SpaceX Falcon 9 / Dragon 2 : SpX-DM2 - EOM/Return: August, 2020 : DISCUSSION

[Herb Schaltegger]

Have not seen any info on landing accuracy?

We get some hints from GO Navigator taking 25 minutes to arrive. She was presumably stationed at the center of a predicted landing ellipse, and travels maybe 10kn (5 m/s)? So she was maybe 7.5 km away?

I find it interesting that they can parachute a fairing into the net on the recovery ship but they can't get closer than 7.5 km to the dragon parachuting down. Is that a safety factor, or a speed difference in the ships or a little of both/neither?

Safety factor - the fairings don't have hypergols in them, nor four giant floating chutes and lines than can tangle props and rudders.

The fast boats were on-scene within a couple minutes. Accuracy was fine.

[MrFlippant]

Have not seen any info on landing accuracy?

We get some hints from GO Navigator taking 25 minutes to arrive. She was presumably stationed at the center of a predicted landing ellipse, and travels maybe 10kn (5 m/s)? So she was maybe 7.5 km away?

I find it interesting that they can parachute a fairing into the net on the recovery ship but they can't get closer than 7.5 km to the dragon parachuting down. Is that a safety factor, or a speed difference in the ships or a little of both/neither?

I don't know, but my guess is that it has to do with the type of parachutes. Falcon fairings use aerofoil-style parachutes which can be steered and thereby directed very accurately to a rendezvous with Ms Tree or Ms Chief. The chutes on Dragon are more standard round parachutes, which cannot manouever and so simply fall straight down, making their exact landing location somewhat less accurate.

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[Elmar Moelzer]

Congrats to SpaceX and NASA! What a great mission! Just wonderful!

[abaddon]

Presumably the boat was stationed OUTSIDE the landing ellipse.  No matter how unlikely, it would be a bummer if the boat happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and ruined a perfectly good mission...

[kevinof]

To those wondering what can be done about the spectator fleet - The U.S. CG can stop, board and detain any U.S. flagged vessel anywhere in the World. Doesn't have to be inside the 12 mile limit.

However I suspect that unless CG (at Nasa's request) declare a keep out zone, there is little that can be done. A couple of tickets handed out is not going to put off anyone.

[Rocket Science]

"Excitingly-boring" mission NASA and Spacex, just the way I like them. Congrats, well done!

[olemars]

To those wondering what can be done about the spectator fleet - The U.S. CG can stop, board and detain any U.S. flagged vessel anywhere in the World. Doesn't have to be inside the 12 mile limit.

However I suspect that unless CG (at Nasa's request) declare a keep out zone, there is little that can be done. A couple of tickets handed out is not going to put off anyone.

I guess the main cause is having the landing zones so close to shore it's within range of anyone with a daycruiser or open pleasure craft, which I understood is a NASA requirement, the landing zone must be within helicopter range of a hospital.

[mlindner]

Someone has put a false copyright claim on the SpaceX stream and it has been taken down and it's no longer visible.

[quagmire]

Press Conference confirms the boats should NOT have been there. If there was any question of if there was permission for them to be in the area.

[TomH]

I was a little surprised that they didn't hose down the D2 with fresh water prior to hatch opening just to get the salt residue off. It would cost only pennies and keeping salt as far away as possible is a prudent thing.

I've taken several cruises and every time the ship is in port the exposed hull is fully hosed and brushed off. Salt's catalytic and corrosive properties are something worth avoiding.

[AndyH]

The audio glitches aren't helping. 

[mlindner]

https://twitter.com/SciGuySpace/status/1290027872199962624

sounds like bettina dialed into the news conference via chromecast on her living room TV.

[yg1968]

I was surprised how negative the press conference was. I was expecting it to be more positive than that. Administrative Bridenstine kind of saved it with his closing comments.

[AbuSimbel]

Very satisfying to see Eric Berger quoted by NASA’s administrator in his closing remarks after all the hate he has received (and continues to receive) for reporting the truth and believing in a better future for the space industry than the one we would create by sticking to traditional approaches.

[punder]

No press conference ever goes perfectly, and somehow I imagine everyone involved is exhausted. I am, and I had no responsibility whatsoever.

mlinder said nothing misogynistic. Amazing overreaction. For what it’s worth, my wife said the same thing. So what, people can’t always be at their best. But we should move on.

[HVM]

Have not seen any info on landing accuracy?

Quick notam over marinetraffic.com image ~5km?

[JimO]

Any news on the splashdown point versus the aim point, and the NOTAMS warning area? Were the private boats outside of the NOTAMS zone at splashdown? 

[punder]

Bonus press questions??

[yg1968]

Very satisfying to see Eric Berger quoted by NASA’s administrator in his closing remarks after all the hate he has received (and continues to receive) for reporting the truth and believing in a better future for the space industry than the one we would create by sticking to traditional approaches.

Here is Eric Berger's tweet that the Administrator was talking about.

It's freaking cool as hell to have a spacecraft coming home tomorrow. Between Dragon, Starliner, Orion, and Starship, may NASA never have a gap in human spaceflight capability again.

https://twitter.com/SciGuySpace/status/1289726364464099328

[punder]

Very satisfying to see Eric Berger quoted by NASA’s administrator in his closing remarks after all the hate he has received (and continues to receive) for reporting the truth and believing in a better future for the space industry than the one we would create by sticking to traditional approaches.

Bridenstine takes every opportunity to talk about commercial space. He was doing it long before becoming Administrator, actually. I bet he and Berger are broadly in agreement.

But the moment Bridenstine goes off the reservation w.r.t. [certain of those traditional approaches, which were named but now are not] he’s done. He simply cannot go there. Berger can.