Quote from: Hodapp on 05/24/2012 09:16 pmRussia, ESA, China (borrowed tech) have automated docking.Is Space X and Orbital and NASA ever going to adopt this tech too?Not for cargo. CRS will continue to use berthing.Commercial Crew Program will use docking. SpaceX, Boeing, SNC, Blue Origin, and Excalibur Almaz are involved in CCP. Orbital is not, at the moment.
Russia, ESA, China (borrowed tech) have automated docking.Is Space X and Orbital and NASA ever going to adopt this tech too?
Does anyone know if a Falcon 9 Heavy has the performance to send a Dragon to SEL-2? Can Dragon support a crew of 3 for the journey to SEL-2 and back with about a week on station?
100% useful. Berthing is harder than docking.
Would the Falcon 9 shroud be flyable if it were lengthened by 3 meters? Thanks!JR
Quote from: Danderman on 04/26/2012 03:24 pm100% useful. Berthing is harder than docking.More detail please.How is it harder to "sit and stay" than to autonomously formation fly, rendezvous with, and dock (even with a cooperative target)?
You mean lengthening the fairing by 3 meters? It would need lots of calculation on the aerodynamics, but much bigger fairings have flew. In fact, the Payload's User Guide does states that bigger fairings are possible, but would require analysis. The Atlas V states that they think fairings as wide as 7.2m are possible, and they currently offer a 5.4m x 26.5m fairing (though, it has never actually fly). Granted, Atlas V is a shorter vehicle than Falcon 9 v1.1, but there doesn't seems to be a problem.
I'm not sure if the answer to this has been posted elsewhere on the forum, but here goes:How long can a Falcon 9 or FH second stage last on-orbit before either electrical power runs out or the LOX boils away? What might be the LOX boil-off rate on FH's upper stage?
How much does Dragon's PICA-X heatshield weigh? I'm wondering how much of a weight penalty it would be for a reusable upper stage.
Quote from: 2552 on 10/02/2012 02:12 amHow much does Dragon's PICA-X heatshield weigh? I'm wondering how much of a weight penalty it would be for a reusable upper stage.AFAIK, it is mostly cork. Cork is a very lightweight material.
That raises another question - is there any value for FH to perform both GTI and apogee burn for a single satellite rather than GTI-only for a dual-manifest?Or would that just leave a large sat with more prop than it needs over it's operational lifetime? Could the prop be contingency in case it gets left short of full GSO, eg by FHUS failing to perform the apogee burn?cheers, Martin
No, it's because the DragonEye LIDARs in the Dragon GNC bay need a clear line-of-sight to ISS.