SpaceX Falcon 9 / Dragon 2 : SpX-DM2 : May 27, 2020 : DISCUSSION

[smoliarm]

Did the astronauts give a name to the Dragon C206 capsule, as it is tradition ?

Why would they name a rented spacecraft?

...

Well, for one - because that's a marvelous tradition.
Because NASA was nice letting captains to name the capsules.
Because SpaceX could be similarly nice and let Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken to name the ship they are going to fly.
Because in English language tradition (which BTW is also marvelous) - they used to address ship as "she".
- So, let her have a NAME, not some sequential number!

[Star One]

It's a problem that's hard to solve.

Like keeping this on track for DM2 discussions.  Not belittling the virus, but honestly it distracts from the real subject matter I'm here for.

Have a good one,
Mike

You can’t possibly think to separate the two at the moment. As much as you appear to be of the view that somehow magical thinking will cause the virus not to impact events such as this.

[Confusador]

It's a problem that's hard to solve.

Like keeping this on track for DM2 discussions.  Not belittling the virus, but honestly it distracts from the real subject matter I'm here for.

Have a good one,
Mike

You can’t separate the two at the moment. As much as you appear to think that some how magical thinking will cause the virus not to impact the launch.

And if it impacts the launch, we'll talk about it.  What people have been talking about is the crowds, which isn't really relevant.

[Comga]

It's a problem that's hard to solve.

Like keeping this on track for DM2 discussions.  Not belittling the virus, but honestly it distracts from the real subject matter I'm here for.

Have a good one,
Mike

You can’t separate the two at the moment. As much as you appear to think that some how magical thinking will cause the virus not to impact the launch.

And if it impacts the launch, we'll talk about it.  What people have been talking about is the crowds, which isn't really relevant.

There is a thread dedicated to discussion of viewing launches at the Cape.
Perhaps we can agree to carry on this discussion over there
Or start a new one on the impact of coronavirus on watching the DM-2 launch.
Then we can leave this thread for discussions of the DM-2 mission itself.

[FutureSpaceTourist]

Perhaps another bit of cargo for DM-2?

https://twitter.com/astro_doug/status/1255997046143803393

Our son’s version of Crew Dragon.  I love it.

[Jarnis]

Crew presser reveals SpaceX/NASA have a video of the ascent from Demo-1 and in-Flight abort with actual audio recorded in the capsule. Reportedly its a loud launch.

We definitely need that video...

[mlindner]

At 0:34 in front of Elon and at 1:24 slapping Elon on the back is Kiko Dontchev. He advised my student team when I was a sophomore. I also used to work in the same lab as him when I was an undergrad and he was a grad student. He was also a teacher's assistant for one of the first courses I ever took in college. Really cool having direct connections like this. Lets me amazing people more.

[Targeteer]

None of the press conferences directly addressed a question I submitted to#AskNasa about the command/control structure between NASA/SpaceX on this mission but it sounds like operations will be run from Hawthorne with SpaceX having dedicated individuals speaking to the crew, called COREs (the spelling is a guess).  Hopefully these details will be expanded in future briefings. 

On a second note, it was repeatedly stated by briefers that additional safety precautions were in place for Doug and Bob during training.  If you watched the video leading up to the crew press conference, NONE of the individuals helping with the training were wearing masks or gloves....

[cppetrie]

None of the press conferences directly addressed a question I submitted to#AskNasa about the command/control structure between NASA/SpaceX on this mission but it sounds like operations will be run from Hawthorne with SpaceX having dedicated individuals speaking to the crew, called COREs (the spelling is a guess).  Hopefully these details will be expanded in future briefings. 

On a second note, it was repeated stated by briefers that additional safety precautions were in place for Doug and Bob during training.  If you watched the video leading up to the crew press conference, NONE of the individuals helping with the training were wearing masks or gloves....

The videos of Bob and Doug are probably not recent. Those could have been from many months ago.

[Targeteer]

None of the press conferences directly addressed a question I submitted to#AskNasa about the command/control structure between NASA/SpaceX on this mission but it sounds like operations will be run from Hawthorne with SpaceX having dedicated individuals speaking to the crew, called COREs (the spelling is a guess).  Hopefully these details will be expanded in future briefings. 

On a second note, it was repeated stated by briefers that additional safety precautions were in place for Doug and Bob during training.  If you watched the video leading up to the crew press conference, NONE of the individuals helping with the training were wearing masks or gloves....

The videos of Bob and Doug are probably not recent. Those could have been from many months ago.

there was video of him doing NBL (pool) training which has to be recent

[cppetrie]

None of the press conferences directly addressed a question I submitted to#AskNasa about the command/control structure between NASA/SpaceX on this mission but it sounds like operations will be run from Hawthorne with SpaceX having dedicated individuals speaking to the crew, called COREs (the spelling is a guess).  Hopefully these details will be expanded in future briefings. 

On a second note, it was repeated stated by briefers that additional safety precautions were in place for Doug and Bob during training.  If you watched the video leading up to the crew press conference, NONE of the individuals helping with the training were wearing masks or gloves....

The videos of Bob and Doug are probably not recent. Those could have been from many months ago.

there was video of him doing NBL (pool) training which has to be recent

They’ve been contemplating an extended mission since late last year. That training could easily have been done prior to March.

[Zed_Noir]

None of the press conferences directly addressed a question I submitted to#AskNasa about the command/control structure between NASA/SpaceX on this mission but it sounds like operations will be run from Hawthorne with SpaceX having dedicated individuals speaking to the crew, called COREs (the spelling is a guess).  Hopefully these details will be expanded in future briefings. 

On a second note, it was repeated stated by briefers that additional safety precautions were in place for Doug and Bob during training.  If you watched the video leading up to the crew press conference, NONE of the individuals helping with the training were wearing masks or gloves....

The videos of Bob and Doug are probably not recent. Those could have been from many months ago.

there was video of him doing NBL (pool) training which has to be recent

My guess is that supporting staff also got quarantine with Doug & Bob.

[CorvusCorax]

I made a poll for good naming options IF Doug & Bob get to name the DM-2 dragon.

I don't know if the astronauts read NSF, but if they do, maybe this might be inspiring:

SpaceX Crew Dragon DM2 - Capsule naming contest
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=50821


 

[pochimax]

Is this only for DM-2 spacecraft or is it a final value for Crew Dragon? what' s the problem with its solar panels? it is less than a regular Soyuz...

https://twitter.com/ChrisG_NSF/status/1256272532250005507

[ugordan]

Is this only for DM-2 spacecraft or is it a final value for Crew Dragon? what' s the problem with its solar panels?

Expected degradation of solar panels by atomic oxygen if I understood it correctly. Not sure if it only impacts the DM-2 vehicle.

[cd-slam]

Is this only for DM-2 spacecraft or is it a final value for Crew Dragon? what' s the problem with its solar panels?

Expected degradation of solar panels by atomic oxygen if I understood it correctly. Not sure if it only impacts the DM-2 vehicle.

In his response to the question, Steve Stich said that the issue is unique to the Demo-2 trunk solar panels, and that Crew-1 and later vehicles would have an on-orbit lifetime of 210 days.

I'm clueless as to why this solar array degradation concern would be specific to the DM-2 vehicle, and not to other Dragon vehicles, the Soyuz or even the ISS solar arrays.

[LouScheffer]

Is this only for DM-2 spacecraft or is it a final value for Crew Dragon? what' s the problem with its solar panels?

Expected degradation of solar panels by atomic oxygen if I understood it correctly. Not sure if it only impacts the DM-2 vehicle.

In his response to the question, Steve Stich said that the issue is unique to the Demo-2 trunk solar panels, and that Crew-1 and later vehicles would have an on-orbit lifetime of 210 days.

I'm clueless as to why this solar array degradation concern would be specific to the DM-2 vehicle, and not to other Dragon vehicles, the Soyuz or even the ISS solar arrays.

I have no knowledge whatsoever of the specifics, but to me this sounds like bog-standard engineering.  They've been aware for many years of the 210 day requirement, and doubtless specified solar cells that meet it.  But for the first few builds, there was some problem with obtaining them.  They had other cells that met all the requirements except for lifetime, and since the first two missions were short, they used them instead (presumably with a waiver or some other sort of permission from NASA).
   Or alternatively, they used cells they thought were good enough for DM-1 and DM-2, and did lifetime testing in parallel to prove it.  When the cells showed too-fast degradation in testing, they specified upgraded cells, or an extra coating layer, or some other modification to meet the lifetime, starting with Crew-1.
   At any rate, it's pretty typical that the first few models off the line do not meet all the final requirements completely.

[Comga]

Is this only for DM-2 spacecraft or is it a final value for Crew Dragon? what' s the problem with its solar panels?

Expected degradation of solar panels by atomic oxygen if I understood it correctly. Not sure if it only impacts the DM-2 vehicle.

Is there a source for a concern about atomic oxygen or inadequate solar cell performance?
None have been indicated here.
It sounds like straight forward engineering conservatism combined with a lack of need.

Q: Why are solar arrays so limited?
A: NASA... All solar arrays degrade over time. The particular cells on this Dragon trunk given early are "worst case scenario" numbers. "Will watch their performance in flight and make a decision on data."

NASA wants to launch USCV-1/Crew-1 with 4 astros ASAP and they will bring DM-2 back a month before that, just enough time to review data. They don’t anticipate needing more time but will consider it if the need arrives and the data supports it.

[ugordan]

Expected degradation of solar panels by atomic oxygen if I understood it correctly. Not sure if it only impacts the DM-2 vehicle.

Is there a source for a concern about atomic oxygen or inadequate solar cell performance?
None have been indicated here.

The source is one of yesterday's press events on NASA.

[Joachim]

Rob Navias just told me that the specific designations (SC and JOC) only apply to DM-2 and CFT, the test flights. After that that it will be Commander, Pilot and Mission Specialists.