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

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

#261

Post by bpodgursky »

e2021 wrote: post #256
bpodgursky wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand this sentiment, but if SpaceX pulls this off, it's going to be an order of magnitude cheaper and more sustainable than the incredibly awesome but one-off and flashy Apollo (or even shuttle) missions. Crew Dragon is not visually BIGGER than a Saturn V, but it is in a lot of ways a firmer footstep into space than we've ever taken before. SpaceX's program isn't going to dry up as soon as the cold war is ove…

> it's going to be an order of magnitude cheaper Soyuz is $60m per passenger I think? Are they saying dragon would be $6m per passenger per launch? I find that hard to believe...

Soyuz has done a good job of making spaceflight routine, but unfortunately it's a bit of a dead end (if only for political / organizational reasons, but also the technology hasn't been updated in decades).

I was directly comparing to the Shuttle, which cost more like $450mm per launch.

And yeah, maybe Crew Dragon won't drop to $6mm, but Starship (next) pretty plausibly could, if it works.

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

#262

Post by thelean12 »

Koshkin wrote: post #252
thelean12 wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, I'll expand. We both have limited information. I assume that the professionals at SpaceX and NASA have prioritized safety and usability, while also introducing a sci-fi vibe. This is a reasonable position. You, however, take a conspiracy theory (the literal definition) angle that SpaceX have reduced the safety and usability of their module in order to look cooler. Do you see why this is not a reasonable positio…

Thing is, at a minimum the "vibe" increases the cost, but financial constraints aren't going away, so...

Says who? Or are you just guessing?

You'd also have to ignore the PR benefits, which certainly corresponds to more money down the line.

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

#263

Post by m4rtink »

tboerstad wrote: post #255
TrainedMonkey wrote: post #188

Here is pretty accurate in terms of spacecraft UI docking simulator: https://iss-sim.spacex.com/ Astronauts will be using similar for manual piloting demo before docking.

I'm watching the livestream now. Some of the UX the astronauts are using are large touch screens. I hope they practiced on tablets

Safety critical functions have dedicated physical controls, the touch interface replaces just the hundreds of individual switches and buttons you would otherwise need for all the non critical stuff you need to control.

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

#264

Post by mempko »

jccooper wrote: post #238
mempko wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Today is a melancholy feeling. Happy to see SpaceX sending people to space, but sad a decade was lost. EDIT: I spoke about that we had a regression, I meant that NASA lost a capability and just got it back.

This is actually a brand new capability for NASA: human spaceflight that isn't ruinously expensive.

Federal government has no limits to spending.

This isn't about cost, it's about privatizing space the same way the internet was privatized. Take technology developed in the public sector and allow the private sector to take it.

With the privatization of space, you will get both the same upsides and downsides of privatization.

The only difference between the past, where NASA paid private contractors to build Apollo and the Shuttle is now they are paying a private contractor (SpaceX) but SpaceX gets to sell the tech for others to use besides the government.

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

#265

Post by Tuna-Fish »

jcun4128 wrote: post #105

curious those "NACA-duct-looking" things at the bottom of the capsule doesn't seem to have any holes... what are they for? edit: part of controlled airflow maybe when coming down in reverse/re-entry?

They are the SuperDraco thrusters, for launch escape. There are no holes because there are covers that get blown away by the thrusters, to protect them during re-entry if they are not used.

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

#266

Post by DennisP »

q3k wrote: post #247
jedberg wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those space suits look so cool, don't they?

I don't know, they look kitschy to me - as if someone designed them just to look 'cool' and futuristic instead of utilitarian, like a fashion statement.

An astronaut on TV just said they're designed to be slim and do exactly what's needed in this case: emergency life support in case the capsule loses pressure. They're custom fit, they don't have a lot of doodads hanging off them, I'm guessing you wouldn't use them for a spacewalk, but for a launch they get the job done and don't take up a lot of room.

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

#267

Post by [deleted] »

minxomat wrote: post #226
jedberg wrote: post #204

I watched the first Space Shuttle launch live, I watched Challenger live. I watched the last shuttle launch live. I was sad then, realizing that America was losing launch capability on that day. I can't tell you how exited I am to watch America's return to launch capability. Edit: Disappointed at the scrub, but I know a lot of these weather rules were put in place because of Challenger, so I understand. Looking forwa…

> America's return to lunch capability Perfection.

[deleted]

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

#268

Post by m4rtink »

ag56 wrote: post #242
finger wrote: post #161

I see they are using touch screens. What would they do if the screens froze?

And what happens during launch when — I assume — everything starts vibrating wildly? They better be enormous virtual buttons.

Actually I remember reading an article mentioning that they use vibration data from accelerometters to slightly shift content on thescreen, thus preventing the screen from appearing blurry to the crew during the launch. Pretty clever. :)

But indeed, the launch is automated and for any the few important manual thing (basically just manual launch abort trigger) they have separate physical controls.

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

#269

Post by NikolaeVarius »

bpodgursky wrote: post #261
e2021 wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it's going to be an order of magnitude cheaper Soyuz is $60m per passenger I think? Are they saying dragon would be $6m per passenger per launch? I find that hard to believe...

Soyuz has done a good job of making spaceflight routine, but unfortunately it's a bit of a dead end (if only for political / organizational reasons, but also the technology hasn't been updated in decades). I was directly comparing to the Shuttle, which cost more like $450mm per launch. And yeah, maybe Crew Dragon won't drop to $6mm, but Starship (next) pretty plausibly could, if it works.

The RD-180 is an extremely high performance engine. It first flew in 2000.
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