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

[vtirag]

I found this very strange... I always assumed that the lenght of each leg was adjustable, but that may not be the case....

The whole display was out on the sidewalk in front of the Newseum, maybe the surface wasn't level.

[Shaledc]

Got a chance to go see it- very cool in person, really looks like a spaceship, quite tall with the retractable nose cone. I think others have covered most of the questions already, but the spaceX rep mentioned the area below the SDs are protected with an ablative material - not picax though.

[Sesquipedalian]

I was able to make it out to the Newseum myself.  There was no line, and there were multiple SpaceX people there: two marketing people, a security guy, an integration engineer, and one other engineer that I didn't get to talk to.  Here are some tidbits:

1) The engineer said that this vehicle will be used for the abort tests and will eventually go to orbit.  He also said that the spaceship was "basically complete".  They need to install the engine injectors and a few other things, but he said it was pretty much ready to go.

2) The reason the Dragon looks like a mockup is because the whole thing is covered in SPAM -- SPacex Ablator Material.  (Except for the heat shield which, of course, uses PICA-X.)  They coat the outer panels with the stuff, shape it, and form it, and then stick the panels on the spacecraft.  This protects the outer skin of the spacecraft from re-entry heating.  The SPAM is what makes it look fake; it has the texture and glossiness of a flimsy mockup molded out of styrofoam or plastic, but it is in fact quite solid.

3) There were some circular raised areas on the bottom of the capsule in addition to the legs.  The engineer said that these were for conducting heat between the capsule and the cooling system in the trunk.

4) The trunk will have solar panels around its entire circumference, like the HTV.  The reason it didn't seem this way in the demo video was probably a rendering omission.  (I also wanted to ask how they handled the airflow problem but didn't get a chance.)

5) The marketing rep confirmed my suspicion that Elon's "sounds like a good time to reveal the Dragon v2" tweet was not as spontaneous a decision as it seemed.  They had been planning to unveil the v2 this year, but the timing with Russia was too good to pass up.  So Elon asked everybody if they could make the capsule publicly presentable in a month's time, and they said they could, so he sent his tweet.  If it hadn't been unveiled on May 29th, it would have been only two or three months afterward.

EDIT: forgot to mention...

6) The circular knobs on the hatch are, in fact, for pressure equalization, as JasonAW3 surmised.  The engineer said they provided the capability to quickly blow the hatch in an emergency.

[Prober]

This image has me a little concerned!  The top connector has no strain relief and the bottom connector is not fully engaged, it looks like it's about to fall off.  I hope this represents only a rushed crew prepping the Dragon for display and not a deeper quality issue!!

good thing the fire marshal didn't see that

all those people around, fines, and shutdown.

[Mongo62]

There has been enough new information on this thread to deserve a separate Dragon v2 article on its own. The only concern might be that it's all technically public information, even if only known by the people who have read this thread, but a separate article would presumably be read by many more readers than have read this thread.

Of course Chris must already have a long list of must-write articles on his plate already.

[Blackstar]

There has been enough new information on this thread to deserve a separate Dragon v2 article on its own.

"According to an anonymous source quoting an unnamed source..."

That's not a good way to do journalism.

[grythumn]

Confirmed this one is due to go to orbit, not pad abort. Same unit as California unveiling. Feet are not replaced; if necessary can be sanded down multiple times. Pics to follow once I get back to computer.

Feet are not replaced *after each flight*. Apparently PicaX is fairly mechanically strong. If it does get damaged, they can sand it down multiple times before having to reapply.

I was told this wasn't the pad abort vehicle, so conflicting reports conflict.

Also, while I was shooting pictures, someone else asked what number this was and was told SpaceX doesn't number them, but that individual missions are numbered. Take that with as much salt as you want; there's got to be some sort of internal inventory number for maintenance/tracking/safety/etc.

I was a bit surprised that the superdraco's nozzle didn't seem to be polished smooth after printing. I enhanced the first few to bring out the texture.

When the guard wasn't watching, someone pet the dragon.

-Bob

[Shredder56]

OK.  My turn.  I spoke not to an engineer, but to a guy who built the capsule.  Great story by the way; watered my eyes.  He started sweeping floors at TRW and before he knew it he had a wrench in his hand and was building satellites.  A friend recommended him to SpaceX and now he's birthing Dragons.  Works his a$$ off but is loving life.

I spoke to others as well and eavesdropped on Sesquipedalian's conversation (posted above).  Got the following new info that I haven't seen elsewhere.  There are two more v2 under construction.  One is being fit out and the other is still in welding.  The unit on display is intended to go to orbit.  The hatch handle and knobs were polished on a whim and may or may not be in the final prep checklist.  No current plans to change seat mounts.  Legs (or water) will take up the landing shock.  Sen Nelson attended Tuesday evening.  That was the only name I could get.

I've got a couple pics not seen elsewhere but can't seem to get them to post.

Edit:  Oops, the pics did post.

First is one of two trunk attachment points.  Covered by some phelonic substance.

Second is next in a long line of quality issues.  Look at the wrinkles in that decal!!!11!!  Could fall off on the truck and FOD an engine or something.

[NovaSilisko]

It's nice seeing it under sunlight, you can make out a lot more surface than you otherwise could. I get the impression that they slapped on a LOT of paint to hide most of the surface imperfections.

Edit: several hours after this post I have just noticed the previous mentions of the SpaceX ablator material and, for the record, now feel like an idiot.

[docmordrid]

The congressional paper Roll Call covered the event,

http://www.rollcall.com/news/spacex_brings_crew_vehicle_to_dc-233747-1.html

>
Technocrat spotted at the event Reps. Chaka Fattah, D-Pa., Mike Honda, D-Calif., and Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., and Sens. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M. Nearly all sit on committees that set policy or draft spending bills for NASA. The House Intelligence panel’s ranking Democrat, Maryland’s C.A. “Dutch” Ruppersberger, was also spotted.
>

[Shaledc]

2) The reason the Dragon looks like a mockup is because the whole thing is covered in SPAM -- SPacex Ablator Material.  (Except for the heat shield which, of course, uses PICA-X.)  They coat the outer panels with the stuff, shape it, and form it, and then stick the panels on the spacecraft.  This protects the outer skin of the spacecraft from re-entry heating.  The SPAM is what makes it look fake; it has the texture and glossiness of a flimsy mockup molded out of styrofoam or plastic, but it is in fact quite solid.

Great roll up! Just one thing - the "SPAM" accronym-- the  spaceX engineer I spoke with referred to it as "SpaceX [proprietary] Ablator Material". I think some of the pictures show it, but it seemed that the only places not covered by it are the interiors of Draco/superdraco nozzles ( which did not appear to be installed) Those areas resembled the texture of a composite material towards  the outer nozzle area, with a ring of darker material towards the "throat" of the nozzle area. I have some pictures but the lighting was bad.

I also touched the skin when the guards were not looking...

[meekGee]

2) The reason the Dragon looks like a mockup is because the whole thing is covered in SPAM -- SPacex Ablator Material.  (Except for the heat shield which, of course, uses PICA-X.)  They coat the outer panels with the stuff, shape it, and form it, and then stick the panels on the spacecraft.  This protects the outer skin of the spacecraft from re-entry heating.  The SPAM is what makes it look fake; it has the texture and glossiness of a flimsy mockup molded out of styrofoam or plastic, but it is in fact quite solid.

I also touched the skin when the guards were not looking...

...  and?   was it "soft" like thick paint, or "brittle" like a ceramic?   Did it feel cold to the touch?  Metallic?  Glassy?

[LastOf7]

Attended as well, but looks like I'm too late to add much photographically.  However, still not sure what this was for:

[Shaledc]

That vent was on the upper rear right side of the capsule, btw. -here's a picture I took of it. A vent of some sort it appears, possibly normally covered by a blow out panel during ascent (note the recessed area surrounding)?

[billh]

That vent was on the upper rear right side of the capsule, btw. -here's a picture I took of it. A vent of some sort it appears, possibly normally covered by a blow out panel during ascent (note the recessed area surrounding)?

My guess is that's there to equalize pressure between the atmosphere and the unpressurized portions of the interior (i.e., the space between the airframe and the pressure vessel).

[oiorionsbelt]

Shredder56, thanks for the picture of the trunk attachment point through the heat shield. I was hoping some one would get down on the ground and shot up.

[meekGee]

Attended as well, but looks like I'm too late to add much photographically.  However, still not sure what this was for:

Learning from the mistakes of others, SpaceX did in fact install a grating over the thermal exhaust port.

[yg1968]

Q&A with Musk in DC:

http://www.bloomberg.com/video/elon-musk-you-re-safe-if-my-spacecraft-crashes-3MCivcdWQfyCnDKQMXYoKA.html

Edit: fixed link. Thanks GalacticIntruder.

[GalacticIntruder]

Q&A with Musk in DC:
http://www.bloomberg.com/video/why-nike-doesn-t-care-that-ronaldo-is-no-air-jordan-539mq28LSG6QjkJwYqyiGQ.html

You mean

http://www.bloomberg.com/video/elon-musk-you-re-safe-if-my-spacecraft-crashes-3MCivcdWQfyCnDKQMXYoKA.html

[oiorionsbelt]

Why take Dragon to DC?
When it comes to lobbying, displaying flight hardware seems very cost effective.