Author Topic: F9/Crew Dragon : Polaris Dawn : KSC LC-39A : 10 Sep 2024 (09:23 UTC) DISCUSSION  (Read 416277 times)

Offline whitelancer64

It also mentions that the entire capsule will be depressurized, so the other two crew will wear the IVA suits and remain inside. So there won't be an EVA airlock that replaces the cupola/hatch, it seems.
Are IVA suits, erm, suitable for several hours in an unpressurized environment? The IVA crew would have to remain seated with severely restricted mobility while the pressure bladders are inflated, enough to operate the control console with significant effort but not much more. At the end of the spacewalk, the EVA crew would have to close the hatch and conduct any physical leak check procedures without assistance from the IVA crew. At least give the IVA crew a hot-mic mode for the intercom so they don't get sore thumbs from having to operate the push-to-talk button all day in pressurized gloves. Space-to-ground they'll just have to deal with it.

Yes, they are rated for several hours of use, as they would need to handle at least that in the event of a depressurization event in orbit.
"One bit of advice: it is important to view knowledge as sort of a semantic tree -- make sure you understand the fundamental principles, ie the trunk and big branches, before you get into the leaves/details or there is nothing for them to hang on to." - Elon Musk
"There are lies, damned lies, and launch schedules." - Larry J


Offline yg1968

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From the press conference  - EVA  suit not yet started but will be a combination of EVA and launch suit. EVA will be through the forward hatch with no airlock.

Do you have a link to the press conference?

Online abaddon

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Seems like an aggressive timeline to launch at the tail end of this year with an EVA suit that is "not yet started".  Can only imagine it's going to be a LOT like the existing suit with an already scoped set of functionality changes that are relatively minimal.  Presumably they already have movement data from the existing flight suits in full or close to full vacuum as part of their qualification.

« Last Edit: 02/14/2022 04:35 pm by abaddon »

Offline whitelancer64

Ah. I just noticed the images that came with the announcement are not attached to this thread.

This is the one of the EVA which I've referred to.
"One bit of advice: it is important to view knowledge as sort of a semantic tree -- make sure you understand the fundamental principles, ie the trunk and big branches, before you get into the leaves/details or there is nothing for them to hang on to." - Elon Musk
"There are lies, damned lies, and launch schedules." - Larry J

Offline yg1968

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« Last Edit: 02/14/2022 08:07 pm by yg1968 »

Online butters

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It also mentions that the entire capsule will be depressurized, so the other two crew will wear the IVA suits and remain inside. So there won't be an EVA airlock that replaces the cupola/hatch, it seems.
Are IVA suits, erm, suitable for several hours in an unpressurized environment? The IVA crew would have to remain seated with severely restricted mobility while the pressure bladders are inflated, enough to operate the control console with significant effort but not much more. At the end of the spacewalk, the EVA crew would have to close the hatch and conduct any physical leak check procedures without assistance from the IVA crew. At least give the IVA crew a hot-mic mode for the intercom so they don't get sore thumbs from having to operate the push-to-talk button all day in pressurized gloves. Space-to-ground they'll just have to deal with it.

Yes, they are rated for several hours of use, as they would need to handle at least that in the event of a depressurization event in orbit.
I understand they are rated to be safe for several hours inflated in an unpressurized capsule, that the crew would not die, but I'm inquiring about what kind of role they'll be physically able to play in supporting the EVA, besides sitting still and staying alive.

Offline yg1968

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Seems like an aggressive timeline to launch at the tail end of this year with an EVA suit that is "not yet started".  Can only imagine it's going to be a LOT like the existing suit with an already scoped set of functionality changes that are relatively minimal.  Presumably they already have movement data from the existing flight suits in full or close to full vacuum as part of their qualification.

What makes you think that they haven't started?

Offline kevinof

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From the press conference  - EVA  suit not yet started but will be a combination of EVA and launch suit. EVA will be through the forward hatch with no airlock.

Do you have a link to the press conference?
Just a bunch of tweets over the last hour from Michael Sheetz @WSJ

Offline kevinof

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Seems like an aggressive timeline to launch at the tail end of this year with an EVA suit that is "not yet started".  Can only imagine it's going to be a LOT like the existing suit with an already scoped set of functionality changes that are relatively minimal.  Presumably they already have movement data from the existing flight suits in full or close to full vacuum as part of their qualification.

What makes you think that they haven't started?
https://twitter.com/thesheetztweetz/status/1493276436106461188?t=KcAKrGzMQTTpwcSMwn-bxg&s=19

« Last Edit: 02/14/2022 04:46 pm by kevinof »

Offline kevinof

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And

Gillis: For Polaris, "the suit that we're going to be designing will be a single suit that we would launch and then similarly use for the EVA."

 https://twitter.com/thesheetztweetz/status/1493273907251621891?t=2R7ePFRAYty_xqfCp6Y-bA&s=19
« Last Edit: 02/14/2022 04:45 pm by kevinof »


Offline whitelancer64

It also mentions that the entire capsule will be depressurized, so the other two crew will wear the IVA suits and remain inside. So there won't be an EVA airlock that replaces the cupola/hatch, it seems.
Are IVA suits, erm, suitable for several hours in an unpressurized environment? The IVA crew would have to remain seated with severely restricted mobility while the pressure bladders are inflated, enough to operate the control console with significant effort but not much more. At the end of the spacewalk, the EVA crew would have to close the hatch and conduct any physical leak check procedures without assistance from the IVA crew. At least give the IVA crew a hot-mic mode for the intercom so they don't get sore thumbs from having to operate the push-to-talk button all day in pressurized gloves. Space-to-ground they'll just have to deal with it.

Yes, they are rated for several hours of use, as they would need to handle at least that in the event of a depressurization event in orbit.
I understand they are rated to be safe for several hours inflated in an unpressurized capsule, that the crew would not die, but I'm inquiring about what kind of role they'll be physically able to play in supporting the EVA, besides sitting still and staying alive.

Probably limited, as you note. There's the possibility that their suit-to-chair connections could be made longer to allow them freedom of movement throughout the cabin to assist the returning crew post EVA.
"One bit of advice: it is important to view knowledge as sort of a semantic tree -- make sure you understand the fundamental principles, ie the trunk and big branches, before you get into the leaves/details or there is nothing for them to hang on to." - Elon Musk
"There are lies, damned lies, and launch schedules." - Larry J

Offline yg1968

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« Last Edit: 02/14/2022 04:52 pm by yg1968 »

Offline Orbiter

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FWIW, the Gemini mission in reference by Isaacman, Gemini 11, reached an apogee of 1,368 kilometers. I think a ~200x,1000km orbit could be reachable by F9 and Dragon.
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Offline RocketLover0119

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The aspect of the EVA is most intriguing to me. If dragon doesn’t have an airlock (which obviously it doesn’t), I would figure they could launch an expendable airlock module docked to it, or depress the capsule and exit from the hatch. Guess they could even launch another dragon and use that as an airlock. Will be fun to watch unfold!
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Offline Lars-J

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And

Gillis: For Polaris, "the suit that we're going to be designing will be a single suit that we would launch and then similarly use for the EVA."

 https://twitter.com/thesheetztweetz/status/1493273907251621891?t=2R7ePFRAYty_xqfCp6Y-bA&s=19

Ok so it sounds like they will use enhanced IVA suits for this mission that can also function as EVA suits. (Again like Gemini)
« Last Edit: 02/14/2022 05:07 pm by Lars-J »

Offline Lars-J

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The aspect of the EVA is most intriguing to me. If dragon doesn’t have an airlock (which obviously it doesn’t), I would figure they could launch an expendable airlock module docked to it, or depress the capsule and exit from the hatch. Guess they could even launch another dragon and use that as an airlock. Will be fun to watch unfold!

Such a module would be too heavy I think, certainly if they plan on going up to 500-1000km altitude.

Offline yg1968

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Offline whitelancer64

The aspect of the EVA is most intriguing to me. If dragon doesn’t have an airlock (which obviously it doesn’t), I would figure they could launch an expendable airlock module docked to it, or depress the capsule and exit from the hatch. Guess they could even launch another dragon and use that as an airlock. Will be fun to watch unfold!

No airlock, they will depressurize the whole cabin.
"One bit of advice: it is important to view knowledge as sort of a semantic tree -- make sure you understand the fundamental principles, ie the trunk and big branches, before you get into the leaves/details or there is nothing for them to hang on to." - Elon Musk
"There are lies, damned lies, and launch schedules." - Larry J

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