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

[CraigLieb]

Small suggestion have the poll for go/no go close an hour before official launch time. I voted no after the flight was called off (just to see if I could still vote)!

[Brovane]

Question?

How can the ULA Atlas-V 401 have a 30 minute launch window for reaching the ISS with Cygnus but the F9 with Crew Dragon have a instantaneous window?   Is the instantaneous window a requirement because of possible abort scenarios?  Limitation of the F9?

[Kabloona]

Why is the NASAspaceflight archived livestream not available? It says "This video contains content from NBC Universal, who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds."

What?

That NSF archived livestream is now unblocked. It's the first post on the Updates thread for anyone who wants to watch it.

[kdhilliard]

How can the ULA Atlas-V 401 have a 30 minute launch window for reaching the ISS with Cygnus but the F9 with Crew Dragon have a instantaneous window?   Is the instantaneous window a requirement because of possible abort scenarios?  Limitation of the F9?

Yesterday Tory Bruno tweeted about ULA's RAAN steering, and how it is of more limited use for the crew launch trajectories.
https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/1265755322079154176]

Q:  launch windows for the ISS are always instantaneous? or they can vary depending on the spacecraft?
TB: Driven by rocket not S/C. Always instantaneous for most providers because it is essentially an intercept trajectory to the ISS (tough). ULA has  RAAN Steering, which allows multiple launch opportunities across a 30+ min window for cargo.(Different for Crew's safety trajectory)
Q: Higher G force in alternative trajectories?
TB: Not really how this works.
Q: Why is it less safe for crew to have non-instantaneous launch?
TB: It's not unsafe, per se. The Crew safe trajectory is flatter and lower to allow an abort (heaven forbid)  for the longest possible time.  This interferes with the way we would fly an un-crewed RAAN mission to ISS
Q: Is that a capability provided by the first or second stage?
TB: Both
Q: Can you use RAAN Steering for crewed missions?
TB: Yes, but less benefit because of the flat, safety driven crew trajectory

[Oersted]

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

Just looked up his Wikipedia page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Insprucker

Hugely impressive resumé 

Definitely not just a talking head...

[JDTractorGuy]

Quick lurker question--anyone know if there is a stream that just plays Mission Control/Crew audio?  I'd like to hear more of what the crew is saying to the guys on the ground but the NASA/SpaceX stream only played a few snippets yesterday.

Thanks!

[Ethanz913]

SpaceX’s YouTube channel usually has a mission control audio stream. They had one yesterday so I’d expect them to have it again on Saturday.

[rdale]

The NASA TV Media Channel includes all crew audio and doesn’t have any commentators.

[obi-wan]

The NASA TV Media Channel includes all crew audio and doesn’t have any commentators.

So I was monitoring the NASA TV Media Channel yesterday, but it was 90 seconds behind the SpaceX feed. I’m used to one streaming service being 20-30 seconds behind another, but 90 seconds seems excessive - would there be a reason it’s intentionally delayed?

[rdale]

There was no intentional delay - it was within 3 seconds on my system of the main channel. It all depends on the YouTube back end, your player, etc.

[llanitedave]

Small suggestion have the poll for go/no go close an hour before official launch time. I voted no after the flight was called off (just to see if I could still vote)!

So did I.  I felt like I was getting away with something.

[Robotbeat]

There was no intentional delay - it was within 3 seconds on my system of the main channel. It all depends on the YouTube back end, your player, etc.

A lot of times there is unshown buffer that you can fast-forward by setting your playspeed to 2x or whatever. I do that to match feed times when I'm running multiple feeds.

[Elthiryel]

You can even view the current buffer state on YouTube. Right click on the video -> "stats for nerds".

However, even after reducing the buffer to minimum on all the streams, the NASA webcast (the main one, I did not check the media stream) was significantly behind the SpaceX webcast.

[DatSparrow]

I was always under the impression that NASA have a delay on all of there webcasts? So they can cut the feed if there is something they don't like before its broadcasted?

As far as I am aware, its not a local buffer causing the delay on the NASA feeds, but instead a artificial delay on NASA TV that all the platforms pull from (YouTube, Twitch, etc). I remember this specifically from the NASA Earth feeds a while back.

I have always watched the Space X webcasts as they are often way ahead.

[launchwatcher]

Why is the NASAspaceflight archived livestream not available? It says "This video contains content from NBC Universal, who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds."

What?

See https://youtube-creators.googleblog.com/2020/03/protecting-our-extended-workforce-and.html

Fewer humans, more robots doing moderation...

[rdale]

I was always under the impression that NASA have a delay on all of there webcasts?

No. I’m not even sure what they would use that for?

In any event if you watch NASA TV on a direct satellite broadcast you’ll see it’s about as live as you can get

[Rondaz]

NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2: NASA Television Coverage, Weather Update

Anna Heiney Posted on May 28, 2020

NASA and SpaceX now are targeting 3:22 p.m. EDT Saturday, May 30, for the launch of the first commercially built and operated American rocket and spacecraft carrying astronauts to the International Space Station. The first launch attempt, on May 27, was scrubbed due to unfavorable weather conditions. The Falcon 9 rocket, Crew Dragon spacecraft and Launch Complex 39A systems are all in good shape overnight from yesterday’s launch attempt.

Launch coverage on Saturday, May 30, will begin at 11 a.m. on NASA Television, on the web at http://www.nasa.gov/live and here on the blog.

The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and is scheduled to dock to the space station at 10:29 a.m. Sunday, May 31.

The U.S. Air Force 45th Weather Squadron predicts a 40% chance of favorable weather conditions for NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 launch. The primary weather concerns for launch are flight through precipitation, anvil and cumulus clouds.

FORECAST DETAILS

Clouds                      Coverage           Bases (feet)             Tops (feet)
Cumulus                    Scattered            3,000                         12,000
Cirrostratus               Broken              25,000                       28,000

Weather/Visibility:  Rain showers/7 miles
Temperature:  84 degrees

Live NASA coverage is as follows. All times are EDT:

Friday, May 29

10 a.m. – Administrator Countdown Clock Briefing (weather permitting)
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine
Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana
NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren
NASA astronaut Nicole Mann

Saturday, May 30

11 a.m. – NASA TV launch coverage begins (continues through docking)
3:22 p.m. – Liftoff
4:09 p.m. – Crew Dragon phase burn
4:55 p.m. – Far-field manual flight test
TBD p.m. – Astronaut downlink event from Crew Dragon
6:30 p.m. – Postlaunch news conference at Kennedy
Administrator Bridenstine
Kathy Lueders, manager, NASA Commercial Crew Program
SpaceX representative
Kirk Shireman, manager, International Space Station Program
NASA Chief Astronaut Pat Forrester
Mission operational coverage will continue on NASA TV’s Media Channel.

Sunday, May 31

TBD a.m. – Astronaut downlink event from Crew Dragon
10:29 a.m. – Docking
12:45 p.m. – Hatch Open
1:05 p.m. – Welcome ceremony
3:15 p.m. – Post-arrival news conference at Johnson
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine
Johnson Space Center Director Mark Geyer
NASA Chief Astronaut Pat Forrester
Mission operational coverage will continue on NASA TV’s Media Channel.

Monday, June 1

11:15 a.m. – Space Station crew news conference, with NASA astronauts Chris Cassidy, Bob Behnken, and Doug Hurley
12:55 p.m. – SpaceX employee event and Class of 2020 Mosaic presentation, with NASA astronauts Chris Cassidy, Bob Behnken, and Doug Hurley
This will be SpaceX’s final test flight for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and will provide critical data on the performance of the Falcon 9 rocket, Crew Dragon spacecraft, and ground systems, as well as in-orbit, docking, and landing operations.

The test flight also will provide valuable data toward certification of SpaceX’s crew transportation system for regular flights carrying astronauts to and from the space station. SpaceX currently is readying the hardware for the first space station crew rotational mission, which would happen after data from this test flight is reviewed for certification.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/2020/05/28/nasas-spacex-demo-2-nasa-television-coverage-weather-update/

[FinalFrontier]

Good chance of another weather scrub.
Watch it anyway though if they get lucky you don't want to miss it.

[Rondaz]

The toilet of SpaceX's Crew Dragon spaceship is on the 'ceiling'

Hilary Brueck and Dave Mosher May 27, 2020, 9:41 AM

https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-crew-dragon-spaceship-ceiling-toilet-mystery-proprietary-design-2020-5?utm_source=reddit.com

https://i.imgur.com/MR6B7ma.jpg

[Tomness]

The toilet of SpaceX's Crew Dragon spaceship is on the 'ceiling'

Hilary Brueck and Dave Mosher May 27, 2020, 9:41 AM

https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-crew-dragon-spaceship-ceiling-toilet-mystery-proprietary-design-2020-5?utm_source=reddit.com

https://i.imgur.com/MR6B7ma.jpg

Isnt that the hatch to go into the space staton? I was under the impression that the toilet is under the 4 seats up top. The middle bottom seat is take out for the toilet and the other two seats have sleds for cargo or change out for the extra seats.