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SpaceX NASA returning human spaceflight to United States today (canceled)

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131–140 of 340 posts

Re: SpaceX NASA returning human spaceflight to United States today (canceled)

#131
post #24

How long will the approach to the ISS take? Previous unmanned Dragon missions take ~1 day to approach and dock but I can't imagine they will subject the astronauts to the same.

Similar - about 18-19hrs before docking. You should be able to watch it live tomorrow morning. It's funny that it takes that long, since they could theoretically make it up there in like half an hour or so. Here's a good overview of what's gonna happen today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr_zfpzGxQQ

Half an hour is very optimistic! The Soyuz expedited rendezvous takes hours. https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/21819/how-did-soyu...

Re: SpaceX NASA returning human spaceflight to United States today (canceled)

#132
post #28
post #16

The cold war is back, the fashion is back and out of all the things that are back I am glad that the USA is back in space flights. Wish you the best luck and hope that this will lead to some serious competition. Soyuz is great but we need to do more as species.

> do more as species Space exploration and exploitation is awesome, but shouldn't the first items on the "do more as species" todo list be about taking care of earth?

All efforts have diminishing returns. If the tiny amount of resources our species spends on space exploration were re-directed towards taking care of Earth you wouldn't see any difference there. And also, efforts in space benefit the Earth a lot through things like comms and weather satellites and by learning more about our come by comparing it with other planets. Comparing the atmosphere of Earth with that of Venus and Mars, for instance, told us a lot about the importance of the ozone layer and we might have only just stopped the production of CFCs if it hadn't been for space exploration.

Re: SpaceX NASA returning human spaceflight to United States today (canceled)

#133
post #125

I assume the astronauts and everyone involved is tested daily for COVID-19. I am sure that bringing the virus to the IIS would be disastrous. Anyone has any insights on the measures taken to prevent it? This Verge article[0] appears to describe the preventative steps to be less severe than I'd expect. [0] https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/25/21264868/spacex-nasa-laun...

Ever since one of the astronauts got sick on one of the Gemini missions the astronauts have undergone quarantines for a period before going up into space.

And still Ken Mattingly was pulled from Apollo 13 3 days before takeoff because of a potential exposure to measles. In the live video, most of the technicians and even Musk are wearing masks, most of them staying at some distance though. I doubt they were all quarantined for the last 2 weeks.

Re: SpaceX NASA returning human spaceflight to United States today (canceled)

#135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Crew Dragon touchscreen monitors compensate for vibration by oscillating the image, enhancing readability especially during reentry. Analog gauges are unable to do that. To say 'sci-fi aesthetic is the cancer of our society' is empty hyperbole. The sci-fi aesthetic mirrors the age in which we live. Additionally, which sci-fi aesthetic is so ruinous? Is it Star Wars with all it's switch, levers, and knobs? Is it 2…

You don't think that SpaceX's new spacesuit and cockpit design has any sci-fi decorations?

I think that your insinuation that a significant number of those sci-fi aesthetics were implemented at a detriment to usability or safety is completely incorrect.

Re: SpaceX NASA returning human spaceflight to United States today (canceled)

#137
post #87

For those who aren't giant space nerds (like me) the very best place to get info on SpaceX and SpaceX launches has always been Reddit's /r/SpaceX[0]. The launch today (like all launches) has a dedicated thread[1] with mods keeping all details up to date, all links that matter organized. It's 100% not sponsored or run by SpaceX, but honestly it's probably doing a better job than a corporate PR side could manage. Fanta…

> It's 100% not sponsored or run by SpaceX but it feels like it is sometimes

There are a lot of fanboys in there for sure, but /r/spacex sometimes gets close to industrial espionage.

Re: SpaceX NASA returning human spaceflight to United States today (canceled)

#138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't think that SpaceX's new spacesuit and cockpit design has any sci-fi decorations?

I think that your insinuation that a significant number of those sci-fi aesthetics were implemented at a detriment to usability or safety is completely incorrect.

Could you please elaborate more on why it is completely incorrect? I think the opposite from what I've seen. Touch screens in a space capsule cockpit with UI and fonts that appear to be more of a pizzaz than functional. I think that SpaceX has leaned too much towards decoration while presumably sacrificing a tremendous amount of functional aspects. I don't know for sure because I've not operated those systems but I've seen Everyday Astronaut's YT tour of the Dragon capsule and it is a sad sight. My guess is neither have any of us used those systems, these are observations from limited information.

I am also willing to bet, SpaceX UI designers have never even touched this document: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19940023266

Re: SpaceX NASA returning human spaceflight to United States today (canceled)

#140
post #49
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bet one day these damn panels are gonna kill a crew. Non haptic controls in critical systems like cars, planes, and rockets are an insane fad.

This. Maybe I'm just ignorant about the reliability of the screens that they're using, but those sure scream single point of failure to me.

Man if only they had 2 of the most experience pilots in the world that could test and validate ever one of the design decisions and could influence the design to their liking.

If those guys had also space flight experience and could review all the engineering done on the capsule, that would be the way to do it.

Oh, that is exactly what happens.

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