Reasons:- Prove that Dragon can return to the Earth from interplanetary space as they have claimed- Prove that Dragon can operate for two years as they have claimed- Get some cool video + hi res photos from Mars vicinity- Do something that has not been done before
A lunar flyby would be a lot easier and would be enough of a PR stunt without adding much risk.
Quote from: Patchouli on 09/04/2011 10:58 pmA lunar flyby would be a lot easier and would be enough of a PR stunt without adding much risk.I tend to agree with you on this,and would like to see them send version with all needed life support equipment on board to prove they could do it with humans. Seems like that would be excellent sales pitch for BEO
But would they have a spare Dragon for when the launch date rolls around?
Vandenberg will most likely not have a Dragon processing facility, at least for a while.
ULA hasn't had a 100% success rate. They've had several rockets explode and several that resulted in incorrect final orbits. However I do think that a failure at this point hurts SpaceX a lot more than it does ULA given their longer track record of near universal success.
Quote from: spacetraveler on 09/05/2011 03:58 amULA hasn't had a 100% success rate. They've had several rockets explode and several that resulted in incorrect final orbits. However I do think that a failure at this point hurts SpaceX a lot more than it does ULA given their longer track record of near universal success.I don't understand this. COTS is a milestone-based test program. That's the nature of the beast. If a flight goes wrong for some reason, then they determine the cause, fix it, and progress onto the next one. NASA won't allow CRS to get underway until they are sure SpaceX has a reliable system. Same goes for Orbital.
ULA hasn't had a 100% success rate. They've had several rockets explode and several that resulted in incorrect final orbits.
Come to think of it. We don't really need the Dragon capsule for a Mars or Luna flyby mission.All it require is a modified Dragon trunk. Put an optical array inside the trunk. Increase the internal battery capacity. Add same secondary sensors.Replace the Dragon with a hypergolic engine array and spherical propellant tanks inside a payload fairing.So the spacecraft stack would be upside down compare to most spacecrafts.Wonder if such a demonstrator be put together on a small budget and compact development team in time for the inaugural FH laubch.
I would go for a GTO like insertion of a mass simulator. If they feel very confident, they could do a dogleg or plane change with the second stage, just to show the capabilities to potential clients. If they are really serious, and want to do any kind of extra demonstration, I would put a dual satellite dispenser (but not tell anybody about it),and try to do a dual manifested payload simulation. With that they would have demonstrated almost everything needed for competing with Ariane 5 and Proton (save East Coast launch pad).