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SpaceX headed to the ISS tomorrow

nasa.gov

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Re: SpaceX headed to the ISS tomorrow

#11

Post by mmaunder »

cryptoz wrote: post #7

I can't wait! SpaceX is the most amazing company right now. They're work is the exact opposite of the trivial-to-start social networking apps, the tedium of online advertising. They want to send people to Mars . And they're launching to the ISS tomorrow, the most expensive object ever built by humanity. They have the world's trust. They have the world's best engineers. And they have some intense ambition and lots of…

And best of luck getting your job there. If I were younger I'd do the same thing. The mission tomorrow is I think the beginning of the privatization of space exploration.

Re: SpaceX headed to the ISS tomorrow

#12

Post by timjahn »

mkr-hn wrote: post #2

There's a live discussion on the launch here: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/edu_flash.html

Watching this live discussion is fascinating. There's a teacher who teaches 7 and 8 year olds asking how their love for Legos and video games could translate into a career in space exploration.

A career in space exploration. That's real today.

Just imagine how much more real it will be when those 7 and 8 year olds are all grown up.

Amazing!

Re: SpaceX headed to the ISS tomorrow

#14

Post by dasmoth »

mikeash wrote: post #8

I'm impressed that NASA is allowing this. Can you imagine what it would be like to be the guy who has to sign off on that decision? Even if you have every confidence, imagining what would happen if things went wrong?

This mission has been planned for a long, long time.

There have been several delays for more testing. At the end of the day, it seems that getting the software right was the biggest deal, but they've done many many simulation runs.

There's also a substantial on-orbit demonstration before Dragon is allowed anywhere near ISS.

There's still a lot that can go wrong, but almost all of it will result in a decision to de-orbit Dragon rather than going ahead with ISS docking.

Nonetheless,

Re: SpaceX headed to the ISS tomorrow

#15

Post by ceejayoz »

mikeash wrote: post #8

I'm impressed that NASA is allowing this. Can you imagine what it would be like to be the guy who has to sign off on that decision? Even if you have every confidence, imagining what would happen if things went wrong?

By the time it's anywhere near the station, it'll be moving at a pretty small speed relative to the ISS. The station's going to manually grab and pull in the spacecraft to avoid any automated docking "oopsies". Beyond those, the risk is pretty squarely in SpaceX's court.

Re: SpaceX headed to the ISS tomorrow

#16

Post by dasmoth »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #4

I hope it will be featured live on NASA TV.

There will also be live streaming on the SpaceX website. They've invested in better video streaming infrastructure since the COTS1 launch, so hopefully this will stand up to demand. Everything worked well during the static-fire test a couple of weeks ago -- which is obviously less popular than the actual launch, but still drew in a fair few viewers.

Re: SpaceX headed to the ISS tomorrow

#17

Post by ericxb »

The SpaceX website has a pdf with mission details. Here is the table of contents:

3 Mission Highlights 4 Mission Overview 6 Dragon Recovery Operations 7 Mission Objectives 9 Mission Timeline 11 Dragon Cargo Manifest 13 NASA Slides – Mission Profile, Rendezvous, Maneuvers, Re-Entry and Recovery 15 Overview of the International Space Station 17 Overview of NASA’s COTS Program 19 SpaceX Company Overview 21 SpaceX Leadership – Musk & Shotwell Bios 23 SpaceX Launch Manifest - A list of upcoming missions 25 SpaceX Facilities 27 Dragon Overview 29 Falcon 9 Overview 31 45th Space Wing Fact Sheet

http://www.spacex.com/downloads/COTS-2-Press-Kit-5-14-12.pdf

Re: SpaceX headed to the ISS tomorrow

#18

Post by baq »

vessenes wrote: post #5

In short, they will be launching 1200 pounds of supplies, remotely doing a bunch of maneuvers designed to prove to NASA that they can get around safely in space, and if those go OK, docking with the ISS. This is so much cooler than a facebook IPO, I must say -- commercial US robot rocket ISS reloading. Come on!!

of course it's cooler than FB IPO. on one side, we have a bunch of guys selling ads. on the other, the stars.

Re: SpaceX headed to the ISS tomorrow

#19

Post by wolf550e »

mikeash wrote: post #8

I'm impressed that NASA is allowing this. Can you imagine what it would be like to be the guy who has to sign off on that decision? Even if you have every confidence, imagining what would happen if things went wrong?

When the Japanese HTV resupply vehicle was designed to do this same mission (being berthed with the robotic arm to US segment instead of docking like Russian Progress or ESA's ATV), the Japanese wanted to dock on their first launch. NASA said "do you really value the lives of our astronauts so little?" and demanded this test program. SpaceX have to pass the same test NASA had for JAXA back in the day. (source - JAXA video on HTV program. Please link if you can find it again because I can't.)

Re: SpaceX headed to the ISS tomorrow

#20

Post by revorad »

cryptoz wrote: post #7

I can't wait! SpaceX is the most amazing company right now. They're work is the exact opposite of the trivial-to-start social networking apps, the tedium of online advertising. They want to send people to Mars . And they're launching to the ISS tomorrow, the most expensive object ever built by humanity. They have the world's trust. They have the world's best engineers. And they have some intense ambition and lots of…

If you don't mind, please write up about your interview experience.
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