Hey, guys... I've finished my story dramatizing a notional Dragon manned Circumlunar flight.
Quote from: Robotbeat on 03/25/2017 03:25 pmQuote from: IRobot on 03/25/2017 11:50 amI wonder if sailing for a week prior to launch would help. Usually it takes me also 3 days to get my sea legs...I think so. Other research has shown that you can help your inner ear adapt with certain strategies.Or they'll find out that you can be simultaneously both sea sick and space sick.
Quote from: IRobot on 03/25/2017 11:50 amI wonder if sailing for a week prior to launch would help. Usually it takes me also 3 days to get my sea legs...I think so. Other research has shown that you can help your inner ear adapt with certain strategies.
I wonder if sailing for a week prior to launch would help. Usually it takes me also 3 days to get my sea legs...
I bet the round-the-Moon tourists turn out to be Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos... ...it makes a certain amount of sense! Almost.
Quote from: meekGee on 03/25/2017 03:51 pmQuote from: Robotbeat on 03/25/2017 03:25 pmQuote from: IRobot on 03/25/2017 11:50 amI wonder if sailing for a week prior to launch would help. Usually it takes me also 3 days to get my sea legs...I think so. Other research has shown that you can help your inner ear adapt with certain strategies.Or they'll find out that you can be simultaneously both sea sick and space sick. If I sail for more than a week, I get "earth-sick" I think the sea adaptation is that you expect a constant change of balance, although with some periodicity. In space, I would expect a change of balance depending on momentum. In principle, sea adaptation would help...@Robotbeat, do you have any reference to a research on that?
Quote from: Bob Shaw on 03/25/2017 06:28 pmI bet the round-the-Moon tourists turn out to be Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos... ...it makes a certain amount of sense! Almost.I doubt it, but can you imagine if Elon and Bezos decided to settle their differences once and for all in deep space behind the Moon with their Lady Vivamus swords dueling in space suits? 😂
Quote from: Robotbeat on 03/25/2017 07:16 pmQuote from: Bob Shaw on 03/25/2017 06:28 pmI bet the round-the-Moon tourists turn out to be Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos... ...it makes a certain amount of sense! Almost.I doubt it, but can you imagine if Elon and Bezos decided to settle their differences once and for all in deep space behind the Moon with their Lady Vivamus swords dueling in space suits? 😂Well, at least one of them has been practicing
Well, at least one of them has been practicing
Elon Musk Verified account @elonmusk 11s12 seconds agoHere is the latest SpaceX travel ad for the flight around the moon & into deep space. Maybe needs a few edits ...
@searchresultsWould you – hypothetically – fly around the moon on, let's say, a SpaceX Dragon 2 capsule?
For sure! But, unlike the Apollo era, in the commercial space era, it should become cheaper and safer over time. I have two specific missions in mind (and I don’t have much interest in suborbital flight or anything shy of these):• spending a few days in a commercial space hotel in low Earth orbit and• a lunar orbital mission, going much closer to the surface than Apollo X, but not landing.
For both trips I am excited about the photography. For the lunar trip, there would not be as many creature comforts or space for weightless play, but the views are pretty breathtaking. Earthrise, the dark side of the moon, Earth and moon at various distances.Since the moon has no atmosphere, it presents a unique orbital opportunity – we could fly incredibly close to the surface while staying in lunar orbit. Apollo X dropped to an orbit 47K feet off the surface – like a private jet altitude over Earth.If the goal is tourism, you could go much lower, and with no landing, it could have a downward facing window optimized for the views. I would want to figure out the tradeoff of orbital altitude and surface speed — skimming a thousand feet over the highest crater (Zeppelin altitudes) would be amazing, but might be dizzying. But, since the moon has 1/6 the mass of Earth, the orbital speeds at any given altitude are about 1/6 as fast... so it could be slow and low, that is the tempo... =)Why not land? The cost and complexity just explodes, as the Russians discovered in the space race. For a new tourist activity, so does the risk. And to what benefit? With the full Apollo stack with EV on the moon, yes, you could cover some distance, but not as much as you can see in orbit. Bouncing around on foot just does not grab me as an essential first person experience. And, moon gravity and Mars gravity is easily simulated on the parabolic planes if that’s the key attraction.And all that weight and design constraint would likely tradeoff with the window-optimized design. I would rather spend more time in orbit, at various heights, than attempt a landing.I do wonder about a spacewalk. These EVA activities are a much easier engineering challenge, and might not tradeoff with the earlier goals. Michael Collins marveled at his EVA in Earth orbit:“This is the best view of the universe that a human has ever had. We are gliding across the world in total silence, with absolute smoothness; a motion of stately grace which makes me feel God-like as I stand erect in my sideways chariot, cruising the night sky.I am in the cosmic arena, the place to gain a celestial perspective; it remains only to slow down long enough to capture it, even a teacup will do, will last a lifetime below."
A good article by Jeff Foust on the SpaceX circumlunar mission and prior history of such attempts:http://spacenews.com/a-short-history-of-lunar-space-tourism/
SpaceX arguably is in a better position than others to attempt such a mission. It has both all the key hardware under development and the financial resources to prepare them for such a mission, which previous efforts have lacked.
@Space Ghost 1962Do you think the Chinese government got spooked by the SX circumlunar announcement? Especially just before the SES-10 launch with "flight proven" hardware. So as to accelerate their Space program development.
Here's a view from a true space industry giant:QuoteHad a good visit with Chris Kraft today. Now 93, he's still engaged. Had to give up golf, but he's now a mall walker! (Baybrook Mall)https://twitter.com/sciguyspace/status/847882433706020864QuoteChris was "very impressed" by @SpaceX and their launch Thursday. But he's not thrilled with their lunar flyby. "Too risky."https://twitter.com/sciguyspace/status/847882800682463232
Had a good visit with Chris Kraft today. Now 93, he's still engaged. Had to give up golf, but he's now a mall walker! (Baybrook Mall)
Chris was "very impressed" by @SpaceX and their launch Thursday. But he's not thrilled with their lunar flyby. "Too risky."
Relevant here:Quote from: FutureSpaceTourist on 03/31/2017 07:43 pmHere's a view from a true space industry giant:QuoteHad a good visit with Chris Kraft today. Now 93, he's still engaged. Had to give up golf, but he's now a mall walker! (Baybrook Mall)https://twitter.com/sciguyspace/status/847882433706020864QuoteChris was "very impressed" by @SpaceX and their launch Thursday. But he's not thrilled with their lunar flyby. "Too risky."https://twitter.com/sciguyspace/status/847882800682463232