--- title: SpaceX Pad Abort Test | TIME description: Crew Dragon's first critical flight test, known as a Pad Abort Test, is took place on May 6, from SpaceX’s Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) in Cape Canaveral, Florida. canonical: https://time.com/video/RvqEueft/ og:title: SpaceX Pad Abort Test og:description: Crew Dragon's first critical flight test, known as a Pad Abort Test, is took place on May 6, from SpaceX’s Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) in Cape Canaveral, Florida. og:url: https://time.com/video/RvqEueft/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/RvqEueft/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: SpaceX Pad Abort Test twitter:description: Crew Dragon's first critical flight test, known as a Pad Abort Test, is took place on May 6, from SpaceX’s Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) in Cape Canaveral, Florida. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/RvqEueft/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # SpaceX Pad Abort Test > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: SpaceX Pad Abort Test [Watch (HLS stream): SpaceX Pad Abort Test](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/RvqEueft.m3u8) (2:07)  _Published 2015-05-06. Crew Dragon's first critical flight test, known as a Pad Abort Test, is took place on May 6, from SpaceX’s Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) in Cape Canaveral, Florida._ --- Jul 27, 2023 6:13 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [SpaceX's Starhopper Completes A Successful Test Flight ](/video/n1RC02bz/) ### SpaceX's Starhopper Completes A Successful Test Flight [SpaceX Launches Rocket to International Space Station From NASA's Historic Pad](/video/2BMRo9sk/) ### SpaceX Launches Rocket to International Space Station From NASA's Historic Pad [SpaceX Pad Abort Test POV](/video/3bj3VqzV/) ### SpaceX Pad Abort Test POV --- ## Transcript All stations on countdown one. We're at t minus 15 minutes checking one issue on flight software and one question on weather. Other than that all systems go. Please stand by. All stations, countdown one. It's authorized, go. Good morning from the Space X Test Cast Studio at our headquarters in Hawthorne California. I am John Ensenburger and I'll be bringing you commentary on todays' first test flight of the Crew Dragon Space Ship Today's test is the pad abort test. Taking place from our launch pad at Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral. It's currently just over 14 minutes until a planned launch time. Flight is scheduled to occur at 9 a. m. Eastern Daylight Time, or 1 p. m. Universal Time. Currently the Dragon team is go for launch. They are conducting their final evaluations. And we'll hear a readiness poll Coming up at T minus 13 minutes. Weather appears to be acceptable, but we continue to watch cloud levels and possibility of lightning in the area. Today's window extends several hours though, so if we have a weather problem or other schedule issue, we should have time to be able to take a crack at a launch at a later time. Space x conducted a successful static fire of the spaceship yesterday on the fifth of May following a review of the data from that test, the space x launch director gave the go to proceed with today's flight. Most recently, we've done the drag and radio frequency checks, it's just over half hour before launch And we have gone into final configuration for flight at t minus 25 minutes. With that, let's listen to the launch conductor, Paul, of the team at t minus 13 minutes. All stations go and a go for terminal count, beginning with mission assurance. Mission assurance is go. DC? DC is go for terminal count. GC. GC is go. SYS1. SYS1 is go. SYS2. SYS2 is go. TC. TC go. Nav. Nav is go. Flight software. Flight software go. Mission software. Mission software is go. IT. IT is go. Recovery. Recovery go. RC. RC go. LSM. LSM go. Rock. Rocket is go. LD. LD is go pending that we resolve our range weather field [ UNKNOWN ] here and and we don't violate in the near term. Copy, LC is go. DC you are go to enable the terminal count auto sequence. If a no go is required we will call within the time to protect, t minus three minutes, 30 seconds. All stations terminal count auto sequence is enabled. You've heard the launch conductor pull the team for their readiness for test, coming up at just over 11 minutes and 45 seconds from now. Launch director is looking at 1 possible constraint, you may have heard the term field mill. They are looking at the charged atmosphere around the launch complex The lightning concern that I talked about earlier. They're evaluating that right now. So we should hear some more shortly. If we go into the terminal count sequence. Leading down to zero. And we do have to hold. Then we'll just recycle back to possibly around T- minus 20 minutes. Evaluate conditions. And then attempt again So let's listen in to the countdown net and see if we continue into terminal count. If a hold is called from this point forward, the terminal count auto sequence will be aborted. Indicate an abort or hold condition by saying hold, hold, hold on the primary countdown net, countdown 1. In this event, the DC will immediately abort the auto sequence The DC shall not abort the auto sequence after T minus ten seconds and operators shall not call a hold after T minus ten seconds. If a hold is called, all operators proceed to the contingency terminal counter board steps in ten dot one seven. Standby to pick up the count. T minus ten minutes and counting on my mark. Three, two, one, mark. D- C verify the terminal count auto sequence has started. << Terminal count auto sequence has begun G- C stand by on fire x << G- C standing by R- C start tracking camera video recorders, affirmative. [ NOISE ] Valve and pyro boards are enabled. Ethernet data recorder is on. I'm the alignment has started. We're at T minus eight minutes and 19 seconds until the test of the first Crew Dragon. Today's flight is part of SpaceX's commercial crew contract with NASA. It's the first flight test of the launch abort system, featuring the use of the eight Super Draco thrusters. Today's test will be short in duration. Following a terminal countdown, which we're in the middle of right now, Dragon will fire its launch abort system. All eight Super Draco thrusters will ignite for five seconds Burning the nitrogen tetroxide and hydrazine rocket propellant. This will carry the Dragon capsule and its trunk away from the launch pad, simulating an abort from a launch vehicle. The eight engines built by SpaceX will generate a 120, 000 pounds of thrust or over half a million newtons of force. In 5 seconds the trunk and capsule will be a kilometer above the pad, headed out to an off shore landing in the Atlantic Ocean. Dragon will coast for another 16 seconds and a t plus 21 seconds the trunk will be jettisoned from the capsule. This frees up the crew Dragon capsule to rotate and point it's heat shield towards the ground. The heat shield, as on our Cargo Dragon flights It's protected by the trunk until it is jettisoned. 25 seconds into flight the drove parachutes will be deployed followed by the main parachutes at 35 seconds into the flight. The finally Dragon should splash down just offshore from the launch pad In approximately one minute and 47 seconds after launch. Splashdown will be about 2. 2 km from the pad. Now this is the first test, as I said, of the Spacex Crew Dragon spaceship. We're not carrying people on this flight. However, there is an instrument, a dummy on board which will allow us to collect data on forces experienced during the flight That data, combined with the instrumentation throughout the Crew Dragon vehicle helps Spacex ensure the safety of human passengers on our future missions. Currently we are coming up on T minus six minutes. Dragon Spacecraft has begun to transfer internal power. We've also heard that the weather constraints are go for the test Coming up right at the top of the hour. So with that we're going to go back and listen in to the countdown [ UNKNOWN ] t minus six minutes as we go through the last minutes on the first test of the Crew Dragon spaceship [ NOISE ] T- Minus minutes. T minus four minutes. [ UNKNOWN ] is high, T- dos is recording, video encoders are on, goPro camera recording has been triggered. [ INAUDIBLE ] This is Solomon. We are Go for launch. This is a transient current in TDOS. Cabin fans are off. ACQD disconnected and gas flow closed out. LD verified. Go for launch. LD is go for SpaceX pad abort test. Dragon is in countdown T minus 58 seconds. T minus 30 seconds. [ NOISE ] T minus 20. Power deployment is [ UNKNOWN ]. 15. 10. 9. 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, launch. Lift off. [ NOISE ] Going up, [ INAUDIBLE ] per second, lightly below nominal We're over one kilometer. Trunk deploy. Trunk looks good. [ CROSSTALK ] Sequencing commence Passing through 600 meters. Downrange distance. [ INAUDIBLE ] Hang tight, everyone. As you saw and heard We had a successful test of the Career Dragon vehicle. You can see it right now, just off shore, as we expected, in the water. Main parachutes floating in the surf, recovery team will be headed out right now to pick up the Dragon Currently we do not have any cameras on the recovery boats so this is going to end the test cast for today. Please follow us social media for updates and photos from todays test of the Crew Dragon Spaceship. With that we'd like to close with a thanks to our NASA customer And to the Air Force Eastern Range for support. And we invite you to follow us in June when SpaceX conducts the next flight of Falcon 9 and Dragon to the International Space Station. Signing off until then. Have a good day. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"SpaceX Pad Abort Test","description":"Crew Dragon's first critical flight test, known as a Pad Abort Test, is took place on May 6, from SpaceX’s Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) in Cape Canaveral, Florida.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/RvqEueft/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-05-06T14:18:42.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/RvqEueft.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/video/RvqEueft/","duration":"PT2M7S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/video/RvqEueft/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}} ```