November 12, 2020 - No. 85 In This Issue : Albany airport first to get GE Aviation's safe travel technology : ProSafeT - SMS, Quality & Audit Management Software : Airline alliances urge testing over quarantines : Veelo Technologies Teams with Lockheed Martin and the Navy to Reduce F-35 Program Costs : Rolls-Royce To Test 100 Percent SAF in UltraFan Demonstrator : Turkey’s TAI to cooperate with Boeing in thermoplastic composite production : IATA Welcomes Updated ICAO CART Guidance : AVTECH Sweden : New technology to support a greener aviation recovery : Global AVX Launches Dedicated Aviation Online Auction Platform : Electric Aviation Could Be Closer Than You Think : Black Sage Contributes to Successful Drone Detections at Incheon International Airport : WHAT TO EXPECT FROM SPACEX’S CREW-1 LAUNCH TO THE SPACE STATION Albany airport first to get GE Aviation's safe travel technology COLONIE — Albany International Airport on Thursday will debut an app developed by General Electric Co. that will provide updated information on cleaning routines designed to stop the spread of the coronavirus. GE’s Wellness Trace App will read QR barcodes at 45 locations throughout the airport. Travelers can scan the codes with their smartphones to learn how recently each location was sanitized and how frequently. The information is updated each time the area is cleaned. Lavatories, seating areas, ticket counters and other high-touch areas are among the locations covered by the app developed for the airport by GE Aviation’s Digital Group. Travelers can obtain the information by using their smartphones to scan the QR barcode. "Today there's 45 places at the airport" with QR barcodes travelers can access, said Andrew Coleman, general manager of GE Aviation's Digital Group, "ranging from lavatories to Chick-fil-A," one of the airport's most popular concessions. One goal is to expand the technology to taxicabs and to services such as Uber and Lyft, and to aircraft and other airports, Coleman said. "We're proud to have Albany International as our launch customer," Coleman said. "The app is helping them closely track Covid-19 cleaning protocols today, with the potential to track other health screening as the industry and regulators navigate safe travel in a post-pandemic world." Albany's airport was a natural place to introduce Wellness Trace App. GE Research in Niskayuna, which worked with GE Aviation on the technology, is a 10-minute ride from the airport, and GE officials are heavy users of the airport. Meanwhile, airport CEO Philip Calderone has been a proponent of using advanced technology to keep travelers safe "from curbside to the boarding gate," he said in an interview this week. "We'll be the cleanest and perhaps the smartest airport," he said, adding that a new airport master plan now being developed seeks to have Albany serve "as an incubator for new smart technologies." GE Aviation is a major supplier of jet engines to the world's airlines, as well as aircraft avionics and electrical power systems, and it hasn't been immune to the impact the pandemic has had on air travel. The new technology eventually could help airlines seat passengers to minimize the threat of Covid-19 and make them more confident in the safety of air travel. GE also is looking at ways to minimize the threat anywhere crowds gather, including hotels, conference centers and other venues. The company is working along those lines with Formula One racing in Europe, Coleman said. Another location where the app can add value to the airport is the area before the security checkpoint, said Amy Linsebigler, a chief scientist at GE Research. GE already has technology to manage patient flow and the use of surgical suites in hospitals, and can apply that to the flow of passengers through security checkpoints, she said. "We're working on social distancing and queuing even before they get to the security checkpoint," said Calderone. GE researchers plan to use artificial intelligence and machine learning as they unveil other technologies at the airport in coming weeks, the company said. https://www.timesunion.com/business/article/Albany-airport-first-to-get-GE-Aviation-s-safe-15719098.php Airline alliances urge testing over quarantines FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Three global airline alliances are urging governments to put into practice common guidelines for passenger testing and digital health pass technology, to help people start flying again. Oneworld, Star Alliance and SkyTeam said testing could be part of an overall approach to restart international travel, by reducing reliance on the “blunt instrument” of quarantines aimed at halting the spread of the coronavirus. New testing guidelines from the United Nations’ International Civil Aviation Authority could “pave the way for a framework of trust to be established between countries,” Star Alliance CEO Jeffrey Goh said in the joint statement on the oneworld.com website. Oneworld CEO Rob Gurney and SkyTeam CEO Kristin Colvile joined in the statement. The alliances — representing 58 member airlines — cited recent tests of the CommonPass digital health pass, which uses a smartphone app to securely verify that passengers have complied with health requirements, whether these be a test or a future vaccine. Airlines and their industry group, the International Air Transport Association, have urged the use of commonly agreed testing procedures instead of quarantines. So far there have been different approaches to, and experiments with, testing requirements, with quarantines and travel restrictions remaining in use — and international air travel down 92% on pre-COVID-19 levels. The reduction in travel has hit a wide range of travel-related businesses and jobs, such as airport workers, hotel employees and taxi drivers. Testing presents a number of challenges, including how long it takes to get a result, possible false positives or false negatives, and people who may be infected but only test positive several days later. Surveys indicate that fear of sitting next to someone who is infected and unwillingness to travel into a quarantine are major deterrents to flying. SkyTeam includes Aeroflot, Delta, Air France-KLM and China Airlines in a partial list of members. Oneworld has, among others, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Qantas and Alaska Airlines while some of Star Alliance’s members are Air Canada, Lufthansa, SAS, and United. https://apnews.com/article/technology-virus-outbreak-airlines-health-europe-5ff4e47821b92ecf48e77c9125a93381 Veelo Technologies Teams with Lockheed Martin and the Navy to Reduce F-35 Program Costs Veelo Technologies has been selected by the Navy’s Composites Manufacturing Technology Center (CMTC) and Lockheed Martin Aeronautics to reduce costs on the F-35 Lightning II aircraft program. Utilizing proprietary heating technologies, Veelo Technologies is helping reduce costs and increase the production of composite parts that will be used on the fifth-generation combat aircraft. Veelo will provide VeeloHEAT Cauls and VeeloHEAT composite repair blankets based on the company’s novel heating technology. VeeloHEAT Cauls allow for in-situ hot debulk of composites, and VeeloHEAT composite repair blankets enable repair of complex curvature parts. The project is being executed through the Office of Naval Research, which manages the Navy Manufacturing Technology Program (ManTech) program. Advanced Technology International (ATI) is under contract to operate CMTC for Navy ManTech. The technology and expertise Veelo Technologies are providing will eliminate the need to move the tooling used to produce F-35 composite parts to an autoclave for debulking. Building on existing bagging procedures, the addition of VeeloHEAT Caul keeps the tooling out of the oven by affording heated debulk at the tool during layup. Eliminating this step substantially improves throughput and reduces the time needed for debulking. VeeloHEAT Caul and VeeloHEAT composite repair blankets provide uniform heating, even on the complex geometries found in the F-35 program. It also cools quickly and is highly uniform across large surface areas. Veelo’s heating technologies are durable, damage tolerant and drapable to allow for net-shaped solutions. VeeloHEAT Caul is engineered with materials such as Viton that meet cleanroom requirements. Additionally, VeeloHEAT Cauls and composite repair blankets can be controlled with existing hot bonders or VeeloHEAT Controllers. Mr. Joe Sprengard, Jr., President & CEO at Veelo Technologies, commented, “Veelo is proud of the opportunity to develop new capabilities for the F-35, the US government’s single largest weapons program. Partnering with Lockheed Martin and the Navy is an example of our company’s vision coming to life: to be a trusted partner and problem solver to the world’s leading aerospace and defense companies and government institutions.” For more information on Veelo Technologies’ advanced materials and manufacturing solutions, visit them on the web at www.veelotech.com. https://www.aviationpros.com/aircraft/defense/press-release/21162107/veelo-technologies-veelo-technologies-teams-with-lockheed-martin-and-the-navy-to-reduce-f35-program-costs Rolls-Royce To Test 100 Percent SAF in UltraFan Demonstrator Rolls-Royce plans to use 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to power a Trent turbofan during ground tests as part of its UltraFan next-generation engine demonstrator program, the company revealed Thursday. The tests, if successful, would confirm that unblended SAF makes a significant contribution to improving the environmental performance of gas turbine engines, said the company. Low-carbon fuel specialist World Energy of Paramount, California, produced the SAF Rolls-Royce plans to use for the tests. Sourced by Shell Aviation and delivered by SkyNRG, the unblended fuel can reduce CO2 lifecycle emissions by more than 75 percent compared with conventional jet fuel, said Rolls-Royce. The tests aim to demonstrate that Rolls-Royce’s current engines can operate with 100 percent SAF as a full “drop-in” option, laying the groundwork for moving such fuels towards certification. Today’s certification allows for use of blends of up to 50 percent. The engine maker said the ground tests will start in the “coming weeks” in Derby, UK, where the Trent engine involved will also incorporate the UltraFan program’s ALECSys (advanced low emissions combustion system) lean-burn technology. “Aviation is a tremendous force for good, keeping the world connected, but we have to do that sustainably,” said Rolls-Royce chief technology officer Paul Stein. “These tests aim to show that we can deliver real emissions reductions. If SAF production can be scaled up—and aviation needs 500 million tonnes a year by 2050—we can make a huge contribution for our planet.” https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/air-transport/2020-11-12/rolls-royce-test-100-percent-saf-ultrafan-demonstrator Turkey’s TAI to cooperate with Boeing in thermoplastic composite production Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) will produce high-quality and world-standard thermoplastic composite parts in Turkey that will be used for all kinds of aircraft as part of its recently signed cooperation agreement with Boeing, the local company said in a statement Thursday. The company has made a new investment for the design and production of thermoplastic composite parts, which will include high-capacity rapid production technology and enable the production of parts for state-of-the-art aircraft, with technical support and experience gained from the cooperation with Boeing, the statement said. Thermoplastic composite parts, which will be produced through the TAI project, are expected to reduce the cost in the product cycle and process areas by 30% compared to conventional composites. TAI Chairperson Temel Kotil, whose views were included in the company statement, said the company is set to continue to lead new production technologies and the aviation sector with such important collaborations. “We will also reduce the cost significantly by making high-quality products and with such investments,” he added. The TAI facility, which is a high-capacity, high-quality and fast production technology facility with fully automated machines, will enable the training of technical personnel who will work in this field. Thermoplastic composites are set to be manufactured in various sizes for use in the aviation industry, including TAI’s original products. Ayşem Sargın, Boeing’s general manager for Turkey, also commenting on the agreement said that it provides a new dimension to the cooperation between TAI and Boeing that has a long history. “Such projects, which add to the development of Turkish aviation with deep-rooted contributions, are an important indicator of our commitment to a lasting cooperation and our confidence in Turkey that we see as an important technology partner," Sargın stressed. https://www.dailysabah.com/business/transportation/turkeys-tai-to-cooperate-with-boeing-in-thermoplastic-composite-production IATA Welcomes Updated ICAO CART Guidance The International Air Transport Association (IATA) welcomes the publication on the second edition of Take-off: Guidance for Air Travel through the COVID-19 Public Health Crisis by the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) Council Aviation Recovery Task Force (CART). The CART brings together the expertise of ICAO, public health authorities, individual member states, and industry bodies to support. Under its leadership, the first edition of the Take-off guidance was issued in June in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and provided the groundwork for the multi-layered biosafety measures already implemented by the industry, such as physical distancing, the wearing of face coverings or masks, routine sanitation and disinfection, health screening, contact tracing and passenger health declaration forms. The following three recommendations are being added to the Take-off guidance with the full support of IATA: · COVID-19 Testing: With some States considering the use of testing and with the availability of improved COVID-19 testing technology, there is a need for guidance material to facilitate harmonization. This is being developed in a Manual on Testing and Cross Border Risk Management Measures and will be a key enabler of IATA’s call for systematic testing before departure for international travelers. · Public Health Corridors or Travel Bubbles: ICAO is asking states which are considering the formation of a Public Health Corridor (PHC, more commonly known as travel bubbles) to actively share information with each other to implement these in a harmonized manner. To facilitate implementation of PHCs, the ICAO Implementation Package (iPack) on establishing a PHC is available to States. · Extending regulatory alleviations until March 31: While maintaining the highest standards for safety, COVID-19 has forced the industry to temporarily adapt certain regulatory processes, especially those related to staff qualification and training. Unless circumstances dictate otherwise, the Take-off guidance recommends that such alleviations should not be extended beyond 31 March 2021. It is essential that States consider flight crew as ‘key workers’ to benefit from PHC and are encouraged to enable access to medical and training facilities. This includes flight simulation training devices used for flight crew to maintain certifications, recency of experience and proficiency for licensed personnel. “The public should be reassured. The Take-off guidance will keep flying safe through this pandemic with recommendations that combine the best advice of public health authorities such as the World Health Organization with the technical expertise of aviation regulators and operators. By addressing the need for harmonized COVID-19 testing requirements as part of a multi-layered approach, CART is also contributing to building confidence among governments to manage the risks of COVID-19 importation while removing barriers to travel such as quarantines. The aim is to safely reconnect the world and these recommendations are moving us forward”, said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO. https://www.aviationpros.com/aircraft/commercial-airline/press-release/21162160/international-air-transport-association-iata-iata-welcomes-updated-icao-cart-guidance AVTECH Sweden : New technology to support a greener aviation recovery AVTECH's Cruise Profile Optimizer saves fuel and lowers CO2 emissions with a guaranteed 1.6% cruise fuel saving. AVTECH's latest Cruise Profile Optimizer service provides pilots with tactical information on how to operate each individual flight in the most efficient way. The service has been in operational use in Norwegian since autumn 2019 and has shown an average of 1.6% cruise fuel saving per flight. While reducing CO2 emissions the service also saves fuel costs for the airline. This makes the service a perfect part of an airline's strategy to recover from the covid-19 crisis and to strengthen its environmental profile moving forward. "AVTECH now offers a free test period with a 1.6% fuel saving guarantee and as the service is easy to deploy and requires no upfront investments, we hope airlines will see this as a natural part of their traffic recovery plan and a more environmentally conscious operation", says David Rytter, CEO of AVTECH. About AVTECH Sweden AB (publ) AVTECH develops products and services for digital air traffic control systems. Customers are the aviation industry's various players such as airlines, airports, aviation, technology companies and aircraft manufacturers. With the help of the company's products and services, each individual flight or the entire flight operation can be optimized in terms of economy, noise and emissions, efficiency, punctuality and safety. The head office is in Stockholm / Kista. AVTECH Sweden AB (publ) is listed on NASDA First North Growth Market and has appointed Redeye AB to certified adviser. https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/AVTECH-SWEDEN-AB-PUBL-61175245/news/AVTECH-Sweden-New-technology-to-support-a-greener-aviation-recovery-31744933/ Global AVX Launches Dedicated Aviation Online Auction Platform Global AVX, the digital auction platform for transparent aircraft transactions, has begun preparations for its first online aircraft auction on December 10, 2020. Dedicated to supporting international aircraft sales and two years in the making, it is the brainchild of corporate lawyer Robert Bourke. The concept was conceived to enable bankruptcy professionals to adequately address their disposal obligations and duties by ensuring the distressed aviation assets were receiving a fair market price. The platform addresses this critical need by establishing an independent market-based price through a global auction process. Combined with Global AVX’s industry-first full transparency report, bankruptcy professionals can now deliver complete accountability to all of their transaction stakeholders. The Global AVX online mechanism supports aircraft transactions between motivated aircraft brokers, as well as direct sellers, and international purchasers in a transparent, accountable and trustworthy online environment. With travel restrictions limiting physical sales negotiations Global AVX notes an increased interest in high-value deals being conducted online and is now acting as a market driver stimulating aircraft sales internationally. The technology aims to complement and enhance traditional broker activity and is already attracting professionals seeking new and innovative ways to promote, market and sell aircraft assets to a market which has seen a spike in business and corporate aircraft ownership interest as a result of the pandemic. Calgary, AB and Scottsdale, AZ based Hopkinson Aircraft Sales is the debut broker looking to maximize the opportunity presented by Global AVX, listing a 1997 Cessna Citation Ultra aircraft for auction. To eliminate time wasters Global AVX vets all potential bidders, while looking to also deal with qualified acquisition consultants on behalf of proposed purchasers. This pre-qualification is further enhanced by anti-money laundering interrogation and a validation of adequate funding. Each potential purchaser is also required to place a certain percentage of the minimum reserve price in an escrow account prior to becoming a qualified bidder. Bidders and/or their acquisition consultants, are then given access to the Global AVX secure data rooms where they are encouraged to examine the aircraft specifications and relevant documentation including airframe logbooks, flight manuals, interior manuals, maintenance tags and technical information about the engines which are supplied by the broker. Buyers remain anonymous, the auction is automated to ensure fair bidding, and lasts for a period of two days to ensure all genuine global bidders have the opportunity to participate. The sale must complete within two months of the auction taking place. “We want brokers, owners or operators to see this as a viable medium which extends their global capabilities for aircraft transaction activity. We are focused on helping them achieve the deal no matter where the aircraft is parked. Our aim is to seamlessly integrate into the business aviation community with our innovative new technology platform,” explains Global Sales Director, Stephen Kelly. “Our process also eliminates the tyre-kickers and ensures the aircraft for sale are qualified by professional data reports. In essence we are a Software as a Service platform enabling aviation transactions between willing buyers and sellers at prices determined by peer to peer interaction.” Based in Dublin Global AVX now boasts a team of 12 experienced professional aviation experts defining, refining and evolving the platform. “We are extremely excited by the potential for Global AVX now and into the future. We’re providing an independent global medium where aircraft transactions can be conducted in an efficient and transparent way. We are all adjusting to our new normal and one of our ambitions is to streamline buying and selling aircraft as the more transactions we can generate the better for the industry overall,” concludes Kelly. https://www.aviationpros.com/aircraft/business-general-aviation/press-release/21162120/global-avx-global-avx-launches-dedicated-aviation-online-auction-platform Electric Aviation Could Be Closer Than You Think In 2019 air travel accounted for 2.5 percent of global carbon emissions, a number that could triple by 2050. While some airlines have started offsetting their contributions to atmospheric carbon, significant cutbacks are still needed. Electric airplanes could provide the scale of transformation required, and many companies are racing to develop them. Not only would electric propulsion motors eliminate direct carbon emissions, they could reduce fuel costs by up to 90 percent, maintenance by up to 50 percent and noise by nearly 70 percent. Among the companies working on electric flight are Airbus, Ampaire, MagniX and Eviation. All are flight-testing aircraft meant for private, corporate or commuter trips and are seeking certification from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. Cape Air, one of the largest regional airlines, expects to be among the first customers, with plans to buy the Alice nine-passenger electric aircraft from Eviation. Cape Air's CEO Dan Wolf has said he is interested not only in the environmental benefits but also in potential savings on operation costs. Electric motors generally have longer life spans than the hydrocarbon-fueled engines in his current aircraft; they need an overhaul at 20,000 hours versus 2,000. Forward-propulsion engines are not the only ones going electric. NASA's X-57 Maxwell electric plane, under development, replaces conventional wings with shorter ones that feature a set of distributed electric propellers. On conventional jets, wings must be large enough to provide lift when a craft is traveling at a low speed, but the large surface area adds drag at higher speeds. Electric propellers increase lift during takeoff, allowing for smaller wings and overall higher efficiency. For the foreseeable future, electric planes will be limited in how far they can travel. Today's best batteries put out far less power by weight than traditional fuels: an energy density of 250 watt-hours per kilogram versus 12,000 watt-hours per kilogram for jet fuel. The batteries required for a given flight are therefore far heavier than standard fuel and take up more space. Approximately half of all flights globally are fewer than 800 kilometers, which is expected to be within the range of battery-powered electric aircraft by 2025. Electric aviation faces cost and regulatory hurdles, but investors, incubators, corporations and governments excited by the progress of this technology are investing significantly in its development: some $250 million flowed to electric aviation start-ups between 2017 and 2019. Currently roughly 170 electric airplane projects are underway. Most electric airplanes are designed for private, corporate and commuter travel, but Airbus says it plans to have 100-passenger versions ready to fly by 2030. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/electric-aviation-could-be-closer-than-you-think/ Black Sage Contributes to Successful Drone Detections at Incheon International Airport Illegal drones were detected approximate to the Incheon International Airport by a C-UAS system featuring Black Sage technology and layered sensors installed at Incheon International Airport. Air traffic quickly and safely returned to normal due to the efficiency and effectiveness of the airport authority's security system and protocols. Drones pose an increasing threat to airline passengers and airports worldwide. The number of illegal drones entering the airspace of major international airports continues to increase annually. Black Sage's DefenseOS command and control software integrates and manages a layered defense network comprising sensors and effectors. The technology integrates with partner sensor suites and maximizes their effectiveness. "Black Sage is proud to work with our partners at Incheon International Airport Corporation to increase the safety of passengers arriving and departing from their airport," stated Trent Morrow, Black Sage's chief strategy officer. "Our Counter UAS solutions are deployed with militaries and airports worldwide protecting people and critical infrastructure." https://www.aviationpros.com/aircraft/unmanned/press-release/21162115/black-sage-black-sage-contributes-to-successful-drone-detections-at-incheon-international-airport WHAT TO EXPECT FROM SPACEX’S CREW-1 LAUNCH TO THE SPACE STATION On the evening of November 14th, SpaceX plans to re-create the monumental feat it achieved earlier this year by launching another crew of astronauts to the International Space Station. This mission is a milestone for both SpaceX and NASA. It is the first “operational” crewed flight for the company and a step toward making American astronaut launches relatively routine. The flight, called Crew-1, will send a total of four astronauts to the International Space Station on SpaceX’s new Crew Dragon spacecraft, a capsule designed to launch on top of the company’s Falcon 9 rocket. Three of the passengers are NASA astronauts — Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker — and a fourth is an astronaut with the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, named Soichi Noguchi. The quartet will join three additional crew members already on the ISS, staying for up to six months before they leave in the spring of 2021. That’s double the number of riders that the Crew Dragon had in May when the spacecraft carried two NASA astronauts — Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley — on the vehicle’s debut crewed flight. While lots of fanfare surrounded that mission, SpaceX is now about to settle into a more or less regular flight pattern with the Crew Dragon, sending groups of four astronauts to and from the International Space Station every six months or so for NASA. It’s exactly why the Crew Dragon was developed for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program: to serve as a private space taxi for NASA’s astronauts to get to and from the ISS. Here’s what you need to know about the lead-up to this mission, what to expect during SpaceX’s first operational flight of Crew Dragon and how things will play out in the years ahead. BACKGROUND Crew-1 comes more than five months after SpaceX’s history-making flight on May 31st that carried Behnken and Hurley to the space station. The mission marked the first time a private company had flown humans to orbit. It was also the first time that astronauts had launched to orbit from American soil since the end of the Space Shuttle program in 2011. For nearly a decade, NASA astronauts have had to rely on Russian rockets to get to the space station, launching out of Kazakhstan. When SpaceX’s Crew Dragon took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, with Behnken and Hurley in tow, it effectively ended the gap in US human spaceflight. SpaceX’s May flight was a test, meant to demonstrate the capabilities of the Crew Dragon before it could start routinely flying humans to the space station. After poring over the data for that flight, NASA has certified that the Crew Dragon is indeed ready for regular human spaceflight, making it the first time the agency has provided certification of a private crewed vehicle. “We are honored to be the nation’s launch provider for crewed missions and take seriously the responsibility that NASA has entrusted us to carry American astronauts to and from the space station,” Benji Reed, senior director of human spaceflight programs at SpaceX, said during a press conference. LESSONS LEARNED SpaceX needed to make a few tweaks to the Crew Dragon based on what it had learned from Behnken and Hurley’s mission. Perhaps the biggest change was to the spacecraft’s heat shield, a key piece of hardware that keeps the vehicle from overheating as it careens through Earth’s atmosphere. SpaceX found that when the Crew Dragon returned in August, some of the tiles in the heat shield had eroded more than the company expected. SpaceX claims the erosion didn’t pose any danger to the crew, but the company opted to redesign part of the heat shield tiles, testing them ahead of this mission. The company says that it was “nothing to be concerned” about. “At all times the astronauts were safe and the vehicle was working perfectly,” Hans Koenigsmann, vice president of build and flight reliability for SpaceX, said during a press conference in October. “So this is something that we just in the inspection found... and decided, ‘Okay, we should probably reinforce the heat shield in this particular area.” The Crew Dragon’s parachutes also behaved differently than expected on the previous flight, prompting an update. To splash down gently in the ocean, the spacecraft deploys a series of parachutes to slow itself down. Those chutes deployed at a slightly lower altitude than planned. SpaceX has since changed how the Crew Dragon measures outside air pressure to better determine when the spacecraft is located at the right part of the atmosphere to let out the parachutes. The final change SpaceX and NASA made revolves around procedure, not vehicle design. When the Crew Dragon splashed down off the coast of Pensacola in August, the vehicle was met by a swarm of recreational boaters who were curious to see a spacecraft up close. The sight of boats zooming in and around the capsule sparked immediate concern — for both the astronauts on board as well as the boaters themselves. The Crew Dragon uses propellants and fuel that can be toxic to humans if they get too close and aren’t taking proper precautions. To prevent a repeat scene, SpaceX and NASA say they have worked with the US Coast Guard to create a 10-mile keep-out zone around the landed Crew Dragon so that no unauthorized visitors approach the vehicle in the water. “We want to have more boats on the next go around and make sure that the area is really clear of any other [civilian] boats,” Koenigsmann said. LAUNCH AND DOCKING With all of these changes in place, the Crew-1 launch should look nearly identical to the launch in May — though this one will take place at night. The spacecraft is set to take off on top of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 7:49PM ET. After suiting up in SpaceX’s signature white-and-gray pressure suits, the four astronauts will travel to the launchpad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center inside two branded white Tesla Model Xs. Once out of the cars, they’ll take an elevator to the top of the rocket and walk across an enclosed hallway to enter the Crew Dragon perched on top of the Falcon 9. The four will then get strapped into their seats by the SpaceX team as they wait for launch. It’s a quick trip to orbit for Crew Dragon — just 12 minutes after takeoff. The crew will then spend around eight and a half hours in orbit, arriving at the International Space Station and docking around 4:20AM ET. It’s a much brisker trip than Behnken and Hurley’s mission, which took about 19 hours to get to the ISS. Designed to autonomously dock with the space station, the Crew Dragon will slowly approach its destination in space and use a series of sensors and cameras to place itself on an open docking port. Once it connects, latches will secure the Crew Dragon in place, and the Crew-1’s six-month stay on board the ISS will begin. The four-person team will join three people already living on the ISS: Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and NASA astronaut Kate Rubins. It’ll be the first time that seven people will live and work together on the ISS, as crews have typically topped out at six people over the last 10 years. While the space station has more than enough room for the extra crew member, the vehicle is actually short one “crew quarters” or a place for an astronaut to sleep. Astronaut Michael Hopkins said NASA is hoping to send up another place for him to sleep while they’re on board the ISS, but in the meantime, he will probably sleep on board Crew Dragon. KEEPING TIME With any launch, there is always the risk of delay. In fact, this mission was supposed to take place on October 31st, but NASA pushed back the flight to this weekend after SpaceX found some irregular behavior in the main engines of its Falcon 9 rocket. The company had to swap out two engines on the Falcon 9 being used for this flight to address the issue. Moving forward, the biggest threat to a timely launch could be weather. This week, all eyes were on Tropical Storm Eta, currently crossing through Florida. The storm now seems to be heading north of the launch site and should clear the state on Thursday. Still, weather is always a lingering concern, especially with these passenger flights to the station. SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule has the ability to abort during flight, by detaching itself from the rocket and parachuting into the ocean to save the crew members if something goes wrong. That means flight controllers will be keeping an eye on weather throughout a large swath of the Atlantic Ocean to make sure if an abort does happen, the Crew Dragon doesn’t splash down in choppy seas. For now, weather seems like it may cooperate, as there is a 60 percent chance of favorable conditions. Everyone is focused on a launch getting off the ground this weekend. NASA’s live coverage will begin at 3:30PM ET on Saturday, following everything from launch to docking to a welcome ceremony for the incoming crew members scheduled for Sunday morning. It’s going to be a whirlwind trip this weekend if the Falcon 9 rocket can get off the ground on schedule. https://www.theverge.com/2020/11/12/21502792/spacex-crew-1-dragon-nasa-falcon-9-launch-what-to-expect Curt Lewis