Next up for SpaceX - Pad Abort Test for Dragon, Tomorrow (May 6th) [Updated]

Update: May 6th. The Pad Test was successfully executed this morning.  The video from the Lifestream broadcast is below.

Before getting into the subject of this post, I'd like to acknowledge that this blog has become very SpaceX centered. That wasn't the intent - and still isn't - but it seems that SpaceX news fills the limited amount of time I have to devote to blogging. And they are doing such innovative and imaginative work that deserves to be shared. I do follow other commercial space companies, as well as NASA and other space agencies, but its likely that something extraordinary would have to occur with them in order to be shared here at this point.

On with the post.

With the Thales (TürkmenÄlem) mission complete, and the next launch scheduled for June, SpaceX will squeeze in the first test of the escape system for the human rated Dragon, now dubbed "Crew Dragon" in SpaceX's news release.

Pad Abort Test Infographic [click image to see a larger version]

This first test is the Pad Abort Test, which tests the spacecraft's emergency crew escape capability for an emergency that may occur while the rocket is still on the launch pad. An upcoming second test will test the escape capability from an in-flight rocket.

While these tests may not seem as exciting as full launch - especially one that attempts to drop the Falcon rocket onto a small floating landing pad - it is actually a very difficult process with some very impressive metrics. For example, Dragon's eight SuperDraco engines will produce 120,000 pounds of thrust to propel the spacecraft 328 ft (almost 100 meters) in 2 seconds, and 1/3 mile (more than half a kilometer) in just over 5 seconds.
To put that into perspective, that's just about the same as the national record for the 1/4 mile (drag race), which is currently 3.701 seconds. One hell of a ride for sure!

Another point of interest is that SpaceX is attempting to improve on the traditional, familiar escape "tower" that was stuck to the nose of spacecraft from almost the beginning of the U.S. space program. This tower contained a cluster of rockets that would effectively pull the spacecraft off of - and away from - the rocket. While this was effective when the rocket was on the pad, and for the first part of the ascent, it becomes ineffective within a couple of minutes. The built in SuperDraco thrusters on the other hand remain operational, and are maintained throughout the flight. These are also the thrusters that will enable Dragon to "land propulsively on Earth or another planet with the precision of a helicopter".

Read the full news release for details.