What I find very interesting is the other "record" that would be broken.QuoteFly further from Earth than anyone in the last 50 years".That would be a world altitude record for a grammatical error in the 21st century. It should be "farther". But seriously....The highest the Shuttle went was 620 km when servicing Hubble.So the flight is planned to over 620 km.An interesting choice for a flight under one week.This would probably land in the ocean, like Dragon 2 missions to the ISS will have by then.But could they land in the desert, using SuperDracos and coming to rest directly on the heat shield?
Fly further from Earth than anyone in the last 50 years".
Does dragon even have a good toilet?
The Dragon low-Earth orbit spaceflight will fly a similar mission profile to the Gemini XI mission. Gemini XI was a NASA mission flown in 1966. Astronauts Pete Conrad and Richard Gordon spent 3 days in low-Earth orbit completing 44 orbits of the Earth. The spacecraft flew an elliptical orbit, with an altitude of 300 km as its closest point to Earth, and 1,350 km at its highest.The price for this mission is in the same range as past private orbital spaceflights. Expected launch: Late 2021 - Mid 2022 from Cape CanaveralFlight duration: up to 5 daysTraining: a few weeks conducted in the USASpacecraft: SpaceX Crew Dragon
Well apart from the very interesting toilet question, some other questions: Is going to be a new dragon or a refurbished one? I think the rocket is going to be a flight proven, to low the cost. Are they going to do just 1 orbit, 2, or 3 , more?
This mission is a nice stepping stone though for SpaceX, between ISS crewed Dragon ops and the circumlunar Starship flight. I think price will be the big issue for what the demand is. A few days in a capsule is rather different from a week or more on the ISS. Not sure the higher altitude of this Dragon flight will be a big draw, although the drastically reduced training time (weeks not months) may bring in a number of people who baulk at the time needed to prepare to visit the ISS.
Now I just need to borrow 52 million dollars and I'm set
Per seat price for a full group of four not quite that much (not dramatically less, but significant enough to note). Definitive pricing confidential, and dependent on client specific requests etc
Several potential customers already. It’s a new concept, as ppl become more familiar and educated more qualified candidates will emerge. Firm commitments likelier after first crew launch in a couple months.
Dragon in this profile allows up to 5 days. 3 days is probably ideal, 40-50 orbits or so.
Hummmm sounds really intriguing May be there is a frequent flyer discount
It's hard to say no to you Anousheh
I’m in! How does that discount work?
How about putting a Starship up there for living space, presuming that Starship human flights will take much longer to qualify than its initial cargo capability?So put a Starship up there as an alternative space station, and then fly tourists up there for extended visits via Dragon.
Quote from: M.E.T. on 02/19/2020 12:14 pmHow about putting a Starship up there for living space, presuming that Starship human flights will take much longer to qualify than its initial cargo capability?So put a Starship up there as an alternative space station, and then fly tourists up there for extended visits via Dragon.Can also double as rescue and backup return vehicle. Not sure on its in orbit life. With 2 dragons they can be rotated.Ideally launch Dragon on SS then SpaceX get 3 for 1LVSpace habitatBackup crew vehicle.
It states here the price is likely to be $10-15 million.https://www.space.com/spacex-crew-dragon-will-fly-space-tourists.html
