Quote from: Robotbeat on 07/24/2012 07:14 pmQuote from: DaveH62 on 07/24/2012 07:09 pmQuote from: Robotbeat on 07/24/2012 07:04 pmQuote from: DaveH62 on 07/24/2012 06:58 pmInteresting article on Musk online. What caught my eye was a used Dragon and a new Dragon, looking about ready to go. Has the shape changed? Could this be a prototype of Dragon 2, with SuperDracos? Article link: http://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-day-in-the-life-of-the-tesla-and-spacex-ceo-2012-7?op=1Are you sure that's not the mock-up? The new mock-up indeed has spots for the SuperDracos. If that is the next Dragon for launch (i.e. for CRS-1), then SpaceX has been making some very significant strides without letting us know. (Previous information pointed to the next Dragon for CRS-1 and probably CRS-2 being basically the same as the COTS 2+ Dragon.)I'm betting it's the mock-up.Mock-up seems likely. Note the US flag, which to me implies crewed capsule. Looks cool!Looks cooler from this angle. A bunch of noses. And a monocle. Nice. The fairings give Dragon a lot more character.I guess I must have missed the discussion in another thread, because no one here is pointing out that this photo suggests the answer to the question of where the Super Dracos go.I don't recall previously seeing any confirmation they'll fire at an angle from the sides, as opposed to through blow-out panels in the heatshield, and I know I've never seen an illustration of bump-out fairings.
Quote from: DaveH62 on 07/24/2012 07:09 pmQuote from: Robotbeat on 07/24/2012 07:04 pmQuote from: DaveH62 on 07/24/2012 06:58 pmInteresting article on Musk online. What caught my eye was a used Dragon and a new Dragon, looking about ready to go. Has the shape changed? Could this be a prototype of Dragon 2, with SuperDracos? Article link: http://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-day-in-the-life-of-the-tesla-and-spacex-ceo-2012-7?op=1Are you sure that's not the mock-up? The new mock-up indeed has spots for the SuperDracos. If that is the next Dragon for launch (i.e. for CRS-1), then SpaceX has been making some very significant strides without letting us know. (Previous information pointed to the next Dragon for CRS-1 and probably CRS-2 being basically the same as the COTS 2+ Dragon.)I'm betting it's the mock-up.Mock-up seems likely. Note the US flag, which to me implies crewed capsule. Looks cool!Looks cooler from this angle. A bunch of noses. And a monocle.
Quote from: Robotbeat on 07/24/2012 07:04 pmQuote from: DaveH62 on 07/24/2012 06:58 pmInteresting article on Musk online. What caught my eye was a used Dragon and a new Dragon, looking about ready to go. Has the shape changed? Could this be a prototype of Dragon 2, with SuperDracos? Article link: http://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-day-in-the-life-of-the-tesla-and-spacex-ceo-2012-7?op=1Are you sure that's not the mock-up? The new mock-up indeed has spots for the SuperDracos. If that is the next Dragon for launch (i.e. for CRS-1), then SpaceX has been making some very significant strides without letting us know. (Previous information pointed to the next Dragon for CRS-1 and probably CRS-2 being basically the same as the COTS 2+ Dragon.)I'm betting it's the mock-up.Mock-up seems likely. Note the US flag, which to me implies crewed capsule. Looks cool!
Quote from: DaveH62 on 07/24/2012 06:58 pmInteresting article on Musk online. What caught my eye was a used Dragon and a new Dragon, looking about ready to go. Has the shape changed? Could this be a prototype of Dragon 2, with SuperDracos? Article link: http://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-day-in-the-life-of-the-tesla-and-spacex-ceo-2012-7?op=1Are you sure that's not the mock-up? The new mock-up indeed has spots for the SuperDracos. If that is the next Dragon for launch (i.e. for CRS-1), then SpaceX has been making some very significant strides without letting us know. (Previous information pointed to the next Dragon for CRS-1 and probably CRS-2 being basically the same as the COTS 2+ Dragon.)I'm betting it's the mock-up.
Interesting article on Musk online. What caught my eye was a used Dragon and a new Dragon, looking about ready to go. Has the shape changed? Could this be a prototype of Dragon 2, with SuperDracos? Article link: http://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-day-in-the-life-of-the-tesla-and-spacex-ceo-2012-7?op=1
Is there anything similar to be aware of regarding the Merlin 1C Vacuum?
NASA has its own standards on what it wants in a man-rated vehicle and spacecraft. We can argue about whether those standards are too stringent and too bureaucratic, or too lax and hasn't sufficiently prevented loss of crew. That's not the question here.The question is "Can SpaceX fly humans -- SpaceX employees, contractors or customers -- on a Dragon Spacecraft, before the vehicle is deemed acceptable for humans by NASA."In otherwords, does NASA have a monopoly on manned spaceflights launching from US soil and the authority to decide what flies and what must not, even when NASA astronauts are not in the picture.This is an interesting question because given NASA's requirement on successful launches by a LV and their lengthy acceptance process, there is very little chance that a manned dragon will fly in the 2014 time frame. And logging manned flights before manned NASA flights may go a long way toward expediting the acceptance of the dragon as a human carrying vehicle. Also, there can be interested parties for manned flights to LEO that are outside of NASA missions to the ISS.
Quote from: go4mars on 07/20/2012 07:32 pmElon Musk will be delivering the keynote address at the Mars Society convention August 4th in Pasadena. If any of you can make it, a summary of comments posted here (or video if those are allowed) would be much appreciated. I hope it's the much awaited unveiling of the SpaceX Mars architecture. Count on me.
Elon Musk will be delivering the keynote address at the Mars Society convention August 4th in Pasadena. If any of you can make it, a summary of comments posted here (or video if those are allowed) would be much appreciated. I hope it's the much awaited unveiling of the SpaceX Mars architecture.
SpaceX updated their Falcon 9 web page with the new specs for Merlin 1D , the LEO and GTO up mass.http://www.spacex.com/falcon9.phpWhen was that page updated?Does anyone know when they will have a new PDF out on the F9 v1.1?
Quote from: RocketmanUS on 07/26/2012 02:38 amSpaceX updated their Falcon 9 web page with the new specs for Merlin 1D , the LEO and GTO up mass.http://www.spacex.com/falcon9.phpWhen was that page updated?Does anyone know when they will have a new PDF out on the F9 v1.1?They have also updated the manifest
Quote from: Nathan on 07/26/2012 12:11 pmQuote from: RocketmanUS on 07/26/2012 02:38 amSpaceX updated their Falcon 9 web page with the new specs for Merlin 1D , the LEO and GTO up mass.http://www.spacex.com/falcon9.phpWhen was that page updated?Does anyone know when they will have a new PDF out on the F9 v1.1?They have also updated the manifestCuriousThey still have Bigelow on the manifest for 2015 but have not added Jason-3 which is under contract for a December 2014 launch. And they are still listing the "Vehicle Arrival at Launch Site" dates, as if that is what people want to know. Does anyone else share my preference for launch dates, even if they have to be NET?
They just showed a video at NewSpace 2012 showing Dragon landing in the desert under parachutes using SuperDracos just for the last few seconds.
The video showed SDs igniting for a couple of seconds, first to rotate Dragon upright from a sideways, wind driven ride and then lower it for a touchdown. Not completely like Soyuz where the rockets fire for a fraction of a second.