SpaceX Updates (Thread 7)

[DocM]

ULA is going to build out the remaining Delta IV Mediums, just a few, and enough Delta IV Heavy core & boosters to fill existing committments, then they'll shut down the Delta line so it can be converted for Vulcan production. Vulcan-Centaur* will fill the Delta IV Medium role plus a few tonnes, and Vulcan-ACES* will fill the Delta IV Heavy role plus a few tonnes. 

 

* Centaur and ACES = upper stages, ACES being the high energy stage for large payloads and BEO.

[Blue-Vision]

I betcha the Thaicomm S1 and the most recent CRS S1 will be the two most likely to re-fly. That Thaicomm one handled the Hoverslam like a champ.  

[Jim K Global Moderator]

12 minutes ago, Unobscured Vision said:

I betcha the Thaicomm S1 and the most recent CRS S1 will be the two most likely to re-fly. That Thaicomm one handled the Hoverslam like a champ.  

hmmm...thought it would be Flight 23 (the first one to land on the drone ship)

 

Edit...nevermind...that is CRS .

[DocM]

ORBCOMM will be SpaceX's lawn ornament

 

CRS-8 will refly first

 

SES-9 was too cooked

 

Thaicom is TBD. We'll see when it arrives tonight.

[Blue-Vision]

6 minutes ago, jjkusaf said:

hmmm...thought it would be Flight 23 (the first one to land on the drone ship)

 

Edit...nevermind...that is CRS .

Yep.  Sadly, F24 is likely too damaged to fly as-is, per SpaceX's criteria. They could rehab it, though; and I hope they do, just to get their procedures down pat for test-case and procedures n' stuff.  Never let a learning experience go to waste.

[Draggendrop Veteran]

 

It is unlikely that a cargo run is done near crew change, due to manpower constraints. If CRS-9 is delayed, hopefully a new launch can be bumped up.

 

ISS Calendar

Quote

June 8, 2016    ISS Reboost by Progress MS-02
June 14, 2016    Cygnus OA-6 Unberthing, Release
June 18, 2016    Soyuz TMA-19M Undocking & Landing (Malenchenko, Kopra, Peake)
June 24, 2016    Soyuz MS Launch (Ivanishin, Onishi, Rubins)
June 26, 2016    Soyuz MS Docking to Rassvet
2016    Relocation of Pressurized Mating Adapter 3 from Node 3P to Node 2Z
Summer    Russian Satellite Deployment
July 5, 2016    Progress MS Undocking from Pirs
July 6, 2016    Cygnus OA-5 Launch atop Antares 230
July 7, 2016    Progress MS-03 Launch atop Soyuz 2-1A & Docking to Pirs
July 9, 2016    Cygnus OA-5 Rendezvous & Berthing to Unity
July 16, 2016    Dragon SpX-9 Launch atop Falcon 9
July 18, 2016    Dragon SpX-9 Rendezvous, Capture & Berthing to Harmony
July 2016    U.S. EVA-36 – IDA-2 Installation
August 1. 2016    Dragon SpX-9 Unberthing & Release

http://spaceflight101.com/iss/iss-calendar/

 

Highlight for June 24th

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Quick SES-9 update

 

SES-9 READY TO ENTER COMMERCIAL SERVICE

 

Quote

LUXEMBOURG, 1 June 2016 -- SES S.A. (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) announced today that its new SES-9 spacecraft is entering commercial service. SES-9 has successfully completed its testing and reached its orbital position at around 108.2 degrees East where it has joined SES-7 and will replace NSS-11.

Quote

The improved performance of the Falcon 9 launcher shortened the orbit raising phase and, in combination with the use of the highly efficient SES-9 electric propulsion system, resulted in remaining fuel on board to support services well beyond its 15 years design life. I congratulate the Boeing, SpaceX and SES teams, who together have done an excellent job.” .

http://www.ses.com/4233325/news/2016/22293201

[DocM]

 

 

[Jim K Global Moderator]

4 minutes ago, DocM said:

 

 

...and a bonus.

 

Comparing his rocket to a "pallet of cash".   

[Blue-Vision]

 

 

That means BFR testing <3 years, another 1~2 years to do human qualifications and checkouts of all related hardware for the voyage and habitation while there. They're gonna want everything on paper, hard disk and video documentation & ready to go by 2022~2023. That leaves wiggle room for any delays that come up and for issues to be ironed out. They also need to select Crews and to Train those Crews, and to select an LZ and Mission Parameters.

 

Yeah ... gonna get busy in the SpaceX/NASA/Bigelow neck of the woods real quick.  

[IsItPluggedIn]

I thought the plan was to use the falcon heavy to start with and the BFR is for later on...

[DocM]

FH/Red Dragons starting in 2018 to test landings and check prospective colony sites, with multiple RD landings per synod before BFS leaves. 2020 & 2022 could be busy.

 

NASA has already done preliminary analysis of 40+ crew landing sites, and at the conference last fall people noticed a new term in the documents: 'colonization,' and the Red Dragons will fly to 'Prime Sites' out of the box including 2018. Do the math.

 

Fact is, users at NASA's Space Operations and Human Exploration directorate have posted on NSF's public side that SpaceX will beat NASA to Mars. One example, speaking of Jezero Crater - the 2020 Rover site - in October 2015...

 

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=38677.msg1437710#msg1437710

 

Quote

It's the current SITE A option. More options will be evaluated. Nothing has been selected as the official [NASA manned] landing site, not least because that's too far away and SpaceX will likely have a base on Mars by then anyway.

Yes, I just said that.

 

Nuff said?

Edited June 2, 2016 by DocM

[Draggendrop Veteran]

 

Now that is going to be cool......

[Blue-Vision]

/me furiously rubs hands together and giggles maniacally ... 

 

Relevant information:

http://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/explorationzone2015/pdf/program.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jezero_(crater)

https://www.google.com/search?q=Jezero+Crater

http://journalofcosmology.com/Mars116.html (... lots and lots of great data here.)

(Jezero Crater is entry #1 -- note the penultimate positioning of where Site A is!)

 

A closer look at Site A ...

Quote

Jezero Crater. Jezero crater is a ~45 km impact crater on the northwest margin of the Isidis impact basin, in the Nili Fossae region of Mars (Figs. 3 and 4). This region is a very important area for understanding the formation of the Isidis basin, the alteration and erosion of this Noachain basement, and subsequent volcanism and modification (e.g., Mustard et al., 2007; Mangold et al., 2007). The rim has been breached in three places: twice where channels from the neighboring highlands to the west have drained into the crater from the northwest (Figs. 3, 4), and once on the eastern margin where the crater has drained eastward towards the Isidis basin (Fassett and Head, 2005) (Fig. 5). Each input channel deposited deltas on the crater floor that have been preserved and reveal sedimentary structures (Fig. 6) and clay deposits (Fig. 7) in high resolution images and spectral data (Fassett et al., 2007). Other parts of the crater floor appear to have been resurfaced by lava.

Figure 3. Potential traverses for human explorers in and around Jezero Crater.

Figure 4. Jezero Crater in perspective view showing Isidis Basin rim and watershed area.

Figure 5. Topography of Jezero Crater.

 

Figure 7. Jezero Crater: CRISM multi-spectral map of delta: Green, phyllosilicates; Orange, olivine; Purple, neutral or weak bands.

 

Yeah.  That'll do nicely. 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

I am having a problem opening figures 2 to 7 jpg's LevineGarvin ones...may be my browser...had issues today with it. Will see if anyone else can see them, I get 403 error's, permissions.

 

[Blue-Vision]

Aww

[Blue-Vision]

Able to open http://journalofcosmology.com/Mars116.html and view them there?

[DocM]

Talking about fairing recovery, the auto-steering parachutes  would be similar to the JPADS (Joint Precision Aerial Delivery Systems) used by the military for landing cargo.

 

 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

13 minutes ago, Unobscured Vision said:

Able to open http://journalofcosmology.com/Mars116.html and view them there?

This one opened fine.

 

I also noticed Doc's most recent post, 1st jpg OK, 2nd jpg would not show...I may have problems...will need to check on this....

[+John. Subscriber¹]

1 minute ago, Draggendrop said:

This one opened fine.

 

I also noticed Doc's most recent post, 1st jpg OK, 2nd jpg would not show...I may have problems...will need to check on this....

nope, mine is showing the same  

[Blue-Vision]

Yeah, same here. First one, no problem. Second one, no dice.  

[DocM]

 

 

[DocM]

CRS-9 with an IDA docking adapter has been delayed. 

 

The Russians are having trouble getting the Soyuz MS (new iteration) off the ground, which messes up having trained crew to install IDA on the station. 

 

Soyuz MS is the final major upgrade before the Federation spacecraft replaces Soyuz.

 

Jeff Foust‏ @jeff_foust

TASS reports control system flaws will delay next Soyuz from Jun 24 to Jul 7: 

 

http://bit.ly/1r38UxS

 

Quote

MOSCOW, June 1. /TASS/. Launch of Soyuz MS manned spacecraft, which is due to take a new expedition to the International Space Station, has been rescheduled for July 7 from June 24 due to control system flaws that may disrupt the ship's docking with the ISS, a source in the Russian aerospace industry told TASS on Wednesday.

"The launch has been rescheduled for July 7," he said. "The crew is expected to come to Baikonur (the Russian space center located is Kazakhstan TASS) on June 24."

"Experts have established the ship will be rolling as it docks the ISS and they are unable to stop this rolling motion so far," the source said.

The rescheduling of the Soyuz MS launch has necessitated postponement of the launch of the Progress MS cargo spacecraft, initially planned for July 7. Under the new schedule, it may take place on July 17, the source said.

 

[Blue-Vision]

Yeah, I've been reading about this problem. And I'm sure SpaceX is more concerned than annoyed about it. Shades of Gemini 6 ...  

 

Might be time to start dusting off the Dragon 1's Crew Seats and Life Support/Comm hardware, fellas. It'll take a couple months to get it installed, checked out and certified; but I'm sure that it could be used in a pinch. Between us, I'm pretty sure the only hold-up with using Dragon 1 was Political ...

[DocM]

Lars Blackmore's page at MIT, he being SpaceX's landing guy. Some interesting tidbits at his links.

 

http://web.mit.edu/larsb/www/