Draggendrop Veteran Posted May 7, 2015 Veteran Share Posted May 7, 2015 A new big question is; which comes first, the Dragon 2 flight abort test or its first orbital flight? Sounds like they may go orbital first, presumably to get a 1+ year jump on Boeing. http://spacenews.com/spacex-successfully-tests-dragon-abort-system/#sthash.WbJm4Qc2.dpuf I hope the orbital flight comes first...and...as a side bonus, have an orbital path that the folks on the ISS can check out their future ride.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted May 7, 2015 Veteran Share Posted May 7, 2015 As a side note...doing the orbital flight first would be valuable for data collection prior to in flight abort test...it would give them an idea what the abort would be up against. I would also imagine that SpaceX has been gathering data from the prior re supply missions as well....Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted May 7, 2015 Author Share Posted May 7, 2015 The F9's and Dragon 1's are so ridiculously instrumented they have tons of data. All the better for the bleeding edge computational fluid dynamics they're using in all their developments, including vehicle and engine design. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted May 8, 2015 Author Share Posted May 8, 2015 Cmdr. Chris Hadfield watching the pad abort test via Periscope, the only astronaut reaction I've seen so far. His reaction to the boost phase is cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted May 8, 2015 Veteran Share Posted May 8, 2015 The F9's and Dragon 1's are so ridiculously instrumented they have tons of data. All the better for the bleeding edge computational fluid dynamics they're using in all their developments, including vehicle and engine design. WOW...Thank's for taking the time to post that video. It totaly blew me away and I had to watch it twice. During the first view, my mind was racing doing comparisons to the various software products I have used for design in the avionics/electonics environment the last 35 years. Physics but with different variables, these guys have taken it to a whole new level. They are pioneering design/implementation of completely new constructs to store and present massive levels of pertinent data. Being armed with these tools will radically improve their design process. Small wonder that they were able to increase the output of their engine designs.In retrospect,it takes me about an hour and a half to analyse one point of an electromagnetic spectrum in a wave guide with Maxwells equations by hand calculation. These are exciting times with a lot more to come due to the work environment and goals set by this company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted May 8, 2015 Veteran Share Posted May 8, 2015 Cmdr. Chris Hadfield watching the pad abort test via Periscope, the only astronaut reaction I've seen so far. His reaction to the boost phase is cool. Genuine excitement and interest....he's always been keen to space developments....Cheers... Unobscured Vision 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted May 8, 2015 Author Share Posted May 8, 2015 WOW...Thank's for taking the time to post that video. It totaly blew me away and I had to watch it twice. During the first view, my mind was racing doing comparisons to the various software products I have used for design in the avionics/electonics environment the last 35 years. Physics but with different variables, these guys have taken it to a whole new level. They are pioneering design/implementation of completely new constructs to store and present massive levels of pertinent data. Being armed with these tools will radically improve their design process. Small wonder that they were able to increase the output of their engine designs.In retrospect,it takes me about an hour and a half to analyse one point of an electromagnetic spectrum in a wave guide with Maxwells equations by hand calculation. These are exciting times with a lot more to come due to the work environment and goals set by this company. The raw data in their sims would be measured in yottabytes (1024), but they apply wavelet compression to make it manageable. Among other things like GPU processing. Now they're talking about clusters of NVIDIA GPU's. This is why SpaceX is hiring tons of coders, especially game coders, from Microsoft etc. etc. around their new Seattle and Silicon Valley facilities. They know how to write code optimized for GPU's. Unobscured Vision 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted May 9, 2015 Veteran Share Posted May 9, 2015 It would only seem logical that SpaceX will have many lurking in the background monitoring their developments in this field. There are many area's of study to benefit from this such as climate science and orbital debris mitigation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted May 18, 2015 Author Share Posted May 18, 2015 DRAGONFLY!! CCtCap milestone #5 is a Soyuz style landing: chutes initially with a SuperDraco landing burn in the last ~10 meters. This type of landing is shown in the last couple of minutes of the below conference video. http://spaceflightnow.com/2015/05/18/spacex-has-aggressive-schedule-leading-up-to-crew-flights/ SpaceX has aggressive schedule leading up to crew flights Staying true to a corporate philosophy that favors high-visibility flight tests, SpaceX plans to continue wringing out major parts of the companys human-rated Dragon spaceship in a sequence of dramatic flights leading up to the capsules first crewed mission scheduled for 2017. We have a very aggressive and exciting year ahead of us, said Garrett Reisman, SpaceXs director of crew operations and a former space shuttle astronaut. If everything goes according to plan, SpaceX says it can send an unmanned version of the next-generation Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station by the end of 2016. An orbital test flight with two pilots will follow in early 2017 to cap a series of test milestones leading to NASAs certification of the capsule to carry space station crews. Development of the Dragon crew capsule called the Crew Dragon by SpaceX started several years ago. SpaceX won its first tranche of federal funding for the crew-capable spaceship in 2011. > A test of the Crew Dragon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted May 18, 2015 Veteran Share Posted May 18, 2015 I like the emphasis of space exploration being stated several times...inferring that SpaceX's acheivments with the ISS are just a step towards THEIR plans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted May 18, 2015 Author Share Posted May 18, 2015 Yup....just a stepping stone and to help fund their beyond LEO developments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted June 2, 2015 Veteran Share Posted June 2, 2015 Here is a short article about NASA Loss of Crew (LOC) analysis as it applies to commercial crews in comparisons to what the "value" was for the shuttle. One paragraph caught my attention in relation to contractor readiness between Boeing and SpaceX. The FPIP dates show SpaceX to be the most advanced in the Commercial Crew path, with their projected test flight dates currently set to win the honor of being the first Commercial Crew vehicle to arrive at the orbital outpost. http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2015/05/nasa-evaluating-commercial-loss-crew-mishap/ SALSN 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted June 2, 2015 Author Share Posted June 2, 2015 Boeing as is great at ticking off the paper milestones, but SpaceX is ahead when it comes to cutting and flying metal. Unobscured Vision 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unobscured Vision Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Boeing is using the RD-180-powered Atlas-V for the CST? I wasn't aware that it was Human-rated. Honestly, Congress hasn't pimp-slapped these guys yet? "Oh, we don't have a Human-rated vehicle available for U.S. Missions" .... and all the while doing the shifty-eyed grin swimming around in the money that was supposed to be used finding a replacement engine for the RD-180 (that is, ironically, used in the Atlas V too). I smell shenanigans .. no, there's another word we have here in Michigan for what I smell going on with this scenario that's a little stronger and more descriptive -- but I can't use that word here on the forums. Our Canadian friends know this word as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted June 8, 2015 Veteran Share Posted June 8, 2015 Pad Abort Milestone approved by NASA... NASA Commercial Crew Partner SpaceX Achieves Pad Abort Milestone Approval WASHINGTON, June 8, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA has approved a$30 million milestone payment to SpaceX under the agency's Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) agreement with the company following a recent and successful pad abort test of its Crew Dragon spacecraft. The approval of the pad abort test milestone payment follows NASA's authorization for Boeing to begin work toward its first post-certification mission. These steps ensure continued progress in the agency's effort to return to U.S. soil American crew launches to the International Space Station. SpaceX is expected to receive its authorization to proceed with work on a post-certification mission later this year. The determination of which company will fly the first mission to station will be made at a later time. http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/prnewswire-space-news.html?doc=201506081559PR_NEWS_USPR_____DC28814&showRelease=1&dir=0&categories=AEROSPACE-AND-SPACE-EXPLORATION&andorquestion=OR&&passDir=0,1,2,3,4,5,6,15,17,34 Unobscured Vision 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unobscured Vision Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 The determination of which company will fly the first mission to station will be made at a later time. Please tell me Boeing isn't lobbying for delays in order to be the first ones there. We already know, timeline- and production-wise, who's going to be first -- by a full year. Draggendrop 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted June 8, 2015 Veteran Share Posted June 8, 2015 Please tell me Boeing isn't lobbying for delays in order to be the first ones there. We already know, timeline- and production-wise, who's going to be first -- by a full year. Same reaction here....... Unobscured Vision 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted June 9, 2015 Veteran Share Posted June 9, 2015 I really hope SpaceX stays SpaceX...meaning if not picked to go for first commercial to the ISS, they go on there own....do a flyby.....take some ship video's........radio over to the ISS (via land-ship bridge) and say..."Hey guys...check out your new ride" and SpaceX will be first...no politics and carry on with THEIR plan......(fingers crossed) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted June 12, 2015 Veteran Share Posted June 12, 2015 Here is a different abort test photo...... Quantum propellant....skunk works... Unobscured Vision 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted July 1, 2015 Author Share Posted July 1, 2015 http://www.nasa.gov/feature/more-fidelity-for-spacex-in-flight-abort-reduces-risk More Fidelity for SpaceX In-Flight Abort Reduces Risk By Stephanie Martin, NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Florida Following the successful pad abort test in May, SpaceX began developing a plan that would move its in-flight abort test to provide higher fidelity data and reduce risk to future crews launched to the International Space Station in the Crew Dragon spacecraft. NASA and SpaceX agreed to consider this proposed change prior to the mishap of SpaceX Unobscured Vision 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unobscured Vision Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 Ahh, love it. Plans move ahead with the Dragon-V2 Program while the investigation of CRS-7's mishap continues. Draggendrop 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted September 10, 2015 Author Share Posted September 10, 2015 Unobscured Vision and +E.Worm Jimmy 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloatingFatMan Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 My god that ship is beautiful. I hope that the real thing actually looks like that when the time come to fly it for real. +E.Worm Jimmy and Unobscured Vision 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted September 10, 2015 Author Share Posted September 10, 2015 Image gallery & captions. http://www.spacex.com/crew-dragon Unobscured Vision 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted September 10, 2015 Veteran Share Posted September 10, 2015 Not only is this way too cool....did we just get a glimpse of the new suit style...... SpaceX Suit????????? SpaceXsuit clip from SpaceX demo video ........worth a double..... Unobscured Vision 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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