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#440
by
woods170
on 04 Jan, 2019 06:44
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Blown up from the tweet from Emre Kelly upthread.
New top to the TEL.
Any idea what the new bits do?
The new bits serve (amongst others) the same purpose as the service mast that was seen in images of the Pad Abort test. There will be T-0 umbilicals running from the top of the TEL to the vehicle.
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#441
by
Alexphysics
on 04 Jan, 2019 07:33
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They plan to fuel it with astronauts onboard so they better be confident that the AMOS-6 failures are behind them.
Every fuel load cycle helps meet ASAP/NASA's requirements, reduce risk and assuage concerns, regardless of whether a payload is attached. IIRC the requirement specific to risk reduction for the new COPV is 6-7 cycles (not launches)? Not sure where we are (or will be) on that count before the final DM1 load & launch. Anyone keeping count?
Oh great... this again... 7 missions with new COPV's and 5 loading cycles that will be on the Static Fire and launch of DM-1 and IFA and the static fire for DM-2. The missions with the new COPV's can be on whatever mission they want, the loading cycles for crewed misions are different than for uncrewed ones so the process will be qualified using the 5 opportunities I mentioned earlier.
WDRs should count as additional fueling cycles for COPV and load-and-go purposes, right? That would give them 3 cycles on just this mission
From all we know from public info, the loading cycles that are going to count are the ones that I described earlier. Anyways, the WDR's will always be good to do to record as much data as they can.
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#442
by
photonic
on 04 Jan, 2019 08:21
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[...]
And for those who didn't quite see how one side of the trunk was photocells, and the other side white, now we have a picture showing half-and-half.
Are there any precedents for launching a spacecraft with solar panels exposed to the weather during launch? All the examples I can think of were protected by a fairing or protective covers (as for cargo dragon). Do they use the equivalent of the hardened Tesla solar roof tiles?
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#443
by
woods170
on 04 Jan, 2019 08:42
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[...]
And for those who didn't quite see how one side of the trunk was photocells, and the other side white, now we have a picture showing half-and-half.
Are there any precedents for launching a spacecraft with solar panels exposed to the weather during launch? All the examples I can think of were protected by a fairing or protective covers (as for cargo dragon). Do they use the equivalent of the hardened Tesla solar roof tiles?
It might be something similar.
It has been suggested, but not confirmed that the solar cells on the thrunk are entirely covered by a transparent resin, thus protecting them from the elements.
Edit: found the answer in a conversation with a source some time ago: The individual solar cells themselves are arranged in pre-determined groups and fastened to a carrier panel. They are then coated over with weather-resistant and aero-heating resistant transparent coating. The top coating is entirely smooth.
So, the panels with solar cells have at least 3 layers:
1. Carrier panel
2. Solar cells
3. Top coating
There are many of these panels, in several shapes and sizes, all developed to fit the available surfaces of the trunk. Most of the panels have a slight curve, to match the curve of the trunk.
The panels are bolted to the trunk structure.
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#444
by
cd-slam
on 05 Jan, 2019 08:52
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Saw the article showing splashdown in the Atlantic. It seems a strange choice given refurbishment will presumably be done at Hawthorne. Any reason for this choice?
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#445
by
marsbase
on 05 Jan, 2019 09:08
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Saw the article showing splashdown in the Atlantic. It seems a strange choice given refurbishment will presumably be done at Hawthorne. Any reason for this choice?
This spacecraft will be used in the demonstration of in-flight abort from 39-A. Maybe the required refurbishment is minimal.
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#446
by
kevinof
on 05 Jan, 2019 09:14
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It's a crew Dragon - they are bringing the crew back to (or close to) where they launched from. Also far as I know Nasa is getting a new Dragon 2 with each launch so refurbishment is of little interest to them (nasa).
Saw the article showing splashdown in the Atlantic. It seems a strange choice given refurbishment will presumably be done at Hawthorne. Any reason for this choice?
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#447
by
theonlyspace
on 05 Jan, 2019 13:03
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As much as Space X seems to value reuse of Falcons and Dragons now Space X will not be reusing Crew Dragons is a bit different?
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#448
by
Nightstalker89
on 05 Jan, 2019 13:07
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NASA wants a new Dragon 2 each mission, it doesn't mean SpaceX isn't going to reuse them for something else. Maybe cargo missions or free flight missions.
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#449
by
yg1968
on 05 Jan, 2019 14:04
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Yes, plus neither NASA nor SpaceX have ruled out certifying reused Dragon2s in the future. But, for the first missions, a new Dragon2 will be used for each mission.
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#450
by
sghill
on 05 Jan, 2019 14:42
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I can't get enough of this picture of the extended walkway.
IMHO, it's epic sci-fi, but this image is real!
I love the stark loneliness of the walkway. So much technology and power, and the efforts of thousands of people all at work in this image. Yet the astronauts will have to embark down that long hallway nearly alone.
Reminds me of the quiet scene in "Contact" where Dr. Arroway is walking towards the second capsule in Japan with the two technicians...
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#451
by
dave45
on 05 Jan, 2019 15:00
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Anyone know how long the walkway is?
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#452
by
Barrie
on 05 Jan, 2019 15:01
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I can't get enough of this picture of the extended walkway.
IMHO, it's epic sci-fi, but this image is real!
I love the stark loneliness of the walkway. So much technology and power, and the efforts of thousands of people all at work in this image. Yet the astronauts will have to embark down that long hallway nearly alone.
My reaction is "This is no makeshift contraption for use maybe twice a year. This is passenger transport infrastructure, meant for routine use"
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#453
by
Alexphysics
on 05 Jan, 2019 15:11
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Saw the article showing splashdown in the Atlantic. It seems a strange choice given refurbishment will presumably be done at Hawthorne. Any reason for this choice?
And that's why they're building a Dragon 2 refurbishment facility at the Cape.
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#454
by
Tomness
on 05 Jan, 2019 18:33
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#455
by
king1999
on 05 Jan, 2019 18:37
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I can't get enough of this picture of the extended walkway.
IMHO, it's epic sci-fi, but this image is real!
I love the stark loneliness of the walkway. So much technology and power, and the efforts of thousands of people all at work in this image. Yet the astronauts will have to embark down that long hallway nearly alone.
Reminds me of the quiet scene in "Contact" where Dr. Arroway is walking towards the second capsule in Japan with the two technicians...
I am pretty sure that the flight attendants will welcome them on board by the door of the Dragon.
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#456
by
jpo234
on 05 Jan, 2019 20:48
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This is passenger transport infrastructure, meant for routine use"
As far as SpaceX is concerned, this will be legacy within 2 or 3 years. They want to fly passengers around the Moon in 4 years...
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#457
by
bulkmail
on 05 Jan, 2019 21:06
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With the government shutdown still not solved...
Now that dry dress rehearsal is underway (or completed?), the next major events are:
- wet dress rehearsal (WDR) - does it need NASA personnel?
- static fire - this static fire will count for the 5 certification runs, so does it need NASA personnel - or they can review the data afterwards when government shutdown ends?
- launch
Basically my question is how far can SpaceX go on their own during the government shutdown?
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#458
by
Norm38
on 05 Jan, 2019 22:01
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NASA wants a new Dragon 2 each mission, it doesn't mean SpaceX isn't going to reuse them for something else. Maybe cargo missions or free flight missions.
What’s funny is we had this exact same discussion in 2010 about Dragon 1. And NASA eventually accepted reused Dragon1. They’ll take reused Dragon2s, in time.
I just hope this is the last time for this. It’s all reuse from here on out.
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#459
by
matthewkantar
on 05 Jan, 2019 23:34
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It's reuse all the way down.
