the capsule away from its rocket in case of an emergency during ascent.

The abort test will have two human dummies (anthropomorphic test devices) placed in the capsule that will give crucial data to NASA and SpaceX about how real astronauts would feel in the vehicle in the future Space.com reported. After 84 seconds, the test will initiate an emergency, and an abort will begin. During that time, eight SuperDraco launch abort engines will take out the capsule safely from Falcon 9 and land at sea. A recovery vehicle will wait for the landing in the waters.