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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)

#91

Love the new "Space" suits and the touch screen panel inside the capsule. This is going to be amazing. My prayers with the brave astronauts.

Is the touch screen usable during lift-off / landing? I'm thinking gravity (4+g?) and trepidations is making it hard to touch a specific spot. Or, maybe there isn't much to do manually during this phase, and for the little things there are some classic controls.

There's physical buttons and handles as well for manual abort and what not.

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

#92

Please let this go well.

Agreed. I'm so nervous, this seems high risk.

For some context they certified the Dragan capsule with a LOC (loss of crew) rating of 1 in 270, which is more than double what the shuttle had (IIRC it ranged from 1 in 10 for the first shuttle flight to 1 in 90 towards the end of the career)

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

#93
> Demo-2 is the final major test for SpaceX’s human spaceflight system to be certified by NASA for operational crew missions to and from the International Space Station.

The two astronauts along with the Falcon 9 will be docking with the ISS and then returning home. No crew swap is happening, which seems like a waste of energy. I get that SpaceX isn't "operationally certified", but is a crew swap inherently more risky?

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

#94
post #14

*Pending weather

I get that you dont want to fly a giant rocket full of liquid oxygen and other explosives into a thunderstorm or hurricane, but what are some practical reasons for postponing a launch due to weather. As I (hardly) understand once you get high up in the atmosphere there is high wind even on a clear day, does rain matter that much?

The issue isn't so much high wind but wind shear. Namely when you pass through a sharp change in air direction there's a bending force applied to the rocket that's proportional to the vehicle speed and atmospheric density. This can get very high and risk destroying the rocket.

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

#95

Love the new "Space" suits and the touch screen panel inside the capsule. This is going to be amazing. My prayers with the brave astronauts.

Is the touch screen usable during lift-off / landing? I'm thinking gravity (4+g?) and trepidations is making it hard to touch a specific spot. Or, maybe there isn't much to do manually during this phase, and for the little things there are some classic controls.

It's both. They have a handle below the screen precisely for this reason. [1] You can grab it and press the buttons below/tap the lower part of the screen above with your thumb. This seems much more reasonable and pragmatic than the sci-fi looking mockup they originally presented. [2] Although my understanding is that it's probably not a huge problem, because Soyuz introduced the stick to push the buttons only in its later variants.

Also, judging from the photos, they seem to have their button covers supported by the frame. In 2003, there was an incident when a cosmonaut inadvertently fired RCS thrusters on the Soyuz attached to the station, simultaneously pushing several buttons with his foot while loading the spacecraft with cargo to be returned to Earth, crushing the protective caps that were pressing against the (relatively flimsy) case. The thrusters fired for quite some time until a ground operator noticed it and turned them off remotely. After that, the covers in Soyuz were redesigned to press against the frame. Seems like that incident has been learned from in Crew Dragon as well.

[1] https://imgur.com/KyAaQS0

[2] https://imgur.com/pTYfAew

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

#96
post #28
post #16

The cold war is back, the fashion is back and out of all the things that are back I am glad that the USA is back in space flights. Wish you the best luck and hope that this will lead to some serious competition. Soyuz is great but we need to do more as species.

> do more as species Space exploration and exploitation is awesome, but shouldn't the first items on the "do more as species" todo list be about taking care of earth?

Sure, that should be a higher priority. Is there a sentiment somewhere that space exploration is a higher or more urgent priority than green energy?

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

#97
post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is the touch screen usable during lift-off / landing? I'm thinking gravity (4+g?) and trepidations is making it hard to touch a specific spot. Or, maybe there isn't much to do manually during this phase, and for the little things there are some classic controls.

Can't be worse than touchscreens in a tank: https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/news/a1908...

oops.. fat fingered the target again..

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

#98
post #93

> Demo-2 is the final major test for SpaceX’s human spaceflight system to be certified by NASA for operational crew missions to and from the International Space Station. The two astronauts along with the Falcon 9 will be docking with the ISS and then returning home. No crew swap is happening, which seems like a waste of energy. I get that SpaceX isn't "operationally certified", but is a crew swap inherently more risk…

I understand your point, but it's just the way they do things. I believe it gives them more scheduling flexibility.

I read somewhere that the first 'operational' SpaceX ISS will be in a couple of months.

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

#99
post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is the touch screen usable during lift-off / landing? I'm thinking gravity (4+g?) and trepidations is making it hard to touch a specific spot. Or, maybe there isn't much to do manually during this phase, and for the little things there are some classic controls.

Can't be worse than touchscreens in a tank: https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/news/a1908...

The lag on that touchscreen is bothering the hell out of me. It reminds me of crappy in-flight entertainment systems. Is it physically turning a camera, or is it just that bad?
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