SpaceX tests new Crew Dragon parachute design
Successful parachute tests bring the Crew Dragon another step closer to a crewed flight test.
Source | SpaceX
SpaceX (Hawthorne, Calif., U.S.) on December 22 completed its tenth successful consecutive multi-chute test of an upgraded parachute design for its Crew Dragon spacecraft. The new design, known as the Mark 3, was developed after problems with asymmetric inflation of the Mark 2 parachutes and a failed parachute test in April of 2019.
In October NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine stated at an event at SpaceX headquarters, “We are committed as a team, SpaceX and NASA, to the Mark 3 parachute, which is superior to the Mark 2. We need to get with the Mark 3 now consistent, repeatable performance.”
The successful parachute tests bring the Crew Dragon another step closer to a crewed flight test. While the Crew Dragon has completed an uncrewed flight test to the ISS, it still needs to complete a test of the capsule's emergency abort system — a test scheduled for January 11 — prior to a crewed flight test, which it hopes to conduct in the first half of 2020.
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