LIVE: SpaceX Dragon COTS Demo (C2+) FD2 and FD3 UPDATES

[Rex Chan]

Elon Musk ‏@elonmusk
Dragon fly by of Space Station planned for 12:47 am California time. All systems green. #dragonlaunch

So he's referring to the CE2-flyby burn scheduled for the beginning of FD3?

Where are we getting schedule info from? The press kit has no times, so I'm going off NASA TV schedule.

Anyhoo, it's bedtime for me now, so I'll see you all 10AM EDT for the Mission Briefing oops, I mean 2:30AM EDT for the flyby.

ISS sounds like they're done.. Debrief time!

Edit: I know I said I was gone, but just one more (redundant) screen cap showing NASA TV times in CT time.

ANd ISS is now doing exercises talking to Houston where we can't hear them...

[corrodedNut]

Elon Musk ‏@elonmusk
Dragon fly by of Space Station planned for 12:47 am California time. All systems green. #dragonlaunch

So he's referring to the CE2-flyby burn scheduled for the beginning of FD3?

Where are we getting schedule info from? The press kit has no times, so I'm going off NASA TV schedule.

Anyhoo, it's bedtime for me now, so I'll see you all 10AM EDT for the Mission Briefing oops, I mean 2:30AM EDT for the flyby.

ISS sounds like they're done.. Debrief time!

Ok, AIUI, CE2-flyby burn will start at 3:47 am ET, Dragon will fly by directly below the station (crossing the Rbar) at about 6:30 AM ET, at a range of 2.5 km. Should be our first look at Dragon from the ISS!

[Chris Bergin]

Where are we getting schedule info from? The press kit has no times, so I'm going off NASA TV schedule.

Bill Harwood's summary timeline, always helpful:
http://www.cbsnews.com/network/news/space/home/spacenews/files/spacex_cots2_timeline.html

Sounds like the robotic sims are done. Thanks again Rex, check your PMs for my thanks for the excellent coverage.

[Jason1701]

Do we have pictures of other VVs at a range of 2.5 km, so we can know what level of detail to expect in pictures of Dragon?

[Chris Bergin]

Do we have pictures of other VVs at a range of 2.5 km, so we can know what level of detail to expect in pictures of Dragon?

I'm sure we will. HTV comes to mind due to the similar arrival profile. Let me check one of HTV live threads for captures.

[corrodedNut]

NTV just confirmed: all scheduled objectives complete. Including abort demos and free-drift.

All Dragon systems nominal. Scheduled for capture at 8:06 AM ET Friday 25th.

[kkattula]

NTV just confirmed: all scheduled objectives complete. Including abort demos and free-drift.

All Dragon systems nominal. Scheduled for capture at 8:06 AM ET Friday 25th.

That's very encouraging!  Unless something on Dragon degrades in the next couple of days, or ISS-Dragon comms fails, we ought to at least see a capture attempt.

[robertross]

Anyhoo, it's bedtime for me now, so I'll see you all 10AM EDT for the Mission Briefing oops, I mean 2:30AM EDT for the flyby.

Adding my thanks as well to your great coverage!

[TrueBlueWitt]

Much better tracking site here: http://www.lizard-tail.com/isana/tracking/. It shows long/lat/speed and distance of both ISS and Dragon.

Site is down.. says it's currently OVERLOADED.. 

GoogleSatTrack is temporary unavailable due to heavy traffic.
Please try again later

Shows how one line on NSF Forum can generate a lot of traffic!

[vanad]

I think that today they are just testing/tuning Dragon's manoeuvrability/response since there weren't many opportunities for that before  - besides simulations. So, not much particularly effective for outside viewers is happening, but gathered data can become crucial during 'official' C3 test.

They recently increased Dragons' altitude by like 20 km during one orbit pass - so far so good.

[Pheogh]

Much better tracking site here: http://www.lizard-tail.com/isana/tracking/. It shows long/lat/speed and distance of both ISS and Dragon.

Site is down.. says it's currently OVERLOADED.. 

GoogleSatTrack is temporary unavailable due to heavy traffic.
Please try again later

Shows how one line on NSF Forum can generate a lot of traffic!

This is my new personal favorite tracker, not sure if you all were aware of it.

http://mada.la.coocan.jp/sat/index.htm

[Prober]

Im confused on the timeline now.

Have all the COTS 2 milestones now been met?

Silence out of SpaceX and NASA don't help this.    It should have been a presser if COTS 2 is done and we are on to the + in the mission.

[dcporter]

Prober - C2 is ongoing, we're not to C2+ yet.  C2 was always intended to approach the station.

[aameise9]

Looking at www.n2yo.com I saw Dragon ahead of ISS some 20 min ago, not it is trailing once again.

Am I imagining things?

Thanks, aameise

[Jeff Lerner]

Since SpaceX is a private company, I guess they have no obligation to share any information with the general public but having said that I know I'd liek to get a lot more status information on this mission.

I'm assuming no news, is good news but then again, since all we're getting is the occasional Tweet, who knows ??

Personally, I'd like to hear a regular status on on how well Dragon is performing..things like, Solar array performance to-date, cabin pressure and temperatures, Dracos' performance (have any failed ??....star tracker performance (within spec ??), any unexpected communication drop outs  ??..etc etc...

The dirth of status info is frustrating when you compare things to a NASA mission...my $0.02..

[doug12185]

Found a short article on floridatoday website http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20120523/SPACE/120523012/SpaceX-s-Dragon-capsule-track-space-station-encounter?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Space%20Newsr confirming success of Dragon completing the requirements necessary to begin proximity operations. In the embedded video, it has NASA OSO describing the capture and birthing process and preparation for opening hatch.

[Robotbeat]

Since SpaceX is a private company, I guess they have no obligation to share any information with the general public but having said that I know I'd liek to get a lot more status information on this mission.

I'm assuming no news, is good news but then again, since all we're getting is the occasional Tweet, who knows ??

Personally, I'd like to hear a regular status on on how well Dragon is performing..things like, Solar array performance to-date, cabin pressure and temperatures, Dracos' performance (have any failed ??....star tracker performance (within spec ??), any unexpected communication drop outs  ??..etc etc...

The dirth of status info is frustrating when you compare things to a NASA mission...my $0.02..

Of course, NASA doesn't have a gaggle of politicians and pundits looking to pounce on any perceived failure (for the most part).

[ChrisC]

Found a short article on floridatoday website confirming success of Dragon completing the requirements necessary to begin proximity operations. In the embedded video, it has NASA OSO describing the capture and birthing process and preparation for opening hatch.

I can't see the embedded video due to FT's retarded business model, but there was an OSO interview segment yesterday, available from John44 here, which I'm guessing is the same video.

This is my new personal favorite tracker, not sure if you all were aware of it.  http://mada.la.coocan.jp/sat/index.htm

Wasn't aware of it.  That is insane!  It also shows Dragon leading ISS, with an increasing distance between them, so I'm guessing that Dragon is going to do one more phasing lap of ISS before approach.  It took me a while to figure out how to display data for two objects.

[mr. mark]

That can't be right can it? Didn't realize it would do an additional lap. I'm actually loving this site. You get a real sense of satellite tracking kind of like an air traffic controller. 

[ugordan]

I can't see the embedded video due to FT's retarded business model, but there was an OSO interview segment yesterday, available from John44 here, which I'm guessing is the same video.

Also available on youtube: