SpaceX Falcon 9/Dragon COTS Demo (C2+) GENERAL DISCUSSION

[dragon44]

Not posed by age.
More than four 40+.
Find the NASA rep 

[Lars_J]

Find the NASA rep 

The one with the tie? 

[dragon44]

Find the NASA rep 

The one with the tie? 

We have a winner. 

[Chris Bergin]

Where have I heard this "over 30 years old" thing before?..........oh yeah!



Goodness me, that show scared the crap out of me as a little kid!

[Rocket Science]

Where have I heard this "over 30 years old" thing before?..........oh yeah!



Goodness me, that show scared the crap out of me as a little kid!

Mine kept glowing until it finally burnt out, so I guess I’m ok now… 

[FinalFrontier]

So dragon coming home soon.


Thoughts on the mission anyone? 

[Arceus12345]

So dragon coming home soon.


Thoughts on the mission anyone? 

I hope this gives enough encouragement for NASA to pick SpaceX for transporting crews to the ISS. NASA can then buy a bigelow station, and use the CST 100 and Dragon to get to it.

[Rahkashi]

Why are they ending the mission so fast after undocking unberthing? I can understand that there's no need to keep it up, or that they just want it down, but?

[ChefPat]

Why are they ending the mission so fast after undocking unberthing? I can understand that there's no need to keep it up, or that they just want it down, but?

Scheduling?

[rickl]

So dragon coming home soon.


Thoughts on the mission anyone? 

To quote the female SpaceX anchor on the launch webcast:  "This is so cool."

[yg1968]

Sorry for the dumb question but is the circle in the middle of the hatch a window?

[docmordrid]

I always let the young ladies get in front.  Improves my visual field immensely

[catdlr]

Sorry for the dumb question but is the circle in the middle of the hatch a window?

Check out "Space Pete's" comments on FD4 thread.

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=28970.msg904998#msg904998

[rst]

Why are they ending the mission so fast after undocking unberthing? I can understand that there's no need to keep it up, or that they just want it down, but?

They're demonstrating "early access" cargo return, according to Couluris in the presser --- that is, being able to unpack some of the returned cargo quickly, if it won't keep for the usual trip to Texas.  (Think biological samples, for example.)  Those sorts of missions would presumably require a quick transit down to the surface, so that's likely part of the demonstration as well.

(Besides, it's not clear what purpose extra free flight orbits would serve, they might burn some of the remaining propellant maintaining attitude, and the SpaceX team would have to babysit them, which is extra wear on them as well.)

[yg1968]

Sorry for the dumb question but is the circle in the middle of the hatch a window?

Check out "Space Pete's" comments on FD4 thread.

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=28970.msg904998#msg904998

I am not sure that I understand your answer.  Pete is talking about the porthole on the ISS' Node2.

[hyper_snyper]

Anybody have an educated guess why Dragon is going to MCGregor instead of back to Hawthorne?  Offloading hydrazine maybe?

[Jason1701]

Anybody have an educated guess why Dragon is going to MCGregor instead of back to Hawthorne?  Offloading hydrazine maybe?

"Bingo"

[Lars_J]

Anybody have an educated guess why Dragon is going to MCGregor instead of back to Hawthorne?  Offloading hydrazine maybe?

"Bingo"

Hmm, it seems dangerous to transport the Dragon over long distances with hydrazine. I had assumed the tanks would be emptied as soon as they arrived in port.

[Go4TLI]

Anybody have an educated guess why Dragon is going to MCGregor instead of back to Hawthorne?  Offloading hydrazine maybe?

"Bingo"

Hmm, it seems dangerous to transport the Dragon over long distances with hydrazine. I had assumed the tanks would be emptied as soon as they arrived in port.

It's actually MMH/N2O4.  And if they were offloaded at the port, what does one do with the prop then?

Equipment would need to shipped, permits obtained and clears established.  Then the prop would still need to be transported to some approved handling area. 

So ship the entire vehicle to Texas, offload the prop with the equipment and crew there already trained to handle it.  It is early summer and outside temps will fairly consistent, even though hypers can handle it pretty easily, and likely the system designs yield a low chance for external leakage from thruster valves, etc.  In addition there may be some sort of purge set-up.

Once there, do initial inspections, remove equipment as necessary, etc. 

[Jim]

It's actually MMH/N2O4.  And if they were offloaded at the port, what does one do with the prop then?
 

One would offload them at the Sealaunch facility in Long Beach, just as C-1 did, where all the equipment was shipped, which has standing permits, with clear areas and facilities specifically for such operations, and has shipped and received such propellants many times