[ad_1] Designed to carry crews of up to six astronauts, the craft tested weighed 14 tons and is designed to be the primary transport to China’s future space station. CASC and the CNSA, China’s space agency, are also working on a 21.6-ton variant for deep space, designed to be used in future manned lunar missions. […]
Category: capsule
SpaceX’s first-gen Dragon cargo capsule left the ISS for the last time
[ad_1] This marks the last flight in a $1.6 billion contract between NASA and SpaceX. Now, SpaceX is shifting its attention to the second-generation Dragon 2 capsule, which it will use for ISS resupply runs beginning in October. The new spacecraft will be able to fly up to five times, surpassing the three-trip max of […]
SpaceX parachute test failure could further delay crewed flight
[ad_1] It’s not clear what led to the problem, although SpaceX said the parachutes weren’t responsible. The crewed demo mission is still officially expected in May. However, Parabolic Arc sources said that the failure along with separate preparation issues made it “likely” that the flight would wait until June. It wouldn’t be surprising if the […]
The first crewed SpaceX flight could happen around May 7th
[ad_1] Working date for SpaceX’s Demo-2 launch is May 7. Dragon is in good shape. Launch date is fluid and mission may move into late April, or push later into May depending on a number of variables not hardware related. No final decision yet on duration. — Eric Berger (@SciGuySpace) February 10, 2020 It’s been […]
Boeing Starliner is the first US-made crew capsule to land on the ground
[ad_1] Starliner didn’t dock with the International Space Station as planned, but it still collected ample amounts of data across the flight, including Rosie’s insights as to how humans would fare during a trip. The team likely collected about 85 to 90 percent of what they were looking for, Boeing’s Jim Chilton said during a […]
SpaceX blames Crew Dragon explosion on an oxidizer leak
[ad_1] The reaction between the oxidizer and the titanium was “not expected,” SpaceX said, noting that titanium had been used on spacecraft for “many decades.” The company has taken steps to reduce the chances of this happening again. It eliminated potential flow paths in the escape system that would let liquid propellant enter the pressurization […]
SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule suffers ‘anomaly’ in testing
[ad_1] The company had been gearing up for a mission abort test that would have fired all eight of Crew Dragon’s SuperDraco engines in mid-launch, showing that the capsule could get away from its host rocket in an emergency. That test was supposed to take place in June, but it’s not certain this will happen […]