Author Topic: Which commercial crew vehicle would you choose to be transported on? (Read 36760 times)

BackInAction · « **on:** 08/22/2013 09:57 pm »

Hypothetical: CST-100, Dragon, and Dreamchaser are all completed and ready to transport humans to ISS. Each has had 3 successful test flights demonstrating everything it needs for a crew. Now is the time for the first crew and that includes you. You are given the choice of which you would like to be transported on to ISS. Cost is a non-issue (just for this exercise).

Which craft would you select and why?

JBF · « **Reply #1 on:** 08/22/2013 10:05 pm »

I'd pick the dragon just because the reentry should be a little rougher. For a more exciting ride

neilh · « **Reply #2 on:** 08/22/2013 10:26 pm »

Which launcher?

DDG40 · « **Reply #3 on:** 08/22/2013 10:31 pm »

Dream Chaser.

Zed_Noir · « **Reply #4 on:** 08/22/2013 10:40 pm »

Quote from: DDG40 on 08/22/2013 10:31 pm

Dream Chaser.

It would be my last pick. Those hybrid rocket motors have to be replaced by some sort of liquid engines.

BackInAction · « **Reply #5 on:** 08/22/2013 11:20 pm »

Quote from: neilh on 08/22/2013 10:26 pm

Which launcher?

Lets say for this exercise:

Dragon = falcon 9 v1.1
CST-100 and Dreamchaser = Atlas variant

QuantumG · « **Reply #6 on:** 08/22/2013 11:30 pm »

Dragon: I guess I'm on the flight because I found out Elon Musk's dark secret and this is how he's keeping me quiet.

CST-100: I guess I'm on the flight because I did such a great job with the latest five alarm Boeing customer issue and this is a thank-you prize.

Dreamchaser: I guess I'm on the flight because Sierra Nevada went to Red Bull or Unilever to get the gap money they needed to actually finish the vehicle and I won the beer drinking contest.

As I'm not the beer drinker I used to be and the other one is unlikely due to the ITAR, I guess it'd have to be Dragon.

pargoo · « **Reply #7 on:** 08/22/2013 11:36 pm »

What an odd question. Beggars can't be choosers. I'd try riding up on the outside wearing scuba gear and held on with velcro if they'd let me give it a try. Vehicle/rocket wouldn't matter!

Roy_H · « **Reply #8 on:** 08/22/2013 11:38 pm »

I would be confident with any one of them. They are all built by reputable companies who are doing their best to make super reliable transportation. I like the fact that they all are designed to land on land, if one was a sea landing then that would be a point against.

I like the idea of landing in a controlled manner at a specific landing spot, so this gives Dream Chaser and Dragon an edge over CST100 which lands somewhere in the desert (and I imagine with a fairly substantial bump).

SpacexULA · « **Reply #9 on:** 08/22/2013 11:39 pm »

Soyuz via Space Adventures (Which you left off the list).

It's likely going to be quite more commercially available as the American commercial crew comes online, and you get to ride into orbit in the most proven space transport system in the world.

Not to mention the historic footsteps you would be follow in the steps of. With the Soyuz you get months of training, and you are PART of the crew. I seriously doubt CST-100/Dragon/Dreamchaser are going to have you trains for months to be a backup, and if I am spending millions of dollars I want to get my hands dirty.

If they had a gondola that went to the top of Mt Everest, there would still be folks climbing the side, count me in as one that wants the Soyuz experience, only because I can't have the Apollo Experience.

Lurker Steve · « **Reply #10 on:** 08/22/2013 11:41 pm »

Quote from: QuantumG on 08/22/2013 11:30 pm

Dragon: I guess I'm on the flight because I found out Elon Musk's dark secret and this is how he's keeping me quiet.

CST-100: I guess I'm on the flight because I did such a great job with the latest five alarm Boeing customer issue and this is a thank-you prize.

Dreamchaser: I guess I'm on the flight because Sierra Nevada went to Red Bull or Unilever to get the gap money they needed to actually finish the vehicle and I won the beer drinking contest.

As I'm not the beer drinker I used to be and the other one is unlikely due to the ITAR, I guess it'd have to be Dragon.

You know his dark secrets and still trust him to launch you safely into space ?

QuantumG · « **Reply #11 on:** 08/22/2013 11:43 pm »

Quote from: Lurker Steve on 08/22/2013 11:41 pm

You know his dark secrets and still trust him to launch you safely into space ?

A dark secret doesn't necessarily imply he's a murderer, and even if it did, it's not like his employees are just henchmen who follow orders to sabotage launches.

Roy_H · « **Reply #12 on:** 08/22/2013 11:45 pm »

Quote from: Zed_Noir on 08/22/2013 10:40 pm

Quote from: DDG40 on 08/22/2013 10:31 pm
Dream Chaser.

It would be my last pick. Those hybrid rocket motors have to be replaced by some sort of liquid engines.

Why? What's wrong with hybrid motors? Scaled chose them because of minimal environmental impact, sounds like a good thing to me.

Rocket Science · « **Reply #13 on:** 08/23/2013 12:16 am »

Dream Chaser, says this pilot, nuff said....

Galactic Penguin SST · « **Reply #14 on:** 08/23/2013 12:25 am »

Shenzhou. (I knew that the Chinese are clever entrepreneurs)

Whoops, gotta go........

(seriously, anyone of them that can get to the manned test flight stage will be fine to me)

Occupymars · « **Reply #15 on:** 08/23/2013 12:27 am »

Honestly i'd go on any one that would take me! But if your asking which one I think is the safest then that would have to come down to falcon 9's reliability when/if dragon rider is operational. Also let's say theoretically by this time the Cxp spacecraft's had three successful flight's each. Then wouldn't dragon have a more proven flight history because the cargo version would have flow many times by then?. If your asking which I think is the coolest and most fun to be transported on then i would tell you that a propulsive landing is hard to look past.

Robotbeat · « **Reply #16 on:** 08/23/2013 01:05 am »

Quote from: Roy_H on 08/22/2013 11:45 pm

Quote from: Zed_Noir on 08/22/2013 10:40 pm
Quote from: DDG40 on 08/22/2013 10:31 pm
Dream Chaser.

It would be my last pick. Those hybrid rocket motors have to be replaced by some sort of liquid engines.

Why? What's wrong with hybrid motors? Scaled chose them because of minimal environmental impact, sounds like a good thing to me.

...and Virgin (and presumably Scaled) is moving away from them for their later vehicles.

mikegro · « **Reply #17 on:** 08/23/2013 03:08 am »

Dreamchaser! Mainly for emotional reasons as a worthy and honorable successor to Shuttle; although there are plenty of practical ones for it and even some against I suppose. It really "looks like a spaceship" and feels more like an evolution of space flight hardware to me (not to discount SpaceX or Boeing's work).

I espescially enjoy the part of the DC ConOps video/animation during 1st stage separation and the dual engine centaur ignites... Then later 2nd stage sep and the hybrids firing. Would love to experience that!

vt_hokie · « **Reply #18 on:** 08/23/2013 03:12 am »

DC for me as well. With DC being more of a long-shot than the other two contenders, I hope if a NASA down-select to a single provider is inevitable that Sierra Nevada finds some alternate means of keeping the DC program alive.

yg1968 · « **Reply #19 on:** 08/23/2013 03:47 am »

Dream Chaser. But I hope that DC will get purchased by a billionnaire. Somebody like Paul Allen.