SpaceX COTS Demo 1 Updates

[edkyle99]

hmm, looks like Falcon IX 2 is on the pad:

Falcon 9, not "IX", according to the manufacturer itself.
 http://www.spacex.com/falcon9.php

Roman numerals have been out of style since the 14th Century.  Nothing good can come from a number system that lacks a zero.     

- Ed Kyle

[beancounter]

hmm, looks like Falcon IX 2 is on the pad:

Falcon 9, not "IX", according to the manufacturer itself.
 http://www.spacex.com/falcon9.php

Roman numerals have been out of style since the 14th Century.  Nothing good can come from a number system that lacks a zero.     

- Ed Kyle

That's right.  No one would ever launch anything.   They'd all be stuck at one LOL

[Ronsmytheiii]

hmm, looks like Falcon IX 2 is on the pad:

Falcon 9, not "IX", according to the manufacturer itself.
 http://www.spacex.com/falcon9.php

Roman numerals have been out of style since the 14th Century.  Nothing good can come from a number system that lacks a zero.     

- Ed Kyle

So I guess things like the Coliseum and the Parthenon are not good

ok, enough engineering/history humor back on topic

So, I guess SpaceX is doing some kind of engineering test, wonder if this is simply to troubleshoot issues from flight 1, help to set up processing for a real payload, or will a lift be the equivalent of the Atlas V rolling back and forth to the VIF

[mr. mark]

"So, I guess SpaceX is doing some kind of engineering test, wonder if this is simply to troubleshoot issues from flight 1, help to set up processing for a real payload, or will a lift be the equivalent of the Atlas V rolling back and forth to the VIF"

I can't say for sure but, looking at the long range pics, it looks like cargo Dragon has already been integrated with the Falcon 9. So I would consider Dragon a "real payload".

[Ronsmytheiii]

I can't say for sure but, looking at the long range pics, it looks like cargo Dragon has already been integrated with the Falcon 9. So I would consider Dragon a "real payload".

I was referring to Flight one, with the boiler Dragon.  Even on the LV though, a payload needs care/umbilical.  Would not be surprised if SpaceX is checking the telemetry from Dragon on the pad.

Edit: Actually not, see L2 side
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?board=29.0

[Antares]

So I would consider Dragon a "real payload".

Is it still a real payload if it's a zombie?  A real payload is not just metal and carbon.

[Lars_J]

So I would consider Dragon a "real payload".

Is it still a real payload if it's a zombie?  A real payload is not just metal and carbon.

Huh? Do you consider COTS demo 1 a "zombie"? 

[mr. mark]

Where is this idea coming from that this is a zombie spacecraft? It has full propulsion and navigation can reenter and have a parachute landing. This is a real cargo spacecraft. The only difference is the fact that it will only do several orbits for lack of a service module containing the solar panels. Seems there's a movement to try to find every little variation to try to discredit Spacex and the Dragon cargo capsule. 

[docmordrid]

You noticed that too 'eh?

[JasonAW3]

I just wish that they'd work on getting the rig Man Rated.

     I know that the whole COTS is part of the process, but dang!  I wanna ride that bird!

Jason

[Antares]

I'm not trying to discredit anything.  I'm trying to temper schedule expectations.  (Shrugs.)

[Lars_J]

I just wish that they'd work on getting the rig Man Rated.

They will, and this (and every Dragon cargo flight) is part of that process. I actually find it encouraging that they will be able to work out major bugs as a cargo craft before they put people on it.

(Not that it is the only way of doing things, of course - nor necessarily the fastest or best - but it fits their model)

[Jorge]

hmm, looks like Falcon IX 2 is on the pad:

Falcon 9, not "IX", according to the manufacturer itself.
 http://www.spacex.com/falcon9.php

Roman numerals have been out of style since the 14th Century.

Or at least, 1972.

http://www.solcomhouse.com/images/ap17patch_bg.gif

[beancounter]

I just wish that they'd work on getting the rig Man Rated.

They will, and this (and every Dragon cargo flight) is part of that process. I actually find it encouraging that they will be able to work out major bugs as a cargo craft before they put people on it.

(Not that it is the only way of doing things, of course - nor necessarily the fastest or best - but it fits their model)

Wellll to an extent, the model's been foisted on them by the fact that NASA didn't fund COTS-D. 
SpaceX I'm sure is still working on DragonCrew but without additional funding and no likely contracts at this stage, there's no commercial incentive for them to do it. 
Cargo is different for them and it's their major focus since they have to meet milestones and validate their systems before they can start delivery under their ISS supply contract.
In addition, once they do that, they're validating a large part of their crew Dragon - just have to add several bits with the LES being the most expensive and complicated.
 
 

[ugordan]

So I would consider Dragon a "real payload".

Is it still a real payload if it's a zombie?  A real payload is not just metal and carbon.

Huh? Do you consider COTS demo 1 a "zombie"? 

Zombie in the sense it potentially has no "brain" yet. The hardware is there, all right, but as was pointed out time and time again, without software that hardware is useless.

As such any testing related to the launch vehicle itself - which is ahead in the learning curve over Dragon - is meaningless as a tool to predict a launch date.

[MP99]

Don't forget that various HR requirements have to be met to allow ISS's crew to enter Dragon to retrieve the cargo.

cheers, Martin

[ugordan]

Which is no issue because this particular Dragon is going nowhere near the ISS.

[kevin-rf]

Roman numerals have been out of style since the 14th Century.  Nothing good can come from a number system that lacks a zero.     

- Ed Kyle

Your right,  the zero-less calendar system we all use is completely hopeless That must why SpaceX schedules are always so far off

btw. at the risk of being completely off topic,  Dick Teresi in "Lost Discoveries: The Multicultural Roots of Modern Science from the Babylonians to the Maya" dedicates a whole chapter (or was it two) to zero and how much we in the west did without it. Hint: Newton did not have use of a zero

[Ronsmytheiii]

Looks like the tanking test has started:

[Comga]

No more video of the second Falcon 9 for now.
They have switched over to some other rocket that may actually have a Roman numeral in its name.