Gwynne Shotwell on The Space Show 3/21

[WindyCity]

Friday, March 21, 2014, 9:30-11 AM PDT (12:30-2 PM EDT; 11:30 AM-1 PM CDT): We welcome back GWYNNE SHOTWELL, president and chief operating officer of SpaceX. Ms. Shotwell is with us for only the first hour. Please, one question/comment per listener & emails & phone calls must be short.

http://thespaceshow.com

[Blackjax]

I'd like to throw it out to everyone on this forum, if you could ask her one (fairly concise) question, what would it be? 

It may be that some of the questions people propose will get asked by people with the freedom to call in during the show.

[cuddihy]

There's no chance I would catch this live. My question would be: Are you working on a smaller methane Lox engine than the Raptor concept? It seems rather oversized for an upperstage.

[happyflower]

I would like to know if based on the new developments between US and Russia, is SpaceX going to speed up the process of flying a person in the Dragon to free US from dependency on Russian technology?

[Excession]

I would ask if SpaceX is considering propellant depots for future use...

[simonbp]

I would like to know if based on the new developments between US and Russia, is SpaceX going to speed up the process of flying a person in the Dragon to free US from dependency on Russian technology?

I think the answer is that they are already going as fast as they can, Congress is the issue...

[manboy]

I'd like to throw it out to everyone on this forum, if you could ask her one (fairly concise) question, what would it be? 

It may be that some of the questions people propose will get asked by people with the freedom to call in during the show.

When launched on a Falcon 9, is Dragon's max payload to the ISS 3,000 or 6,000 kg? (Note: To anyone asking the question, it doesn't matter that the first number is probably wrong. What matters is figuring out how much mass Dragon can deliver to ISS. If you bring up the rumors about under performance then Shotwell may become defensive and give a half-true or misleading answer to save face.)

When is the cargo version of Dragon planned to be upgraded for terra firma landings?

Musk stated that Dragon's solar arrays are planned to be replaced with batteries, where on the spacecraft will they be kept (in the trunk, inside the capsule, etc)?

[Lars_J]

When launched on a Falcon 9, is Dragon's max payload to the ISS 3,000 or 6,000 kg? (Note: To anyone asking the question, it doesn't matter that the first number is probably wrong. What matters is figuring out how much mass Dragon can deliver to ISS. If you bring up the rumors about under performance then Shotwell may become defensive and give a half-true or misleading answer to save face.)

Ooh, let's plan a sneaky gotcha question in public, where no one can possibly find out.  Are you trying to find out information or prove that you are right? What is this, middle schools debate preparation? 

I'd settle for more information about FH schedule, and if the first flight will use cross-feed or not. And Raptor/MCT nuggets of course.

[DJPledger]

There's no chance I would catch this live. My question would be: Are you working on a smaller methane Lox engine than the Raptor concept? It seems rather oversized for an upperstage.

Also are SpaceX planning a larger version of the Raptor in the ~2-3Mlbf at SL range for a follow on larger BFR for the 100 person MCT after the initial "Raptor 9" BFR? Will the current Raptor get a thrust increase over the initial version several years down the road? These will be my questions to her.

[manboy]

When launched on a Falcon 9, is Dragon's max payload to the ISS 3,000 or 6,000 kg? (Note: To anyone asking the question, it doesn't matter that the first number is probably wrong. What matters is figuring out how much mass Dragon can deliver to ISS. If you bring up the rumors about under performance then Shotwell may become defensive and give a half-true or misleading answer to save face.)

Ooh, let's plan a sneaky gotcha question in public, where no one can possibly find out.  Are you trying to find out information or prove that you are right? What is this, middle schools debate preparation? 

I'm just trying to get the answer to a question that a lot of people want to know. I don't consider it to be a "gotcha question", but to get an accurate answer it's important for her not to think it is. I have no idea what Dragon's actual max payload is, we've seen several conflicting numbers and it would be nice to get some clarification.

[R7]

Current # of employees.

[Halidon]

Asking about things too far off in the future is unlikely to get much more than a vague response if for not other reason than the further out stuff is less likely to be set in stone. Not meaning to shoot anyone down, just cautioning against anyone who's expecting to learn what size the windows will be on an MCT from this interview.

Things I'd like to see asked:
How soon will we see a "real" Crew Dragon in the flesh
How is the Raptor project is coming along
What sort of non-government interest are they seeing in FH
What's the BFR business case

[go4mars]

Relationship (if any) with Hawthorne's Firefly Space systems?
NOFBX opinion/plans?

[Sur Billium]

I would like to ask her about the status of the crewed dragon and what modifications would necessary to allow the crewed dragon to fly a lunar orbital mission as opposed to just delivering crew to ISS. I would then like to follow up with the statement that based on pricing of the FH and crewed dragon, it seems like spacex could run a lunar orbit mission for several crew for less than $500 million, well within the budget of smaller nations like Canada, Brazil or Mexico, especially if they split the cost. Has spacex considered approaching another government space agency other than nasa about crewed missions?

[butters]

When will construction start on LC39A and when is the maiden launch expected from that pad?

[JimP]

I also would like an estimate of when the next gen Dragon will be revealed.  I believe Elon had previously teased us with either a September or 4th quarter 2013 reveal forecast.

[Sur Billium]

Oh, and I would like to ask her what spacex is doing with all the used cargo dragons after recovery.

[MP99]

I would like to know if based on the new developments between US and Russia, is SpaceX going to speed up the process of flying a person in the Dragon to free US from dependency on Russian technology?

I think the answer is that they are already going as fast as they can, Congress is the issue...

This seems to imply they could go faster if Congress assigned more funds??

cheers, Martin

[Adaptation]

I already emailed my question to drspace and it's a secret for now but if I had a second would it would be.

Will the falcon reusable (grasshopper 2) be used for max-q launch abort tests?

[manboy]

I already emailed my question to drspace and it's a secret for now but if I had a second would it would be.

Will the falcon reusable (grasshopper 2) be used for max-q launch abort tests?

It's not.