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SpaceX headed to the ISS tomorrow

nasa.gov

21–30 of 82 posts

Re: SpaceX headed to the ISS tomorrow

#21
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.

I'm imagining something like a thruster getting stuck on at a distance where it's far enough to build up some speed but close enough to have a decent chance of hitting. I know the relative speeds aren't high, but the ISS isn't exactly heavily armored either. I doubt it would take much of a speed difference in a collision to do some real damage.

I'm sure the odds of anything like that going wrong are extremely low, but not zero, and so I admire the fortitude it would take to give a "yes" decision to this even so.

Re: SpaceX headed to the ISS tomorrow

#23
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…

Please continue trying, your head is definitely in the right place and I'm sure you'll be a great asset when you get to where they need you to be.

I am such a huge Elon Musk fan that there really are no words to convey. When you think of the phrase "anything is possible if you put your mind to it" this guy is the true personification of it. It is also a personal dream of mine to be able to work with him some day.

When I was young I was thinking how much of a shame it was I missed out on the 60s. But then I got to live through seeing Steve Job do what he did (I was born less than 2 months before Apple was incorporated)... and now I'm seeing this guy just tear it up in multiple industries cracking some really difficult and important problems. I'm totally dazed; what a great role model.

Re: SpaceX headed to the ISS tomorrow

#24
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…

I would love a sysadmin position there. A lot. I do't have the Windows background that they prefer, though. Maybe later.

Re: SpaceX headed to the ISS tomorrow

#26
post #18
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.

Man, I've missed that attitude. My childhood was in the 80s, when the dream was still only in its early phases of being strangled by the monstrosity that the whole NASA system has become. We could use a bit of optimism about the future.

May history show this as the beginning of the second space age.

Re: SpaceX headed to the ISS tomorrow

#27
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I'm imagining something like a thruster getting stuck on at a distance where it's far enough to build up some speed but close enough to have a decent chance of hitting. I know the relative speeds aren't high, but the ISS isn't exactly heavily armored either. I doubt it would take much of a speed difference in a collision to do some real damage. I'm sure the odds of anything like that going wrong are extremely low, bu…

While that window is non-zero, it is also very, very small.

Re: SpaceX headed to the ISS tomorrow

#28
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…

"They want to send people to Mars" I was actually thinking the other day about the people alive today who might be household names in 500 years - if Elon Musk achieves his goals for reaching Mars then his is probably the only name on that list.

I don't think he'll need to get to Mars to be on that list.

Lastingly transforming the economics, reusability, and safety of rocket and vehicle technology in his short lifetime will be enough.

Musk and Spacex are already on track to benefit humanity 500 years from now and beyond.

Re: SpaceX headed to the ISS tomorrow

#29
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…

I would love a sysadmin position there. A lot. I do't have the Windows background that they prefer, though. Maybe later.

Please tell me their spaceship doesn't run on windows.

Re: SpaceX headed to the ISS tomorrow

#30
I'll add my voice to the chorus of folks gushing about how awesome this is, but here's a list of reason on just WHY this is so awesome.

Straight off the top, this is only the third launch of the Falcon 9. This rocket alone represents a dramatic disruption of the entire orbital launch industry, offering to make launch of both humans and cargo cheaper than it's ever been by an incredibly wide margin. If this rocket proves to be a reliable workhorse and proves that the existing cost structure is workable then it will both dramatically lower the cost of access to space and drive billions of dollars of revenue to SpaceX.

Second, this represents a significant advance in being able to deliver supplies to ISS, largely replacing a vehicle that is vastly more expensive than the Dragon Cargo. And finally putting American spaceflight back in the game of ISS resupply post-Shuttle.

Third, the Dragon Cargo shares an enormous amount of heritage with the manned Dragon capsule in development. As they prove out elements of the vehicle design in unmanned ISS resupply missions they are effectively proving out the manned version as well. The manned Dragon capsule will represent a huge leap for the US space program, catapulting us back into having the capability to send crew into orbit and to the ISS.

Fourth, given the costs of Falcon/Dragon flights they should be enormously disruptive to manned spaceflight, representing a vastly cheaper way to put humans in orbit even than the Russian Soyuz. That will likely translate into far more people beingable to go into orbit and the development of a sustained orbital tourism industry on an impressive scale which will fuel further innovation and drive down cost of access to space even more.

Finally, all of this is being done by a private company working toward its own ends rather than a company on a strict government contract. This represents a new paradigm for launch vehicles and for manned spaceflight, potentially transforming the nature of the entire endeavor into something that is self-sustaining regardless of government enthusiasm for spaceflight.

In short, this represents nothing less than fundamentally rebooting the entire space program going all the way back to Sputnik, and it could quite readily represent the opening up of spaceflight for commercial applications, space science and exploration, and for manned exploration and colonization to a degree that will make the scifi dreamers of our past look like forecasters.

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