It’s not rushing, ChrisIt’s minimizing wasted time. And I am not advocating doing anything different with DM-1 than waiting to unpack it. The only reason to do the unmanned test flights is to learn things about the system ahead of the crewed flights. It will take time to digest whatever is observed and the Commercial Crew safety reviews have all taken longer than originally anticipated. Earlier launch buys more time. ASAP puts the far end of the probable date range for certification past the end date for Soyuz availability. That’s pretty frightening and NASA should be doing what they can to buy extra time before then. Right now they are prioritizing HTV-7 over DM-1 and the path to Commercial Crew. Although there are a plethora of “moving parts” in the ISS program that need to mesh, I find that curious and concerning.
Not sure what you mean by interesting priorities. Are you saying an uncrewed test flight carrying minimal supplies to ISS should take precedent over a needed crew rotation and a needed and large-scale resupply and science delivery mission (HTV-7)? If so, why?
I fully understand and am aware that Soyuz seats expire for the USOS in 2019. But how is rushing and changing things last minute for only 1 provider's uncrewed test going to change that and future timelines? NASA is saying there isn't time to do SpX DM-1 until November. So what do you gain by launching early and "dock loitering"? Nothing.
She was fired up. She said, "You know, I've even got a date when we're going to launch in November." That's how confident she was. But she said, "They wouldn't let me tell that today."
Another good Eric Berger article, this one describing the work left for SpaceX to do for CC:QuoteHere’s what SpaceX must do to win the commercial crew raceDemo test, abort test, finish COPVs, test fuel loading, and so on. It's a long list.ERIC BERGER - 8/9/2018, 7:59 AMhttps://arstechnica.com/science/2018/08/heres-what-spacex-must-do-to-win-the-commercial-crew-race/Edit to add: article includes status of Demo 1 hardwareQuoteLueders said the Block V variant of the Falcon 9 rocket first stage, as well as its upper stage, will soon ship from SpaceX’s factory in Hawthorne, California, to the company’s facilities in McGregor, Texas, for engine testing. Afterward, the rocket is scheduled to arrive at Florida’s Cape Canaveral in September. The company has also delivered the spacecraft to Florida, but they still need to finish the Dragon’s trunk for the mission and ship that.
Here’s what SpaceX must do to win the commercial crew raceDemo test, abort test, finish COPVs, test fuel loading, and so on. It's a long list.ERIC BERGER - 8/9/2018, 7:59 AM
Lueders said the Block V variant of the Falcon 9 rocket first stage, as well as its upper stage, will soon ship from SpaceX’s factory in Hawthorne, California, to the company’s facilities in McGregor, Texas, for engine testing. Afterward, the rocket is scheduled to arrive at Florida’s Cape Canaveral in September. The company has also delivered the spacecraft to Florida, but they still need to finish the Dragon’s trunk for the mission and ship that.
Quote from: FutureSpaceTourist on 08/08/2018 11:42 pmAnother good Eric Berger article, this one describing the work left for SpaceX to do for CC:QuoteHere’s what SpaceX must do to win the commercial crew raceDemo test, abort test, finish COPVs, test fuel loading, and so on. It's a long list.ERIC BERGER - 8/9/2018, 7:59 AMhttps://arstechnica.com/science/2018/08/heres-what-spacex-must-do-to-win-the-commercial-crew-race/Edit to add: article includes status of Demo 1 hardwareQuoteLueders said the Block V variant of the Falcon 9 rocket first stage, as well as its upper stage, will soon ship from SpaceX’s factory in Hawthorne, California, to the company’s facilities in McGregor, Texas, for engine testing. Afterward, the rocket is scheduled to arrive at Florida’s Cape Canaveral in September. The company has also delivered the spacecraft to Florida, but they still need to finish the Dragon’s trunk for the mission and ship that.
“We have an agreement with SpaceX that they are going to take our launch vehicle configuration and run it through the actual crew-loading timeline to demonstrate consistency,” Lueders said. “It’s for us to get confidence on the crew-loading sequence.”This means that the static fire and launch of the Demo-1 mission will follow fuel-loading procedures for crew missions, as will the static fire and launch of the in-flight abort mission. The fifth test will come during the static fire test of the Demo-2 flight.
Upcoming launches include the maiden flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft on uncrewed demonstration mission DM-1 to the International Space Station from pad 39A, as early as late November.
That article is a bit inaccurate.Even though it says that EchoStar 23 was the return to flight, it was actually SpaceX CRS-10 in February 2017.
https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/1047428050772811777
NASA’s Commercial Crew Program Target Test Flight DatesSpaceX's Crew Dragon and Boeing's Starliner will transport astronauts to the International Space Station.The next generation of American spacecraft and rockets that will launch astronauts to the International Space Station are nearing the final stages of development and evaluation. NASA’s Commercial Crew Program will return human spaceflight launches to U.S. soil, providing safe, reliable and cost-effective access to low-Earth orbit on systems that meet our safety and mission requirements. To meet NASA’s requirements, the commercial providers must demonstrate that their systems are ready to begin regular flights to the space station. Two of those demonstrations are uncrewed flight tests, known as Orbital Flight Test for Boeing, and Demo-1 for SpaceX. After the uncrewed flight tests, both companies will execute a flight test with crew prior to being certified by NASA for crew rotation missions. The following reflects the most recent publicly releasable flight planning dates for both providers.Test Flight Planning Dates:Boeing Orbital Flight Test (uncrewed): March 2019Boeing Crew Flight Test (crewed): August 2019SpaceX Demo-1 (uncrewed): January 2019SpaceX Demo-2 (crewed): June 2019Following the test flights, NASA will review the performance data and resolve issues as necessary to certify the systems for operational missions. Boeing, SpaceX and the Commercial Crew Program are actively working to be ready for the operational missions; however, as with all human spaceflight development, learning from each test and adjusting as necessary to reduce risk to the crew may override planning dates.Anticipated Readiness Dates for Operational Missions:First operational mission: August 2019Second operational mission: December 2019For more information, see https://go.nasa.gov/2QwW3Sd.
https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/2018/10/04/nasas-commercial-crew-program-target-test-flight-dates-4/QuoteTest Flight Planning Dates:SpaceX Demo-1 (uncrewed): January 2019
Test Flight Planning Dates:SpaceX Demo-1 (uncrewed): January 2019
Do we know why the DM! keeps slipping? I now believe Boeing's crewed Starliner will be first to the ISS because they have always projected a short time between demo and maned flights and SpaceX has to have their in flight abort test.
Quote from: Roy_H on 10/06/2018 05:03 pmDo we know why the DM! keeps slipping? I now believe Boeing's crewed Starliner will be first to the ISS because they have always projected a short time between demo and maned flights and SpaceX has to have their in flight abort test.There's a post on NASA's website about it and if you look at Boeing's dates they're worse than SpaceX.
Quote from: Alexphysics on 10/06/2018 06:09 pmQuote from: Roy_H on 10/06/2018 05:03 pmDo we know why the DM! keeps slipping? I now believe Boeing's crewed Starliner will be first to the ISS because they have always projected a short time between demo and maned flights and SpaceX has to have their in flight abort test.There's a post on NASA's website about it and if you look at Boeing's dates they're worse than SpaceX.I know, I just don't believe SpaceX can retrieve DM1, refurbish it for the in flight abort test, perform the test, and get NASA to sign off on all the data in 6 months. DM2 will slip a lot.
