SpaceX Falcon 9 / Dragon 2 : SpX-DM2 : May 30, 2020 : DISCUSSION

[ChrML]

Wow, that was great! I'm also impressed by Jim Bridenstine and his leadership. He's great, and certainly pushing the right buttons for Starship to support moon missions in the future.

[haywoodfloyd]

Check another one off the bucket list.

[Hog]

Congrats America.  You can rotate the crews of your space station using your own vehicles. 9 far too long years!

[Kabloona]

@NASA posted this tweet and then deleted after a few seconds for some reason

https://twitter.com/NASA/status/1266816557726027776

Looks like the text got garbled. Probably should have read "thanks to all for the great ride..."

[archipeppe68]

Congratulations to NASA and SpaceX for such historic achievement!
To properly celebrate such nice moment I enclose some of mine artworks: go America! Go NASA! Go SpaceX!

Such artworks are updated respect what is published inside my latest book "Spacecraft" (realized with Michael H. Gorn and published by Voyageur Press as part of Quarto U.S.).

[Metalskin]

Just a quick note, it's been reported that the SpaceX feed is not broadcasting anymore. That is not true. They still have coverage.

[cebri]

Congrats to NASA and SpaceX. Truly an historic moment for space exploration, I hope that Dragon not only gives NASA astronauts a safe ride into space but to a lot of people in the future, so we will remember this as one of the first steps to make space accessible for a lot more people.

Congrats again NASA.
Congrats SpaceX.
Congrats to all that supported this program.

Boeing, you are next. 

[kevinof]

Its on the Nasa youtube channel or on their website. It's a joint Nasa/SpaceX gig. They said it will be full coverage right through to docking.

Just a quick note, it's been reported that the SpaceX feed is not broadcasting anymore. That is not true. They still have coverage.

[Rondaz]

SpaceX Demo-2: Crew Dragon Reaches Orbit, News Conference at 6:30 p.m. EDT

Anna Heiney Posted on May 30, 2020

The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley on their way to the International Space Station has safely reached orbit, and the nosecone has been opened.

At 4:09 p.m. EDT, the Crew Dragon will conduct a phase burn to put it on its trajectory to meet up with the space station tomorrow for docking at 10:29 a.m.

At 4:55 p.m., Behnken and Hurley will take control of Crew Dragon for the first of two manual flight tests, demonstrating their ability to control the spacecraft should an issue with the spacecraft’s automated flight ever arise.

At 5:55 p.m., the crew members may broadcast an update from the Crew Dragon.

At 6:30 p.m., the NASA Administrator will host a postlaunch news conference from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Participants in the briefing will be:

Administrator Bridenstine
Kathy Lueders
SpaceX representative
Kirk Shireman
NASA Chief Astronaut Pat Forrester

NASA Television and the agency’s website will air the news conference.

Crew Dragon will perform a series of phasing maneuvers to gradually approach and autonomously dock with the International Space Station on Sunday, May 31, at approximately 10:29 a.m. EDT. Click here to see a high-resolution version of the graphic at right, explaining the Crew Dragon’s approach to the station.

After a successful docking, hatches between the two spacecraft will be opened at 12:45 p.m. Crew members Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken will be welcomed aboard the International Space Station and become members of the Expedition 63 crew, joining astronaut Chris Cassidy and cosmonauts Ivan Vagner and Anatoly Ivanishin. Behnken and Hurley will perform tests on Crew Dragon in addition to conducting research and other tasks with the space station crew.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/2020/05/30/spacex-demo-2-crew-dragon-reaches-orbit-news-conference-at-630-p-m-edt/

[Metalskin]

Its on the Nasa youtube channel or on their website. It's a joint Nasa/SpaceX gig. They said it will be full coverage right through to docking.

Just a quick note, it's been reported that the SpaceX feed is not broadcasting anymore. That is not true. They still have coverage.

You posted the following in the update thread:

Coverage from SpaceX/Nasa is continuing on the Nasa TV channel on the Nasa site or Nasa on Youtube - Not on the SpaceX Youtube channel.

That is incorrect. The SpaceX Youtube channel is still broadcasting.

[wolfpack]

Quick question - what is a phasing burn?

Just adjusting altitude and orbital period a little bit to “catch up” with the ISS.

How does that differ from a boost burn?

The way they’re describing it it’s the first burn at apogee that’s going to raise the perigee to get closer to the ISS’s Orbit but 10km lower.

[otter]

Congrats SpaceX!
Congrats NASA!

[John Santos]

Hey does anyone know why they announce "FTS armed" right before take off?   

Since they are doing crew-first loading, I thought FTS is armed when the rocket starts fueling.

FTS is the Falcon "Flight Termination System".  What gets armed before fueling is the Dragon abort system (LAS).  Different system, does different things.  The FTS monitors the Falcon performance, detects things like engine failure, premature shutdown, off course, fuel tank rupture, etc.   The FTS is a standard part of all Falcons; it is not a special system just for crewed launches.  If one of many FTS events occurs, it initiates an abort (tells the Dragon LAS to fire), shuts down the engines, separates the payload (in this case, Dragon), opens pressure relief valves, etc.  On many launchers, the FTS fires small explosive charges to deliberately rupture the fuel tanks, to ensure all the fuel burns up high in the air rather than raining down on the ground below, and to ensure drag prevents the rocket from  careening out of the safety zone.  I don't think Falcon uses explosive charges, just opens the valves.

The Dragon LAS fires the Super Dracos to separate from the Falcon and get a safe distance away (and above the ground if it is a pad or low-altitude abort), selects a landing site, steers towards it, separates the trunk, deploys the parachutes, etc.  The Dragon LAS can be triggered by the astronauts, by the ground, by the Falcon's FTS, or by internal sensors on the Dragon.

The exact sequence and timing of events in both the FTS and LAS is governed by circumstances (still on the pad, one of 8 or 9 stages during launch, etc.).  Not all the events happen in all abort scenarios.  For example, if they abort from the pad during fueling, they probably wouldn't initiate the Falcon FTS.  The first option, while Dragon separates and flies off to land in the ocean off the beach, would be to just stop fueling, release any excessive pressure in the tanks, pump the fuel and LOX back into the storage tanks, and hope to avoid an explosion.  (That makes it MUCH easier to figure out what went wrong and avoids doing major damage to the pad.)  On the other hand, if the 2nd stage fails but doesn't blow up in the last few seconds before SECO, they wouldn't fire the Super  Dracos, but just separate the Dragon and use its regular Draco thrusters to reach orbit (Abort To Orbit, or ATO.)  There are many other possibilities for both the FTS and Dragon LAS during various stages of the launch.

[Oersted]

CONGRATS USA, SPACEX, NASA, BOB & DOUG, GODSPEED!

The whole launch looked so smooth but still I felt very tense during stage burns. Very surprised to see that the SpaceX coverage was so focused on the 1st stage return and landing. I couldn't care less about the first stage today!!

I was surprised and impressed to see that the President and Vice-president were looking on from the roof of the VAB. That's showing support.

Big day for the US and the Free world. After 9 years a democracy has human flight access to space again.

[Stan-1967]

[Quote deleted]

Funny, I wasn't offended at all by Bridenstine when he immediately showed respect & gave honor to Maj. Gen. Charles Bolden, his predecessor.

[Metalskin]

[Quote deleted]

Funny, I wasn't offended at all by Bridenstine when he immediately showed respect & gave honor to Maj. Gen. Charles Bolden, his predecessor.

I agree. He also credited the government with their support, which demonstrates his political awareness imho.

[kevinof]

he sounded emotional at the start and gave credit rather than taking it.

[Quote deleted]

Funny, I wasn't offended at all by Bridenstine when he immediately showed respect & gave honor to Maj. Gen. Charles Bolden, his predecessor.

[ShaunML09]

Is there a reason no video?  I thought I heard something about it during one of the calls but I'm not sure. 

[atsf90east]

To paraphrase the message that was sent to the crew of Apollo 8, "Bob and Doug, thank you for saving 2020"

[jpo234]

Is there a reason no video?  I thought I heard something about it during one of the calls but I'm not sure.

Phase burn complete.  Nominal burn!  The Boost burn is next, 1h 24m from now.
Ground crew has disabled cameras as of this time.  Go to doff suits!  Go to reconfig cabin for on-orbit ops.