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Thanks for this post. It makes clear this 'pad abort test' is really a test of the amazing SuperDracos which could constitute their own launch system! SuperDrac

• greglindahl 11y ago
  Not just partly: from that Wikipedia article: "It was announced in May 2014 that the flight-qualified version of the SuperDraco engine is fully printed, and is the first fully printed rocket engine. In particular, the engine combustion chamber is printed of Inconel, an alloy of nickel and iron, using a process of direct metal laser sintering, and operates at a chamber pressure 6,900 kilopascals (1,000 psi) at a very high temperature. The engines are contained in a printed protective nacelle to prevent fault propagation in the event of an engine failure."
• rst 11y ago
  The SuperDracos have already been through a full-duration simulation of the abort profile at SpaceX's test facility in Texas. It's more a test of system integration: that the guidance system is able to command them correctly, that nothing about the abort profile screws up parachute deployment, etc.
• donpdonp 11y ago
  Wow what a ride! The capsule 'rocketed' off the pad, using only the superdraco thrust.