NASA Commercial Crew (CCtCap) test milestones

[DocM]

BREAKING: CREW ACCESS ARM GOING UP ON LC-39A!!

 

 

 

Inside the Crew Access Arm

Edited August 15, 2018 by DocM

[+rdlenk Subscriber²]

Yep

 

Been looking forward to seeing it on the FSS for a long time.

[DocM]

 

[DocM]

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-spacex-agree-on-plans-for-crew-launch-day-operations

Quote

NASA, SpaceX Agree on Plans for Crew Launch Day Operations

 

NASA's Commercial Crew Program and SpaceX are finalizing plans for launch day operations as they prepare for the company's first flight test with astronauts on board. The teams are working toward a crew test flight to the International Space Station, known as Demo-2, with NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley in April 2019.  

A key question the program and the company have been assessing is whether the astronauts will climb aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft before or after SpaceX fuels the Falcon 9 rocket. NASA has made the decision to move forward with SpaceX's plan to fuel the rocket after the astronauts are in place. While the agreement makes this plan the baseline for operations, it is contingent upon NASA's final certification of the operation.

"To make this decision, our teams conducted an extensive review of the SpaceX ground operations, launch vehicle design, escape systems and operational history," said Kathy Lueders, manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. "Safety for our personnel was the driver for this analysis, and the team’s assessment was that this plan presents the least risk."

Additional verification and demonstration activities, which include five crew loading demonstrations of the Falcon 9 Block 5, will be critical to final certification of this plan. These loading demonstrations will verify the flight crew configuration and crew loading timeline prior to Demo-2. After these conditions have been met, NASA will assess any remaining risk before determining that the system is certified to fly with crew.

If all goes according to plan, on launch day, the Falcon 9 composite overwrap pressure vessels, known as COPVs, will be loaded with helium and verified to be in a stable configuration prior to astronaut arrival at the launch pad. The astronauts then will board the spacecraft about two hours before launch, when the launch system is in a quiescent state. After the ground crews depart the launch pad, the launch escape systems will be activated approximately 38 minutes before liftoff, just before fueling begins. SpaceX launch controllers then will begin loading rocket grade kerosene and densified liquid oxygen approximately 35 minutes before launch. The countdown and launch preparations can be stopped automatically up to the last moment before launch. In the unlikely event of an emergency at any point up to and after launch, the launch escape systems will allow the astronauts to evacuate safely.

This timeline is consistent with the fueling procedures SpaceX uses for its commercial resupply missions and satellite launches.

The crew launches of NASA’s Commercial Crew partners SpaceX and Boeing will return the nation’s ability to launch our astronauts from the United States to and from the International Space Station on American spacecraft.

 

[IsItPluggedIn]

This seems like the best way to do it to me, in my head, loading the propellant before you get on the rocket seems more dangerous cause your not strapped into a safety mechanism, what happens if there is an issue as you are walking up to the thing.

 

I guess there is a lot of other things to consider, mostly that more issues happen during loading. But every time i just think its safer to be in the capsule with an escape system than not.

[DocM]

After these, a big crane was attached to the CAA and it looks ready to be lifted into position.

 

 

[DocM]

 

[+rdlenk Subscriber²]

Crew arm is going up. I am sure there will be pics soon.

[DocM]

 

[DocM]

Starliner control console. 

 

No touch screens, you use physical buttons to navigate through menus and flip pages. Not unlike some old MSDOS programs. Some features borrowed from Orion. 

 

Still, Boeing stresses it's intended to be an automated taxi.

 

 

 

Edited August 21, 2018 by DocM

[DocM]

 

 

 

Cropped & tuned

 

Edited August 21, 2018 by DocM

[DocM]

 

 

 

Edited August 21, 2018 by DocM

[Blue-Vision]

Yup, and it's also to shed weight so the parachutes can do their job more effectively.

[DocM]

Landing test

 

ISTM Crew Dragon touches down  softer on land without air bags (but with 4 parachutes)

 

 

Edited August 21, 2018 by DocM

[Blue-Vision]

Observe the land of double standards ... sheesh. This is what that Professor (now colleague) of mine was talking about before regarding all of the arbitrary crap being pulled on SpaceX. 2, even 3 times the amount of testing and redundancy relative to everyone else's gear simply to harass and delay them.  

 

Look at 'em. Just look at 'em.

[DocM]

Sounds like a future video will have Tim  putting on the SpaceX IVA suit. 

 

 

 

[DocM]

 

85' (25.9m) long
265' (80.77m) above sea level
70' (21.34m) higher than the Shuttle crew arm
Steel + aluminum

 

YES!!!!!

 

 

Edited August 25, 2018 by DocM

[Blue-Vision]

Overpressure from launches causing damage to the tower being the primary reason why.  There are internal upgrades that are going to be going into it once the cladding is installed that have to be protected, and possibly the Crew Access Area is gonna need to be climate controlled too.

 

Then the matter of whether the site will be used to launch BFR or not ... still undecided. South Texas is still a better fit due to logistics. Depends on a bunch of factors, chief among them what the FAA says concerning the planned launch corridor at this point but if the point-to-point BFS flights work out well then it'll alleviate a lot of concerns.

[DocM]

Can't get everywhere shooting the gap between the Keys and Cuba, or going South of Cuba, to avoid overflight issues. The best trajectories look to be GEO, Lunar and interplanetary.

 

For P2P Florida may be better; launch polar-ish then a dogleg to Asia, Oz and NZ. Straight shots to Europe and the ME (KSA is interested, likely UAE as well.)

 

Deployed

 

Edited August 25, 2018 by DocM

[Blue-Vision]

I completely agree. What I'd like to see are flights out of the Cape, Vandy and South Texas. Use Vandy for polar tracks, ST and KSC for the rest of the flight tracks.

 

Personally I think KSC is the standard option for anything "up and out" (GTO+, TLI, etc), but ST is a better option (or could be made such) from a logistical standpoint. It's much, much closer to SpaceX's facilities than KSC, they don't have to go through a big hassle to get it to the launch site, and the Gulf is a huge body of water in it's own right. The dogleg maneuver isn't that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things and BFR/BFS has tons of spare dV to spend on the inclination change as it shoots the gap between Florida and Cuba.

 

Even if it looks like the dV can't be spared for a mission there's always the potential to launch from KSC and it'll eliminate that issue entirely.  

 

Speaking of KSC, looks like the tower got a cleaning and a new coat of primer ....  

[DocM]

55 minutes ago, Unobscured Vision said:

>

Speaking of KSC, looks like the tower got a cleaning and a new coat of primer ....  

 

I'd expect an overcoat before mounting the external panels. Curious as to B&W, metallic or ??

[Blue-Vision]

Likely it'll be a protectant to deal with the salt content (as well as the humidity) in the air. That stuff is rough on metals.

 

End result will likely be a grey-white appearance.

[Beittil]

I'd expect the color scheme of the CAA to be continued on the tower actually

[DocM]

Wow...DM-2 as an operational mission.

 

 

[DocM]