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

[loekf]

Also interesting his took off his glasses before stepping out of the Dragon, which a  SpaceX ninja put into a storage box.

One of them kept playing with his touch screen up to the last moment. Don't tell me Musk put games on these consoles as well ;-)

Also interesting.. one guy put off his gloves, the other kept them on for 3 hours.

Finally, my goodness... the procedure to re-open the capsule manually. Almost looked like an escape room from the outside. Many tools, different people and I am not sure whether they had practiced this before. Can imagine a loaded Falcon triggers different/extra safety mechanisms for the locks.

[Yellowstone10]

I noticed that we never heard them mention the name they've given the Dragon capsule. I wonder at what point in the process we'll learn that?

[CorvusCorax]

Great coverage from NSF there in the update thread. It was a "wet dress rehearsal" (very literally) not just for SpaceX and NASA but also for NSF, and I think it went quite well.

Suggestion based on collected data: On Saturday, bring rain covers for the equipment so no relocation to the car is needed.

I really liked the official stream staying on to show the crew-disembarking after the scrub. This must be the first time we ever got to see post-scrub detanking and approach procedures live on a stream ever. Very happy to see that in all its technical glory.

Also fun seeing the astronauts getting bored and playing around with the on board systems - looking at the world/trajectory map and such while they waited for the pad-ninjas to arrive.

Makes me wonder if there are easter eggs in Dragons user interface. Tetris or Pong maybe?

Actually, I wouldn't be too surprised if they had at least a Dragon-simulator built in. That would be a legitimate feature to test changes to code or procedures - hardware in the loop and while in orbit.

That way you could go through the dragon docking approach while you are still waiting for Dragon and ISS to phase, or simulate a
 set of orbital maneuvers i.e. for reentry before actually conducting them.

We know these systems exist on the ground for the guys in Hawthorne to test any procedure before they tell or upload them to the orbiting capsule. Would only make sense to have the Astronauts on board have the same capability. After all they have the computers and hardware right there, and more than enough redundant computing power to add a simulation/virtualisation level.

[lrk]

I noticed that we never heard them mention the name they've given the Dragon capsule. I wonder at what point in the process we'll learn that?

When they reach orbit? 

[Joffan]

I noticed that we never heard them mention the name they've given the Dragon capsule. I wonder at what point in the process we'll learn that?

When they reach orbit? 

Yeah - my guess would be when they separate from the upper stage and become a free-flying spacecraft.

[YesRushGen]

Phenomenal coverage here on NSF and a great combined presentation from SpaceX and NASA during this event.

My wife and I are really curious about the communication that Doug had with one of the pad crew after they'd egressed the vehicle... There seemed to be a lot of hand gestures and head nodding!

[oiorionsbelt]

I noticed that we never heard them mention the name they've given the Dragon capsule. I wonder at what point in the process we'll learn that?

When they reach orbit? 

Why do we assume they have a name?

[CorvusCorax]

I noticed that we never heard them mention the name they've given the Dragon capsule. I wonder at what point in the process we'll learn that?

When they reach orbit? 

Why do we assume they have a name?

Because they said so during one of the press conferences. Unfortunately I don't have the link, I think it was an Astronaut interview. They said they have a name already selected but won't tell until launch day.

Today was scrub day, and they remained "Dragon" - so ... I guess their specific callsign is only to be used in orbit

[whitelancer64]

I noticed that we never heard them mention the name they've given the Dragon capsule. I wonder at what point in the process we'll learn that?

When they reach orbit? 

Why do we assume they have a name?

Because they said so during one of the press conferences. Unfortunately I don't have the link, I think it was an Astronaut interview. They said they have a name already selected but won't tell until launch day.

Today was scrub day, and they remained "Dragon" - so ... I guess their specific callsign is only to be used in orbit

Unless they've decided to really fake out all of us and named it "Dragon"

[mrpotatomoto]

Maybe the sequin dinosaur thing is a clue to what the name is?

[FutureSpaceTourist]

twitter.com/sciguyspace/status/1265739526468710400

Insprucker is the best. If anyone is going to tell me we're scrubbed, let it be him.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1265792824722829313

He is great

[tommy099431]

Someone mention games on the console/iPad? I wouldn't be surprised, if I am right they don't have much to do during those 19 hours in space before docking... so maybe some candy rush  ?

Additionally maybe they'll rub off(or paint over?) their names in the white room so they can resign on Saturday?

anOTHER additionally..after rewatching the footage #12 and #6 must be dedicated personnel for Doug and Bob, they are the only ones who name tags had be given to them from the egress team

[DigitalMan]

Someone mention games on the console? I would be surprised, if I am right they don't have much to do during those 19 hours in space before docking... so maybe some candy rush  ?

Additionally maybe they'll rub off(or paint over?) their names in the white room so they can resign on Saturday?

Perhaps listen to the podcast with the flight controller, posted a few pages back in this thread.

[rdale]

I've tried to find the field mill data for the weekend launches - but alas the public facing site was discontinued in 2018...

[hygoex]

So Crew Dragon (at this time) has to have an exact launch window, and there's not one until Saturday when the weather is less favorable.   Are they going to have better launch windows down the road, once Crew Dragon is more operational?

[tommy099431]

So Crew Dragon (at this time) has to have an exact launch window, and there's not one until Saturday when the weather is less favorable.   Are they going to have better launch windows down the road, once Crew Dragon is more operational?

All Dragon to ISS launches are instantaneous, the weather for this week is just really bad timing it seems. I believe they cant launch tmw or Friday because the ISS isn't lined up right(but not sure) 

[JimO]

What was the ISS phase angle at liftoff time? Reason -- will the ISS crew get good imagery of later stages of ascent?

[Joffan]

So Crew Dragon (at this time) has to have an exact launch window, and there's not one until Saturday when the weather is less favorable.   Are they going to have better launch windows down the road, once Crew Dragon is more operational?

Dragon launches into the plane of the ISS, on the ascending side. The Earth rotates the launchpad into the right place about once a day. That's basically the "exact time" reason.

Also, they want to limit the amount of time before the Dragon catches up to the ISS. Some days will always make no sense to launch on, because they would enter the ISS orbital plane so far behind the ISS that they'd spend a day in orbit just catching up to where they'd be if they launched the next day. But also I suspect that they have a limit on how long Bob & Doug spend in the Dragon before rendezvous on this test flight in particular, so they're choosing days where that time limit can be met.

[CyndyC]

The meteorologists in Jacksonville FL love to insert SpaceX launches into their weather reports, and this morning one reported that almost the entire abort corridor was compromised, starting with a tropical storm off the coast of Charleston SC, and other disturbances going all the way to Ireland.

That told me early on the launch wasn't going to happen today, except as the SpaceX/NASA coverage went on, the abort zones were barely mentioned. Either the abort zone conditions have no bearing on go or no go, and only serve to prepare recovery crews without stopping them, or everyone knew the whole time they would have to scrub, but didn't want to toss the build up and the extensively prepared pre-launch coverage.

[CyndyC]

Also, they want to limit the amount of time before the Dragon catches up to the ISS. Some days will always make no sense to launch on, because they would enter the ISS orbital plane so far behind the ISS that they'd spend a day in orbit just catching up to where they'd be if they launched the next day. But also I suspect that they have a limit on how long Bob & Doug spend in the Dragon before rendezvous on this test flight in particular, so they're choosing days where that time limit can be met.

This was brought up in the press conference that was re-broadcast today, and actually just the opposite is true for this mission. It was said they could reach the station as quickly as Soyuz, but being a test mission, there are things the astronauts will need extra time to test in flight.