SpaceX Updates (thread 2)

[majortom1981]

Dragon is now part of the International space station.

[neoadorable]

beyond awesome, this is historic! thanks for the play by play updates, Doc, much appreciated! i'm so happy this is going well and congrats to all the wonderful people responsible for this amazing tech and for taking humanity forward. i am always weepy and watching this stuff. i just wish for so much more at the same time...

[DocM]

N/P on the play-by-play neo...

Dragon is now berthed, and after the crew takes a well deserved nap the hatch opens tomorrow.

We're expecting exceptional video and pictures soon as some of the Russians opened up a hole in their schedule and grabbed every camera in sight :)

Also: there are experiments on board from several US schools, 5th grade to community colleges, chosen by a national competition.

[majortom1981]

One cool fact , the dragon capsule enabled some of the science experiments to have cold storage capability which the soyuz didnt have.

[DocM]

And soon it'll have power for big refrigeration units; those 5,000 watt solar wings are going to get an upgrade and a bigger rechargeable battery, the latter courtesy of Musk's other company - Tesla.

[remixedcat]

Awesome! Go SpaceX and the Canadarm!!!! wh0000 h0000!!!!

[DocM]

"SpaceX ?@SpaceX

#Dragon power and comm systems are now hooked up to the space station?all working well and berthing activities are officially complete!"

and now comments are coming in....

Buzz Aldrin, Apollo 11 astronaut:

?This week?s successful launch and delivery of logistics supplies to the International Space Station by a US commercial space company, reminds us that where the entrepreneurial interests of the private sector are aligned with NASA?s mission to explore, America wins. ?Falcon 9?s maiden flight to ISS ? and the other commercial space launches that lie ahead - represent the dawn of a new era in space exploration. ?Nearly 43 years after we first walked on the moon, we have taken another step in demonstrating continued American leadership in space.?

Rusty Schweickart, Apollo 9 astronaut:

?The arrival and docking of the Dragon space capsule at the ISS is more than historic. ?It is, in fact, the beginning of a new era in space exploration, one in which private industry and individual initiative will begin leading the way in the use of near-space activity. ?This is not only exciting and momentous, but is fully in keeping with the American character of risk taking and consequent reward. ?The long term results of this ?first? are beyond our ability to see at the beginning of this era, but there is no doubt that it will serve as a huge incentive for young people who now have firm evidence of the value, and opportunity for individual initiative. ?Near-Earth space is now firmly a regular part of the human environment along with the air, water, and land. ?The future is now, once again, opened to imagination, creativity, and dreams!?

SpaceX/Dragon Mission Status Briefing - May 25

http://www.space-multimedia.nl.eu.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7605

SpaceX/Dragon ISS Grapple

http://www.space-multimedia.nl.eu.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7603

SpaceX/Dragon ISS Berthing

http://www.space-multimedia.nl.eu.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7604

[DocM]

http://www.newscient...spacefligh.html

Interview: Elon Musk on what's next for SpaceX

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NS: What about performance though? Anyone can cut costs.

EM: Our engine has the highest thrust to weight ratio of any engine in the world, our airframe has the best mass fraction of any rocket in the world - and our electronics are the lightest and have have the most computing power over that of any other rocket.

NS: What is it that makes your rockets capable of scaling from low earth orbit missions to Mars trips? NASA needs a complete redesign for such ideas.

EM: I am not saying the rockets we have today are suitable for taking people to Mars. Our spacecraft would be pretty uncomfortable for a six month journey. It's the next generation of our rockets that could do that.

NS: Will they be recognisable evolutions of the Falcon 9 series? Or radically different?

EM: The booster part of it will probably be recognisable compared to the next generation of Falcon we're unveiling this year or early next.

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>

[DocM]

MEDIA ADVISORY: M12-097

NASA ADMINISTRATOR CALLS STATION FOLLOWING SPACEX HISTORIC FEAT

WASHINGTON -- NASA Administrator Charles Bolden offered his

congratulations to the International Space Station Expedition 31 crew

and mission flight control teams at NASA's Johnson Space Center in

Houston and SpaceX's headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif., following

Friday's successful first-time berthing of a commercial company

spacecraft, SpaceX's Dragon, to the space station.

Bolden talked with NASA astronauts Don Pettit and Joe Acaba, and

European Space Agency astronaut Andre Kuipers during a call to the

space station Friday afternoon live on NASA Television. Bolden told

the crew, "You made history today and have firmly locked into place

the future direction of America's space program."

To view the call between Bolden and the Expedition 31 astronauts,

visit:

At 9:56 a.m. EDT Friday, Pettit used the station's robotic arm to

grapple Dragon. Kuipers then used the arm to attach the capsule to

the station's Harmony node at 11:52 a.m. Acaba completed berthing

operations by remotely bolting the Dragon to Harmony at 12:02 p.m.

The crew members spent the rest of their day preparing to open the

hatches between the two spacecraft on Saturday morning.

The SpaceX demonstration mission to the space station is the second

under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program,

which provides investments intended to lead to regular resupply

missions to the station and stimulate the commercial space industry

in the United States.

[calimike]

They opened hatch from Dragon.

NASA TV HD Live Stream

http://www.spacex.com/webcast/ or http://www.ustream.tv/nasahdtv

ISS Live Stream via satellite feed

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/live-iss-stream

[remixedcat]

This is all so AMAZING!!! GO SPACEX GO!!! WH0000 H00000!!!!

[DocM]

http://www.sfgate.co.../MN9Q1OO7FC.DTL

Space station astronauts float into SpaceX Dragon

Associated Press

Cape Canaveral -- - Space station astronauts floated into the Dragon on Saturday, a day after its heralded arrival as the world's first commercial supply ship.

NASA astronaut Donald Pettit, the first one inside the docked capsule, said the Dragon looks like it carries about as much cargo as his pickup truck back home in Houston. And it smells like a new car, he added.

"I spent quite a bit of time poking around in here this morning, just looking at the engineering and the layout, and I'm very pleased," Pettit said from the compartment.

To protect against possible debris, Pettit wore goggles, a mask and a caver's light as he slid open the hatch of the newest addition to the International Space Station. The atmosphere was clean; no dirt or other particles were floating around.

"This event isn't just a simple door opening between two spacecraft - it opens the door to a future in which U.S. industry can and will deliver huge benefits for U.S. space exploration," the Space Frontier Foundation, an advocacy group, said in a statement.

>

The Dragon contains 1,000 pounds of food, clothes, batteries and other provisions. It will bring back 1,400 pounds' worth of gear.

Until now, only major governments have launched cargo ships to the space station. Russia, Japan and Europe will keep providing supplies, and Russia will continue to sell rocket rides to U.S. astronauts until SpaceX or other companies are ready to take over. Several American enterprises are competing for the honor.

Pettit noted that the Dragon - 19 feet tall and 12 feet wide - is roomier than the Russian Soyuz spacecraft he rode up in. "Flying up in a human-rated Dragon is not going to be an issue," he said.

>

[DocM]

May 29, 2012

Trent J. Perrotto

Headquarters, Washington

202-358-0321

trent.j.perrotto@nasa.gov

Josh Byerly

Johnson Space Center, Houston

281-483-5111

josh.byerly@nasa.gov

MEDIA ADVISORY: M12-098

NASA TV COVERAGE FOR SPACEX DRAGON REENTRY AND SPLASHDOWN

HOUSTON -- NASA Television will provide extensive coverage of the

departure of the SpaceX Dragon capsule from the International Space

Station before its reentry and splashdown on May 31.

On Wednesday, May 30, a news briefing previewing the departure

activities will be held at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston at

9 a.m. CDT (10 a.m. EDT) and will be broadcast live on NASA TV and

the agency's website. Participants include NASA Flight Director Holly

Ridings and SpaceX Mission Manager John Couluris.

On Thursday, May 31, NASA TV will begin live coverage of the departure

of Dragon at 2:30 a.m. CDT (3:30 a.m. EDT). Coverage will continue

through the release of Dragon from the station, currently scheduled

for 5:10 a.m. CDT (6:10 a.m. EDT) and will resume at 9:15 a.m. CDT

(10:15 a.m. EDT) with deorbit and splashdown coverage. The capsule is

currently scheduled to splashdown in the Pacific Ocean at 10:44 a.m.

CDT (11:44 a.m. EDT) hundreds of miles off the west coast of

California likely out of range of live television.

A news briefing will be held jointly from Johnson and SpaceX in

Hawthorne, Calif., at 1 p.m. CDT (2 p.m. EDT) live on NASA TV.

Media representatives can participate in person at Johnson or via

telephone by calling 281-483-5111 at least 15 minutes before each

briefing. Media badges from Dragon launch activities at NASA's

Kennedy Space Center in Florida will be honored at Johnson through

splashdown.

For NASA TV downlink information, schedules and links to streaming

video, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For up-to-date information about the SpaceX mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/spacex

[remixedcat]

I'm still very excited about this seems like stuff is going awesome for spaceX and i'm so happy!!!

[DocM]

Then try this. Got some updated stuff on the coming (3 launches from now) Falcon 9 version 1.1, enough to do an image and update the Falcon Heavy image. The longer tanks are to allow enough fuel & oxidizer feed a new version of the Merlin engine that's 45% more powerful.

The new birds will run 227-230 feet tall vs. 157 feet for the Falcon 9 1.0 launched last week. I included a drawing of this missions Falcon 9 version 1.0 for scale.

Falcon Heavy will be able to orbit about 53 metric tons, about 117,000 lbs or the weight of a Boeing 737-200, with a volume about the size of a London double-decker bus.

And, we may hear about a whole new family of Falcons later this year - birds made with Mars in mind.

[remixedcat]

Awesome! I read up about thier upcoming mars mission and I was like yey!!! and I might coax mom into sending some of dad's ashes out that way too, as we still have a good bit of them left... LOL..

I'm still so excited to see a private company do this and actually have drive to do stuff like this when so many people are downtrodden... this makes me so happy!

[DocM]

SpaceX just signed a deal to launch big communications satellites for Intelsat - the worlds largest operator of commsats. The rocket will be Falcon Heavy, and due to its massive lift capability it may be able to launch 2 at a time.

Also, Dragon is scheduled to return to Earth tomorrow (May 31) morning.

Schedule attached - "CT" = US Central time zone, and Eastern time would be +1 hour later. NASA TV coverage online and on cable.

[remixedcat]

Awesome.

[DocM]

Unberthing from the ISS for a landing off California this morning.

On the last pic note that Dragon has red and a green navigation lights just like ships and airliners; red = port side (left) & green = starboard (right). DragonRider, the crew Dragon, also follows the tradition of having its crew hatch on the port (left) side.

Some traditions never die.

[DocM]

Free & clear - on the way home

[neoadorable]

Amazing how smoothly it all went, a true success. Onwards to Pandora, RDA, I mean SpaceX!

And I didn't even realize Dragon is fully pressurized and has working life support! Now just hope the return flight goes well.

[DocM]

The sensor bay door closed, so check one more milestone off the list. Next biggies are the deorbit burn, then trunk separation. It's currently 12 miles below and about 130 miles ahead of ISS.

The atmosphere system in Dragon isn't up to snuff for crew yet, but it's full system is already designed, tested and approve by NASA. It's being provided by Paragon, who has experience with life support systems, and was developed in the CCDev-1 part of the commercial crew program. It'll be stowed under the dragon's cabin floor in the lowermost portion of the pressure vessel.

[DocM]

Splashdown at 27 N. Lat. 120 W. Long

Recovery boats on the way & Dragon spotted!!

[DocM]

THE DRAGON HAS (SPLASH) LANDED

SpaceX?s Dragon Spacecraft Safely Completes Historic Mission to the Space Station

Hawthorne, CA ? This morning, at approximately 8:42 AM Pacific/11:42 AM Eastern, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) completed its historic mission when the Dragon spacecraft splashed down safely in the Pacific. The vehicle will now be recovered by boats and start the trip back to land.

At 11:00 AM Pacific/2:00 PM Eastern, SpaceX CEO and Chief Designer Elon Musk will join NASA Space Station Program Manager Mike Suffredini and NASA COTS Program Manager Alan Lindenmoyer for a press conference to discuss today?s exciting events.

Reporters wishing to participate in the event can call in to NASA?s Johnson Space Center Newsroom at 281-483-5111. For NASA TV downlink information or to watch it live visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv .

Last week, SpaceX made history when its Dragon spacecraft became the first commercial vehicle in history to successfully attach to the International Space Station. Previously only four governments ? the United States, Russia, Japan and the European Space Agency ? had achieved this challenging technical feat. Dragon departed the space station this morning.

Broadcast quality videos, including footage from the recovery ship will be posted to vimeo.com/spacexlaunch and high-resolution photos will be posted to spacexlaunch.zenfolio.com as soon as they are available.

This is SpaceX's second demonstration flight under a 2006 Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) agreement with NASA to develop the capability to carry cargo to and from the International Space Station.

[DocM]

Faces today

SpaceX :D

NASA :D

Capitol Hill skeptics :(

Roscosmos :o

Me :D