SpaceX COTS Demo 2/3 Updates (THREAD 2)

[woods170]

But from March 16 to March 31 there is only one US Astronaut on the ISS.
That means no chance for berthing Dragon.

True - good point.

Question:
Why would there have to more than one US astronaut on ISS for berthing Dragon?

Freeflyer capture is a two-person job and only US crewmembers are trained on Dragon.

Then I wonder why ESA astronaut(s) have been trained in performing (emergency) berthing and unberthing for both Dragon and Cygnus.

Image below: ESA astronaut Andre Kuipers and US astronaut Don Petit training for grappling free-flyer spacecraft in JSC's dome simulator.
This is an image from june 2011. Andre trained in grappling Cygnus, Dragon and HTV along with astronauts Don Petit and Dan Burbank. Additional training sessions for grappling free-flyers were held in september 2011.

[Space Pete]

Space Pete, I know you have been keeping up with software developments. I believe the beginning of February was the time that they thought software updates would be complete. If you could, Please keep us posted when all software updates have been completed.

In that case, I'll post the below here. The X2_R11 transition is the one that's required to enable ISS to support Dragon. I'll put all future ISS software-related news in this thread so that people can stay informed.

From ISS On-Orbit Status Report for 17/01/2012.

X2R11 Upgrade:
Yesterday, the upgrade of all seven PCSs (Portable Computer System) laptops to Version R14 and their reconnection went without issues. All PCSs were then updated by the ground with the latest patches. This completed the X2R11 Day 2 tasks. Today, ground controllers are loading INTSYS R7 to the INT MDMs and the Standby C&C MDM (C&C-2) with CCS R11 and MSS 7.1, completing Phase 1 of the X2R11 transition. Phase 2 of the X2R11 transition is planned to begin on 01/29/12, after Progress M-14M/46P docking.

[MP99]

Space Pete, I know you have been keeping up with software developments. I believe the beginning of February was the time that they thought software updates would be complete. If you could, Please keep us posted when all software updates have been completed.

In that case, I'll post the below here. The X2_R11 transition is the one that's required to enable ISS to support Dragon. I'll put all future ISS software-related news in this thread so that people can stay informed.

That's fine for COTS 2/3-related stuff.

Anything else sounds like it belongs in an "ISS Updates" thread, though I couldn't find one after a quick rumage.

cheers, Martin

[Space Pete]

That's fine for COTS 2/3-related stuff.

Anything else sounds like it belongs in an "ISS Updates" thread, though I couldn't find one after a quick rumage.

Yup, you want the Expedition 30 thread:

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=25462

[Space Pete]

Interesting line in this USAF press release for the successful WGS-4 launch:

The wing will also support SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch for NASA in March.

(Emphasis mine.)

http://www.afspc.af.mil/news1/story.asp?id=123286829

[ugordan]

Nice catch there, Pete.

[Robotbeat]

Interesting line in this USAF press release for the successful WGS-4 launch:

The wing will also support SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch for NASA in March.

(Emphasis mine.)

http://www.afspc.af.mil/news1/story.asp?id=123286829

Sounds like we have two sources, then. This one is a higher quality source than the other one. March it is. Or April.

[Jim]

I wouldn't put any credence in USAF PAO dates.  They only work from official dates and not working dates.

[ugordan]

They only work from official dates and not working dates.

So you're saying March is "official"?

Still beats not having any date whatsoever.

[Jim]

They only work from official dates and not working dates.

So you're saying March is "official"?

Still beats not having any date whatsoever.

No, not really.  It is like a place holder. 

[Space Pete]

From AP:

Delay for space station's 1st private hookup
http://news.yahoo.com/delay-space-stations-1st-private-hookup-165353073.html

On Friday, officials confirmed the launch would not occur until late March.

[Jorge]

But from March 16 to March 31 there is only one US Astronaut on the ISS.
That means no chance for berthing Dragon.

True - good point.

Question:
Why would there have to more than one US astronaut on ISS for berthing Dragon?

Freeflyer capture is a two-person job and only US crewmembers are trained on Dragon.

Then I wonder why ESA astronaut(s) have been trained in performing (emergency) berthing and unberthing for both Dragon and Cygnus.

Sorry, I should have written USOS instead of US.

Image below: ESA astronaut Andre Kuipers and US astronaut Don Petit training for grappling free-flyer spacecraft in JSC's dome simulator.
This is an image from june 2011. Andre trained in grappling Cygnus, Dragon and HTV along with astronauts Don Petit and Dan Burbank. Additional training sessions for grappling free-flyers were held in september 2011.

[Robotbeat]

So, it looks like there will be two USOS astronauts (Kuipers and Pettit) on board through June which have (some, we've established) training berthing Dragon, then.

[Space Pete]

Per Florida Today, "SpaceX has a March 20 launch date tentatively reserved with the Eastern Range".

http://space.flatoday.net/2012/01/spacex-launch-no-earlier-than-late.html

[apace]

Per Florida Today, "SpaceX has a March 20 launch date tentatively reserved with the Eastern Range".

http://space.flatoday.net/2012/01/spacex-launch-no-earlier-than-late.html

As long as dragon is not berthed to the ISS on April 1st, everything is fine ;-) finally.

[rdale]

Bill Harwood has a nice recap - http://www.cbsnews.com/network/news/space/home/spacenews/files/c51cc9aea9478427b4c6e472e596b685-377.html#unique-entry-id-377

[Comga]

As another point of acknowledgement, our friend-in-the-know anik moved the COTS-2/3 flight to "TBD" last Monday.   

The ISS schedule looks full, but its one to three arrivals or departures per month.  (3 in March, 2 in April, 1 in May, 1 in June, 3 in July)  It shouldn't be hard to find or create a well phased launch opportunity when they are ready.

[MP99]

Bill Harwood has a nice recap - http://www.cbsnews.com/network/news/space/home/spacenews/files/c51cc9aea9478427b4c6e472e596b685-377.html#unique-entry-id-377

"And they recognized they really hadn't tested the software to the same extent that they did for that previous flight and their engineers reported that to (SpaceX management) and they decided well, you know, they're going to take the time that's needed to make sure they're comfortable that flight software's ready to go."

Compare that with the reported development of Phobos-Grunt. You might almost wonder whether that fed a little into making the "SpaceX management" reconsider.

cheers, Martin

[nblackwell]

No, not a factor.

Bill Harwood has a nice recap - http://www.cbsnews.com/network/news/space/home/spacenews/files/c51cc9aea9478427b4c6e472e596b685-377.html#unique-entry-id-377

"And they recognized they really hadn't tested the software to the same extent that they did for that previous flight and their engineers reported that to (SpaceX management) and they decided well, you know, they're going to take the time that's needed to make sure they're comfortable that flight software's ready to go."

Compare that with the reported development of Phobos-Grunt. You might almost wonder whether that fed a little into making the "SpaceX management" reconsider.

cheers, Martin

[happyflower]

I do feel better after reading posts here that there is nothing here that will crash the program.

I assume that software integration, now that everything is together is part of the game and shouldn’t take long.

The electromagnetic interference also should be located and shielded (if that’s the case).

The procedural stuff is just part of first launch. NASA will teach em good.

But put these things together and suddenly I don’t think its going to fly until April when there is 6 astronauts comfortably on the ISS and there is some breathing room in ISS schedule.

Am I being too pessimistic?