Because the system is integrated with the Dragon – as opposed to a Tower system that normally requires jettison shortly after first stage flight – the spacecraft can technically abort within much longer periods. In preparation for a summer 2014 test, SpaceX recently laid out its plan to demonstrate the Dragon spacecraft’s ability to abort in the event of an in-flight emergency. The in-flight abort test plan provided an assessment of the SuperDraco engines, the software that would issue the abort command, and the interface between the Dragon spacecraft and the Falcon 9 rocket on which the spacecraft will be launched. “It’s critical to have a launch abort system in which NASA and SpaceX can have confidence,” noted Phil McAlister, director of Commercial Spaceflight Development at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “When you put humans aboard, safety and reliability are paramount and this review and the upcoming tests will help prove their space transportation system is on the right track.” The review – conducted last month at at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California – included experts from NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It was also the eighth of 15 milestone under SpaceX ‘s NASAs Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) initiative, which runs through to the summer of 2014. The overall plan involves a pad abort test in the spring of next year, involving a Dragon being launched from the test stand via the ignition of the abort engines, prior to the initiation of the separation command. At around 5,000 feet, the spacecraft’s parachutes will deploy resulting in a splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean. A successful test will allow for the in-flight abort test to occur in the summer. Click here for additional SpaceX News Articles: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/tag/spacex/ “With NASA’s support, SpaceX continues to implement the necessary modifications to equip Dragon to fly crew,” added former Shuttle astronaut Garrett Reisman, commercial crew project manager at SpaceX. “SpaceX and NASA believe in rigorous flight testing and we are looking forward to putting our SuperDraco launch abort system through these critical tests, starting with the pad abort test in the spring and followed by the in-flight abort test in the summer.” During the in-flight abort test, a Dragon spacecraft will launch on a standard Falcon 9 from SpaceX’s Cape Canaveral launch site, with an abort command issued approximately 73 seconds into the flight – during the MaxQ phase of ascent. To monitor the test, Dragon will be outfitted with about 270 special sensors to measure a wide variety of stresses and acceleration effects on the spacecraft. An instrumented mannequin, similar to a crash test dummy, also will be inside. The Dragon will be recovered via the deployment of its parachutes for a splashdown in the Atlantic, where a ship will be pre-positioned for simulated rescue operations, before the Dragon is returned to Port Canaveral by barge. However, the forward plan – per SpaceX’s ambitions – is the use of the Draco engines during the end portion of the mission, allowing Dragon to land propulsively. Once this capability is online, in tandem with the return of the First and Second stages, SpaceX will be in the position of returning all of the launch system hardware to the ground for reuse. Propulsive landing of the Dragon will be one of the key technologies used when SpaceX begin to fly crews on the spacecraft. However, the timing of the switch from water to ground landings will be negotiated between SpaceX and NASA.