Once again, SpaceX lands at NASA Plum Brook

PERKINS TWP. — The world's leading private company in manufacturing and launching spacecraft needed a world-class public facility to test its latest cutting-edge product.So SpaceX representatives returned to the NASA Plum Brook Station in Erie County for a groundbreaking project.Known as the Crew Dragon, or Dragon 2, it's described by SpaceX as a "next-generation spacecraft designed to carry humans to the International Space Station and other destinations."Work on the first iteration of Dragon started several years ago, with it accomplishing a major milestone earlier this decade."Dragon made history in 2012 when it became the first commercial spacecraft to deliver cargo to the space station, a feat previously achieved only by governments," according to a statement from SpaceX. "But Dragon was also designed from the beginning to carry people, and today SpaceX is finalizing the necessary refinements to make that a reality."Those refinements are happening at Plum Brook. Testing started earlier this month and should span through summertime, NASA Plum Brook spokeswoman Debbie Lockhart said."The testing taking place at Plum Brook is being conducted to demonstrate Crew Dragon's capability to withstand the extreme temperatures and vacuum of space," Lockhart said.NASA workers scheduled the Crew Dragon to undergo analysis work in two different testing arenas within Plum Brook:• First at the In-Space Propulsion Facility to determine if it can fight through space's most extreme conditions while in orbit; The facility is Earth's only chamber capable of testing full-scale, upper-stage vehicles and rocket engines under high-altitude and space-like conditions.• Then at the Reverberant Acoustic Test Facility to determine the effects of noise during launch; The facility is Earth's most powerful testing chamber of its type. It can reach an overall sound pressure level of 163 decibels. For comparison, jets from about 80 feet away are 150 decibels."SpaceX wanted to come to Plum Brook because of the size of our test chamber," Hal Weaver, a Plum Brook employee who's also the project manager for this testing, previously told the Register. "The Dragon vehicle is really large, and there aren't a whole lot of test facilities where it can fit into and do the type of thermal vacuum testing it requires."SpaceX's Crew Dragon sits within the NASA Plum Brook Station's In-Space Propulsion Facility, where it's undergoing tests to determine if it can fight through space's most extreme conditions while in orbit. The Crew Dragon is a "next-generation spacecraft designed to carry humans to the International Space Station and other destinations," according to SpaceX.SpaceX returnsSpaceX's latest visit to NASA Plum Brook represents a return trip to Erie County.In late 2017, SpaceX personnel brought back a refined version of its Falcon 9 payload fairing for additional analysis.First arriving at Plum Brook in 2013, officials characterize a payload fairing as a shroud situated atop a missile. The cone-like covering shields items it brings aloft, protecting spacecraft against impacts created by dynamic pressures and aerodynamic heating experienced during a launch.Work ended earlier this year, proving it would properly release while in the vacuum of space. All the tests occurred from inside Plum Brook's Space Environmental Complex. It's a one-of-a-kind, multifaceted experimental arena testing hardware under simulated launch and spaceflight conditions.Reach reporter Andy Ouriel at ouriel@sanduskyregister.com and follow him on Twitter @AndyOuriel.