SpaceX successfully launches two humans into orbit

Post by cma » Sat, May 30, 2020, 11:04 PM UTC

simonh wrote: post #302

cma wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Didn’t shuttle have a larger payload? Up to 8 people and larger cargo. NASA gave a $55million estimate on cost per seat on crew dragon, which would be about $440 million to launch 8 people. Not sure that is factoring in reusability once they are willing to use that for crew missions (or offset price reusing crew boosters on non crewed missions). Another issue with shuttle was reliability though. It may take hundreds…

The shuttle had a payload to LEO capacity of 27 tons, but Falcon Heavy can lift over 60 tons. The problem with the Shuttle was the orbiter itself was enormously heavy.

Post by wolf550e » Sat, May 30, 2020, 11:04 PM UTC

jorblumesea wrote: post #284

tectonic wrote: post #209

This is a huge success for NASA's Commercial Crew Program. Both the total development costs ($1.7B and $2.8B for Crew Dragon and Starliner, respectively) and the per-seat costs ($60-67M and $91-99M) have outperformed all other NASA crewed programs since the early days of the agency. For comparison, development costs for the Space Shuttle were $27.4B, while Orion is estimated at $23.7B. (From https://orbitalindex.com…

But how much of that cost was initial R&D vs what SpaceX was doing? It's hard to compare costs given that it feels like much of NASA space development was science research into how to actually do it, paving the way for future projects. There are many examples of successful commercial programs that could only exist because of huge ("unprofitable") government R&D behind it. Google maps, the entire internet, commercial…

Post by hombre_fatal » Sat, May 30, 2020, 11:10 PM UTC

fermienrico wrote: post #185

bryanlarsen wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are two rows of physical buttons below the touch screens along with a large manual abort lever. The physical buttons are used for manual docking.

And it’s painted black against black backdrop when the decision to pull it happens in milliseconds level. :facepalm: This is what a Martin Baker ejection handle looks like: https://c8.alamy.com/comp/BJTDWG/martin-baker-ejection-seat-... With all due respect to all the engineers that work at SpaceX, the UI of the cockpit has regressed to the point of pure marketing. Same with the suit design, looks like an awful low b…

Post by Gene_Parmesan » Sat, May 30, 2020, 11:10 PM UTC

kerng wrote: post #273

sandworm101 wrote: post #160

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>> into orbit in a spacecraft that was designed from the ground up to be a commercial venture. If we are talking pure commercial travel, it is a vehicle without a destination. The ISS is definitely not a commercial project. There are lots of reasons for the ISS to exist, and they have changed over time, but it has never been a money-making venture. While the dragons certainly do come in under budget, they are a more…

I think one of the main priorities is military supremacy. It might not appear as that from a bit away, but that should not be overlooked. NASA's boss really highlighted some of that indirectly today as well with the increased funding to build out Space Force and some of that money goes to SpaceX obviously. So commercial, yes, but not like a car. More like a tank or fighter jet.

Post by boardwaalk » Sat, May 30, 2020, 11:10 PM UTC

frakkingcylons wrote: post #152

jl6 wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to detract one iota from this amazing achievement, but what definition of sustainable are you thinking of? This was still paid for by the government.

The sheer cost of launches is much lower on a Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon versus the Shuttle. Amortized per-launch cost for the Shuttle was about $1.5B [0]. The cost of the Demo-2 mission today with 2 astronauts costs $110M [1]. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_program#Budget [1]: This article states the per-astronaut cost paid by NASA on a Crew Dragon mission is $55M, compared to $86M on Soyuz: https://…