Helodriver you are fantastic.Here is my full transcript. If anyone sees any errors, feel free to fix them, or let me know.
[So, Elon said he would defer to NASA on who flies first?] Yeah, so the rule is that at least one of the crew on the test flights has to be a NASA astronaut. Now its up for interpretation whether the other crew members are NASA, they're SpaceX, or a combination thereof.[Do you think it's gonna be like a taxi model where SpaceX will ferry people up, or a...] When we're flying regularly, (I was talking about the test flights), ...When we're flying regularly it's a rental car. So it'll be all NASA astros. [So the test flights are gonna be SpaceX & NASA, or...] It could be a hybrid, or it could be all NASA, so it's one or the other.[But don't think they are gonna sell them directly to NASA and it'll be hands off from that point on. So Sp will always have some control or responsibility for the vehicles at all time?] Oh, we'll run mission control, and we'll be controlling from the ground, but we're not gonna have anyone inside other than the NASA astronauts.[So, compared to Shuttle, what do you think of the V2 here?] Oh, man, they're very, very different. [Oh, clearly, it's a totally different class of vehicle.] Yeah, totally different. The thing about V2 is, it has the potential to be a lot safer than shuttle. [You can abort at any time during flight, right?] Abort at any time, that's something the Shuttle couldn't do. You know, it's got very robust design for entry, it can sustain a number of failures and still be safe. The Shuttle was a wonderful, wonderful vehicle, but it was very... [fragile?] Fragile.It operated very close to the edge of it's operating envelope. [What are the standouts between this model and the previous one?] Dragon V2 and V1? Oh, the biggest difference is the SuperDraco engines so we can do a launch abort, but also like Elon said, a propulsive landing. And there's a lot of other, more subtle differences. ... The other biggest one is that this can dock to Space Station all by itself. It doesn't have to be grabbed by the Space Station#'s robot arm.[Will that be controlled by the astronauts inside and actually run the docking internally, or will it be done by the guys on the...] Well, nominally, it will be automatic, so if everything has gone well it's gonna do it all by itself. But there'll be the capability for the crew to take over if they need to.[Is there a simulator for this? Have you tried it? How does it compare to the Shuttle?] You know, it's kinda similar. We do have a simulator, and it is basically flying into the Space Station feels the same in Dragon as it did in the Shuttle.[Will they do the short duration rendezvous like the Russians do, like the six hour rendezvous?] Yeah, that's what we'd like to do, yeah. [You trained in the Soyuz, right?] I trained in the Soyuz, yeah. [How does it compare to the Soyuz inside?] Oh, man. There's so much more elbow room in there compared to the Soyuz. Plus, instead of just taking two of your buddies, you can take six, so there's a lot of advantages. Plus, it's got modern electronics, modern materials in the heatshield, I mean just technologically speaking, it's a giant leap beyond Soyuz.[Propulsive landings, do you know where they intend on landing initially, or is it gonna ... I know Elon said the first ones are gonna parachute in the water, like V1 did?] Our very first V2 is gonna come down on land. [Do you know where?] They have the capability as a backup to come down in the water, in an emergency, but yeah we have a couple places picked out where... I don't want to get ahead of Elon, let him tell you where.[What do you do here, what is your title here, what are you in charge of?] I'm the programme lead for this vehicle, for the crew Dragon, the crew vehicle, so I'm the programme lead for that and I'm also our capture manager, so I'm in charge of our proposal team that's working with NASA for the next phase of commercial crew.[inaudible, something about roles?] Yes, we have.[I'm curious, the next phase on CCtCap, you think there should be one, or should they retain competition?] Frankly, it's in NASA's interest for there to be more than one. [Absolutely.] You always want to have a plan B. [In the nation's best interests.] Yeah.Now, just gotta convince Congress to pay for it, that's all. [The House, especially.] Especially, yeah.
26:49If its in the crew configuration it can take 7 passengers, if you are really [illegible, something that sounds like crowd..surfing] and about a ton of pressurized cargo and 2-3 tons of unpressurized cargo.
The most stunning revelation from this interview for me was how far 3 D printing has advanced from its beginnings in 1984.We are talking about going from printing plastic toys to high strength space engines. At this point there is even talk of printing human organs. This technology at this rate will be the big changer in future of human space endeavors.
Great video and excellent questions. I truly enjoyed. Now that commercial space is advancing quickly maybe the mainstream press should invest a little into a reporter that could ask some intelligent questions. Elon seemed to gravitate toward you as he became aware that you were much more intelligent than the average journalist. As the press criticizes the education system for lacking in developing STEM skills they should take some time to look in the mirror to recognize that they are also very weak in this area.
Quote from: getitdoneinspace on 06/01/2014 11:40 pmGreat video and excellent questions. I truly enjoyed. Now that commercial space is advancing quickly maybe the mainstream press should invest a little into a reporter that could ask some intelligent questions. Elon seemed to gravitate toward you as he became aware that you were much more intelligent than the average journalist. As the press criticizes the education system for lacking in developing STEM skills they should take some time to look in the mirror to recognize that they are also very weak in this area. I remember the press conference of CRS 1 (I think), where SpacePete from NSF asked Mike Suffredini (I am paraphrasing here) "Where exactly on the P1 truss will the [external paylod] be stored before it will be used in a later spacewalk". Suffredini answered something like "You know, that's a really good question, I have to look that one up..." I laughed really hard at how specific this question was. All the other journalists were asking the "normal" (aka "boring") questions and then this über-intelligent, ISS-Hugger question You guys really know your stuff! NSF is just the coolest place of all
I think that was Chris G representing us, as I remember that too.
To which I started running around the room like a little girl who's been told she's getting a pony for her birthday.That was a good day!
I think we've got most of the key points, but keep them coming if your ears prick up at anything else - as article one from all of this will be tomorrow all being well. Was going to use the PICA-X v3 notes in the EFT-1 Orion Heat Shield article I've just put on, but I think it's best to keep separation, otherwise we're going to end up mentioning SpaceX in every bloody article! (Have to be honest, while I was writing the Orion story, I was kinda thinking...."sooner I get this on, sooner I can start building the first SpaceX article from the Q&A video". Hope that doesn't make me a bad person )
Quote from: Chris Bergin on 06/02/2014 01:18 amI think we've got most of the key points, but keep them coming if your ears prick up at anything else - as article one from all of this will be tomorrow all being well. Was going to use the PICA-X v3 notes in the EFT-1 Orion Heat Shield article I've just put on, but I think it's best to keep separation, otherwise we're going to end up mentioning SpaceX in every bloody article! (Have to be honest, while I was writing the Orion story, I was kinda thinking...."sooner I get this on, sooner I can start building the first SpaceX article from the Q&A video". Hope that doesn't make me a bad person )Honestly I was trying to remember the stats for the Dragon heat shield as I was reading the Orion shield article - the mental comparison is hard not to make. I mean, the long and the short of is that the (privately funded) craft expected to fly in 2 years has a Mars-return-rated heat shield, where as the (congress funded) craft expected to fly in 5(?) years does not, correct? Is there anything that Orion has over Dragon v2?
Is there anything that Orion has over Dragon v2?
Quote from: mikelepage on 06/02/2014 02:03 pmIs there anything that Orion has over Dragon v2?Average number of jobs per district.
Quote from: Lar on 06/02/2014 07:40 pmQuote from: mikelepage on 06/02/2014 02:03 pmIs there anything that Orion has over Dragon v2?Average number of jobs per district.Come on Lar be nice. Orion has better radiation shielding and should be able to stay up longer.
Completely agree Chris. I have said on numerous occasions that the membership on this site has so much more institutional knowledge and information then some of those who inform decision makers. Between Crowd Sourcing on the public side with the video to L2 - this place is a gold mine.
@ ~ 36:00 Musk gives a tidbit on the Mars/MCT rocket, about looking forward to using LCH4 /LOX to do tank pressurization instead of pesky helium (since there's no helium on Mars). He also says that MCT will be fully reusable.
Next launch, I think we're just double checking everything on the rocket and we expect to probably launch on June 10th or thereabouts. We had a helium leak. Helium is a pernicous little molecule, I've got to say. [Question about getting past helium.] Well yeah, so here I'll give you a little bit of a tidbit on the Mars vehicle which will be methane powered. Mars vehicle will be autogenously pressurized with methane and oxygen. So instead of helium pressurization - there's no helium on Mars. So, we'll gasify the liquid oxygen and liquid methane to pressurize their respective tanks. Looking forward to that. [Fully reusable?] Yes, absolutely. Fully reusable.
Quote from: mikelepage on 06/02/2014 02:03 pmIs there anything that Orion has over Dragon v2?Yes. More internal volume, a more capable ECLSS allowing for up to 3 weeks crew time vs "several days" for Dragon v2. It has a service module capable of imparting significant deta-v. A navigation and communication system built for BEO. Orion crews can EVA. Some of these will be easier and some significantly harder to build into Dragon v2.
Does anyone know what such a pressurization would look like? Could the heat for gasification come from the two Raptor preburners?
Quote from: enkarha on 06/02/2014 11:23 pmQuote from: mikelepage on 06/02/2014 02:03 pmIs there anything that Orion has over Dragon v2?Yes. More internal volume, a more capable ECLSS allowing for up to 3 weeks crew time vs "several days" for Dragon v2. It has a service module capable of imparting significant deta-v. A navigation and communication system built for BEO. Orion crews can EVA. Some of these will be easier and some significantly harder to build into Dragon v2.I think the question should be: Is there anything that CST-100 has over Dragon v2?One thing is, it has more buttons and switches: http://www.universetoday.com/111655/boeing-cst-100-space-taxi-maiden-test-flight-to-iss-expected-early-2017-one-on-one-interview-with-chris-ferguson-last-shuttle-commander/
