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SpaceX to Send Privately Crewed Dragon Spacecraft Beyond the Moon Next Year

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Re: SpaceX to Send Privately Crewed Dragon Spacecraft Beyond the Moon Next Year

#431

Post by brianwawok »

hackuser wrote: post #222
Pfhreak wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The explosion from that helium tank was slower than the emergency rockets on the dragon, from what I understand. So, had the capsule been fitted with them, it would have stayed entirely clear of the event. It'd be a rough ride, but it would have been a survivable event.

> had the capsule been fitted with them, it would have stayed entirely clear of the event. It'd be a rough ride, but it would have been a survivable event. Safety isn't defined by, 'did it work out ok?', but by the risk. In this case, the outcome the parent describes is hypothetical; among other things, it assumes the emergency escape system would have worked perfectly. I assume NASA wants to evaluate the risk of the…

> For example, some people have survived plane crashes; the fact that it worked out doesn't mean that the risk was acceptable.

The millions of people that fly every day despite past plane crashes would disagree with you.

Re: SpaceX to Send Privately Crewed Dragon Spacecraft Beyond the Moon Next Year

#432

Post by ordbajsare »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #161

Wow. This sends so many thoughts cascading through my head that I'm dizzy. Some things to consider, China has been working up to getting a space capability to send people to the Moon with the full backing of the government funding, by 2035[1]. They started in 2003. SpaceX was founded in 2002 and they are saying they will fly someone around the moon next year? Dragon has the deltaV to land on the moon (not sure if it…

"privately funded and established outpost that wants to declare independence." It will be the only way to escape global communism.

Re: SpaceX to Send Privately Crewed Dragon Spacecraft Beyond the Moon Next Year

#433

Post by doikor »

anovikov wrote: post #410
grkvlt wrote: post #399

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, they are Berthing [1][2] the Dragon craft with the ISS, which means something slightly different - grabbed by the thing you are connecting to and pulled in, vs. a (controlled) bumping into the thing. I believe that Nautical terminology is where that comes from, and means the same there e.g. berthing ships with ropes and dock hands. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Docking_and_berthing_of_spacec... 2. http:/…

But crewed Dragon V2 will actually dock.

Need to install the new docking module first (the one that was supposed to be installed blew up with CSR-7)

Re: SpaceX to Send Privately Crewed Dragon Spacecraft Beyond the Moon Next Year

#434

Post by mozumder »

mulmen wrote: post #359
mozumder wrote: post #353

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> One was a ground incident that wouldn't have had people nearby even with a manned mission, and the other would have saved its passengers with the abort system. Not sure how that would mitigate the risk of explody Space-X rockets?

Exactly the way it was described. People are on board the rocket for the minimal amount of time before launch and not during the most risky operations in order to mitigate the risk of explosion. While the people are on board the rocket there are systems in place to increase their chances of escape, again mitigating the risk. e: I realize you are saying none of this reduces the risk of the rocket exploding but at some…

> Two lost rockets in a year is a lot better than previous years.

Uh no.. they're losing MORE rockets now than before, mostly because the rockets are getting bigger and more powerful - and they have the Heavy versions coming.

Consider that 2 of their last 13 rockets exploded.. that's not a good track record. Compare that to ULA, which hasn't had an explosion over 100 Atlas/Delta launches.

Re: SpaceX to Send Privately Crewed Dragon Spacecraft Beyond the Moon Next Year

#435

Post by jbmorgado »

Well in a way these are fantastic news. But on the other side they are totally reckless news.

What if the Sun has a SEP event during that period? Everyone on board will die in the period from hours to days from exposure to radiation.

We presently have absolutely no knowledge on how to predict that this will happen or to protect a ship in case it happens.

The Moon missions where done before we knew of the existence of SEPs and fortunately we were lucky... but we are not supposed to just rely on luck now that we know they exist.

Re: SpaceX to Send Privately Crewed Dragon Spacecraft Beyond the Moon Next Year

#436

Post by ctdonath »

mulmen wrote: post #361
ctdonath wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Musk's #1 goal from the beginning is to put a lot of people on Mars, and do it in a rather short time (per human-history scale). We're talking a guy who literally invented PayPal just to make enough money to really get the project started. His other endeavors are as well, while laudable in their own right, really just ways of accumulating the resources to achieve that goal.

Musk did not invent PayPal. He founded x.com which merged with PayPal two years after PayPal was founded. He has also been clear that he had three goals: 1) Expanding solar power use. 2) Popularizing electric vehicles. 3) Making human life multi-planetary. I am paraphrasing and perhaps understating his desired level of success.

Go read Musk's biography at WaitButWhy.com - and you'll see that summarizing it into a two-line post is difficult. Suffice to say it all serves the goal of colonizing Mars.

Re: SpaceX to Send Privately Crewed Dragon Spacecraft Beyond the Moon Next Year

#437

Post by mikeash »

mozumder wrote: post #353
mikeash wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One was a ground incident that wouldn't have had people nearby even with a manned mission, and the other would have saved its passengers with the abort system. And if people are willing to pay the money and take the risk, why not?

> One was a ground incident that wouldn't have had people nearby even with a manned mission, and the other would have saved its passengers with the abort system. Not sure how that would mitigate the risk of explody Space-X rockets?

I thought you had brought them up in terms of risk to human life. Otherwise I don't see how it's relevant.

Re: SpaceX to Send Privately Crewed Dragon Spacecraft Beyond the Moon Next Year

#438

Post by rtkwe »

doikor wrote: post #433
anovikov wrote: post #410

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But crewed Dragon V2 will actually dock.

Need to install the new docking module first (the one that was supposed to be installed blew up with CSR-7)

They already launched and mated the second International Docking Adapter already on CRS-9 back in July 2016 so they ISS side is ready.

Re: SpaceX to Send Privately Crewed Dragon Spacecraft Beyond the Moon Next Year

#439

Post by rtkwe »

mulmen wrote: post #367
ChuckMcM wrote: post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes but as the ULA whitepaper pointed out there are some challenges to doing so in orbit. For one, the lack of gravity makes it hard to pump fuel. You can spin the tanker to achieve fuel settling but now you are both spinning bodies. Then there is handling cryogenic propellants in space, you get nominal bleed off from warming and again ULA had a really interesting design of an internal combustion engine using the ble…

Do the fuels have to remain in a cryogenic state in space? Can much larger containers with warmer fuel be used once the fuel is in orbit? I have no idea if this makes any sense.

A major problem is pressure. As the fuel heats up and boils off the pressure increases and the tanks have to bleed it off or they'll burst eventually. Also the engine design for cryogenic stages assume a liquid fuel and moving enough gaseous fuel and oxidizer isn't in the current designs.

Re: SpaceX to Send Privately Crewed Dragon Spacecraft Beyond the Moon Next Year

#440

Post by mikulas_florek »

MichaelMoser123 wrote: post #390
ChuckMcM wrote: post #161

Wow. This sends so many thoughts cascading through my head that I'm dizzy. Some things to consider, China has been working up to getting a space capability to send people to the Moon with the full backing of the government funding, by 2035[1]. They started in 2003. SpaceX was founded in 2002 and they are saying they will fly someone around the moon next year? Dragon has the deltaV to land on the moon (not sure if it…

How will Elon get us to the moon if Tesla is burning up all of his money? [1] Also a private entity can't assert jurisdiction over anything, you have to be a state to do just that. [1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-27/tesla-slu... Downvotes? Ah, i forgot that around here one is not supposed to question anything that Elon does.

An analyst downgrades Tesla, and shares lost ~5% of their value == Tesla burning up money? A delay in production? That's your argument? All of these articles are complete, and proven bullst.
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