SpaceX Falcon 9/Dragon CRS-2 SpX-2 MISSION GENERAL DISCUSSION

[woods170]

Relax folks. Take it easy.

[LouScheffer]

Brilliant idea to have a camera look *into* the flame trench exit. 

Actually, this was pretty cool.  My son always asks questions like "what would you see if you were standing in the flame trench when a rocket goes off?"  So now we know!

[ChefPat]

Brilliant idea to have a camera look *into* the flame trench exit. 

Airbrush the towers & poles out & look for it in a SciFi movie 3 or 4 years from now.

[CuddlyRocket]

No flag...  why???

SpaceX have almost certainly considered the idea of putting a flag and corporate logos on Dragon, but in all likelihood engineering concerns made it better not to do so.

Overt patriotism is fine for NASA, but less useful for a commercial company seeking to sell its services around the world. And if you do decide not to put on a flag for those reasons, having an 'engineering concern' preventing you would be fortuitous!

[mduncan36]

No flag...  why???

SpaceX have almost certainly considered the idea of putting a flag and corporate logos on Dragon, but in all likelihood engineering concerns made it better not to do so.

Overt patriotism is fine for NASA, but less useful for a commercial company seeking to sell its services around the world. And if you do decide not to put on a flag for those reasons, having an 'engineering concern' preventing you would be fortuitous!

I always looked at it from a simple identification issue. Without an insignia identifying where it originated it might be a UFO.

Spacex doesn't appear to have an issue with proclaiming itself an "American" company or hanging the US flag from the rafters in the plant. I can't imagine they would have a problem putting an emblem on the Dragon if it was wanted.

[bob the martian]

No flag...  why???

Because it isn't necessary.

SpaceX is a commercial entity, not a government one.  After all, how many American-based airline liveries prominently feature an American flag? 

[Robotbeat]

This is such a non-issue.

[dcporter]

This is such a non-issue.

I'm sympathetic to the interest though. It's not as though taxi companies chissel that Ford logo off the cars they buy. (flawless analogy! ) I would love to see some commercial logos on the VV, just for the extra ounce of feeling that we're moving towards our promised dystopian space future, and I'm vaguely curious why they're not there.

[Lars_J]

Brilliant idea to have a camera look *into* the flame trench exit. 

Actually, this was pretty cool.  My son always asks questions like "what would you see if you were standing in the flame trench when a rocket goes off?"  So now we know!

Agreed! That was a very cool POV.

[mduncan36]

No flag...  why???

Because it isn't necessary.

SpaceX is a commercial entity, not a government one.  After all, how many American-based airline liveries prominently feature an American flag? 

Actually nearly all do right next to the reg number on the tail or fuselage.

[meekGee]

Brilliant idea to have a camera look *into* the flame trench exit. 

Actually, this was pretty cool.  My son always asks questions like "what would you see if you were standing in the flame trench when a rocket goes off?"  So now we know!

Agreed! That was a very cool POV.

Next thing you know some dude with a surfboard (or a kite board!) will sneak in to "catch a wave into space".

[iamlucky13]

This is like the third time already I have to say this. From personal knowledge of people I know who interned at SpaceX: SpaceX DO NOT use high efficiency space solar cells. They use conventional silicon (read not high efficiency) cells. These are not much different than the ones you buy for your roof top.

Unfortunately, interesting pieces of information like this are easily lost in the volume of discussion that takes place here. Also unfortunate, that's not a solid enough source to publish such info on Wikipedia, for example, for easy future reference.

But thank you for the info. A few more of us know now.

[iamlucky13]

No flag...  why???

Because it isn't necessary.

SpaceX is a commercial entity, not a government one.  After all, how many American-based airline liveries prominently feature an American flag? 

Actually nearly all do right next to the reg number on the tail or fuselage.

Yep. It's easy to verify this with an internet image search. I just checked half a dozen different US airlines, and they all had it.

It's still kind of a pointless aspect to generate so much discussion over.

But since the question was asked, SpaceX DID adorn the launch vehicle (the part all the high resolution images exist of) with:

US Flag
SpaceX Logo
Falcon 9 Logo
Dragon Logo

http://spacexlaunch.zenfolio.com/p190296859/h56cabfc4#h56cabfc4

Plus another SpaceX logo on the nose cap. It's worth noting all of these are on sub-orbital components, so the thermal control theory is sound.

SpaceX does have thermal requirements they have to adhere to. You all will recall that one of the holdups getting COTS 3 approval for COTS 2 was a more detailed Dragon thermal analysis. I don't know if it was ever confirmed, but I had the impression that part of the reason was not just proving Dragon could keep the cargo within its temperature limits, but also being able to demonstrate how much heat Dragon reflect/radiated to the ISS. The simpler the color scheme of Dragon, the cheaper that analysis is.

[A_M_Swallow]

The mock up DragonRider has a US flag above the round window.  It may still be there on the real capsules.

A large US flag and NASA symbol could be printed on the cargo bags.


Picture from NASA and Wikipedia.

[mlindner]

The mock up DragonRider has a US flag above the round window.  It may still be there on the real capsules.

A large US flag and NASA symbol could be printed on the cargo bags.


Picture from NASA and Wikipedia.

Does Soyuz fly an American flag when it carries American astronauts? I don't think we'll see a NASA emblem on Dragon regardless. Possibly an American flag, but no NASA meatball.

[douglas100]

Does Soyuz fly an American flag when it carries American astronauts?

Yes. On the fairing.

[woods170]

Does Soyuz fly an American flag when it carries American astronauts?

Yes. On the fairing.

Which means the flag is NOT on the Soyuz spacecraft, it's on the launcher. Fairing is part of the launcher.

[Ben the Space Brit]

The mock up DragonRider has a US flag above the round window.  It may still be there on the real capsules.

A large US flag and NASA symbol could be printed on the cargo bags.

It occurs to me that, if the Dragonrider is on a NASA-funded mission, then a US flag and NASA emblem would be added as routine (ULA launchers frequently have the USAF or NASA emblems on their PLFs depending on who is the originating agency of the spacecraft).  However, I wouldn't be surprised if, as a service to their customers, Dragonriders routinely have the national flag and emblem of the primary funder of the mission, irrespective of what that is.

[Lars_J]

The mock up DragonRider has a US flag above the round window.  It may still be there on the real capsules.

A large US flag and NASA symbol could be printed on the cargo bags.

It occurs to me that, if the Dragonrider is on a NASA-funded mission, then a US flag and NASA emblem would be added as routine (ULA launchers frequently have the USAF or NASA emblems on their PLFs depending on who is the originating agency of the spacecraft).  However, I wouldn't be surprised if, as a service to their customers, Dragonriders routinely have the national flag and emblem of the primary funder of the mission, irrespective of what that is.

CRS missions are also funded by NASA. Did the last F9 carry NASA logos? Nope.

[douglas100]

Does Soyuz fly an American flag when it carries American astronauts?

Yes. On the fairing.

Which means the flag is NOT on the Soyuz spacecraft, it's on the launcher. Fairing is part of the launcher.

Correct, but there's a flag on the orbital module of the spacecraft-but it's Russian.

I don't entirely buy the thermal control argument. I don't see why a small logo somewhere on Dragon would affect its thermal environment much, as long as it wasn't on the radiator.

But I agree with Robotbeat: it's a non issue.