One thing I learned today is that one of the many SpaceX explosions didn’t have to happen. It turns out that NASA gave SpaceX the option of doing the in-flight abort test via simulation or in reality. The problem with doing it in reality is that SpaceX would likely lose an expensive rocket.
Boeing decided to do their in-flight abort test via simulation for their Starliner capsule. Luckily, SpaceX doesn’t trust simulations and did it for real. I say luckily, because we are overdue to lose more humans in space. So far this century, Virgin Galactic has had 1 death and 1 serious injury, NASA has had 7 deaths, and Soyuz has injured 2 people bad enough to require hospitalization.
SpaceX’s Dragon Crew Capsule safely blasted away from its carrier Falcon rocket in an test of its abort systems on Jan 19, 2020. The rocket exploded during descent as expected: https://www.space.com/spacex-crew-dragon-launch-abort-test-success.html.
Credit: SpaceX
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