Dragon 2 on display at Newseum in DC on Wed June 11, 2014

[docmordrid]

And he's not just on Science, Space and Technology but also Foreign Affairs. Quite a crossover these days.

[Prober]

Musk: If we don't win NASA contract, we'll be OK

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101767056?__source=yahoo%7Cfinance%7Cheadline%7Cheadline%7Cstory&par=yahoo&doc=101767056%7CMusk:%20If%20we%20don%27t%20win%20NAS

"It's possible that we may not win the commercial crew contract... we'll do our best to continue on our own, with our own money," Must said. "We would not be where we are today without the help of NASA."

[Kabloona]

Musk: If we don't win NASA contract, we'll be OK

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101767056?__source=yahoo%7Cfinance%7Cheadline%7Cheadline%7Cstory&par=yahoo&doc=101767056%7CMusk:%20If%20we%20don%27t%20win%20NAS

"It's possible that we may not win the commercial crew contract... we'll do our best to continue on our own, with our own money," Must said. "We would not be where we are today without the help of NASA."

I agree with the strategy, but is it smart to say that publicly before the contract is awarded?

[starsilk]

Musk: If we don't win NASA contract, we'll be OK

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101767056?__source=yahoo%7Cfinance%7Cheadline%7Cheadline%7Cstory&par=yahoo&doc=101767056%7CMusk:%20If%20we%20don%27t%20win%20NAS

"It's possible that we may not win the commercial crew contract... we'll do our best to continue on our own, with our own money," Must said. "We would not be where we are today without the help of NASA."

I agree with the strategy, but is it smart to say that publicly before the contract is awarded?

ISTR that part of both the COTS and CCiCAP were about encouraging commercial access to space. they may be aiming to score some points with this, more so than Boeing who just basically announced they have no commercial use for their entry.

[llanitedave]

Was that Rep. Dana Rohrabacher leading the cheer for SpaceX?

yes, on RT America no less

"If we just left it up to NASA", he says.  Problem is, Congress has never "just left it up to NASA". I think NASA could do things a lot more economically and efficiently if Congress wasn't continually playing games with the purse strings.

No, they would never be as efficient as SpaceX, but at least acknowledge that the honorable congressman is part of the reason for that large differential in efficiency.

[RanulfC]

Was that Rep. Dana Rohrabacher leading the cheer for SpaceX?

yes, on RT America no less

"If we just left it up to NASA", he says.  Problem is, Congress has never "just left it up to NASA". I think NASA could do things a lot more economically and efficiently if Congress wasn't continually playing games with the purse strings.

No, they would never be as efficient as SpaceX, but at least acknowledge that the honorable congressman is part of the reason for that large differential in efficiency.

What? You're saying the man who made it a personal priority to kill the TransHab "nonsense" when it was a NASA project, might not understand that he's part of the problem? Somehow I don't think that point is lost on him...

Randy

[moralec]

I'm pretty sure NASA is going to award contracts to all private companies that are able to complete the Comercial Crew Program milestones. Actually, today in the Orion Event, Mr. Bolden comments seemed pointed in that direction.

It's true that a single private spacecraft should be enough to satisfy all the crew to LEO needs of Nasa, but having several may be useful for them for several reasons:
 - They provide redundancy. If one spaceship fails (imagine an accident) and the system is grounded, you still have another system available to continue taking care of Nasa Needs. Redundancy.
- Competition keeps the prices down.
- It's a way of protecting these companies, for them to continue working on technological advancements.

[Helodriver]

Close up of the top hatch and window. It is very small and I expect to not be very useful for docking.

[Norm38]

The current cargo Dragon has a small window in the hatch.  The ISS crews wear dust masks on opening the hatch in part due to concerns about cargo shifting in flight, and the possibility of debris floating in the air.
Do they use the window to visually confirm a stable environment inside the capsule before opening the hatch?  If so, then if Dragon II will also be used for cargo, the hatch window would serve the same function.

And while small and non-ideal, if there were some sort of malfunction with the auto-docking function or cameras on a manual flight, that window would at least allow a manual docking to be attempted?

[AnalogMan]

From the  ISS Crew Transportation and Services Requirements Document:

3.10.14 Hatches and Doorways

[…]

3.10.14.7 The CTS shall provide a window on all sealable hatches for direct non-electric visual observation of the environment on the opposite side of the hatch.

Rationale: Direct visual observation of the environment on the opposite side of a hatch allows the crew to determine the conditions or obstructions, such as the presence of fire or debris, on the other side of the hatch for safety purposes. Visibility is also needed for ground crew viewing into the vehicle during pad operations and post-landing. Windows do not have the failure modes associated with cameras and display systems that may not be operable during emergencies when most needed.

[JasonAW3]

Oh good grief!

     The hatch is dogged down like a Navy deck hatch.  Knife edge, O ring seal and latches that can be either manually or automatically sealed.

     Good shot on those photos!

[JasonAW3]

A simple dogging mechanisim for the hatch make perfect sense, but I don't really thing that the configuration shown is going to be the final configuration.  Those rods between each of the hatch dogs looks a bit too easy to bend.

It'd probably work better with a tooth and gear system operated by either an inner or outer handle.

I could sketch it out, but I figure most of you are smart enough to figure something like this out on your own.

[Alpha Control]

Does anyone want me to post a higher resolution of the hatch photo I took? Just let me know.