• SpaceX to launch Crew Demo-1 07:49 UTC 2nd March
    24 replies, posted
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZL0tbOZYhE SpaceX is targeting Saturday, March 2 for launch of Crew Dragon’s first demonstration mission from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This test flight without crew on board the spacecraft is intended to demonstrate SpaceX’s capabilities to safely and reliably fly astronauts to and from the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The instantaneous launch window opens at 2:49 a.m. EST, or 7:49 UTC, and a backup instantaneous launch opportunity is available on Tuesday, March 5 at 1:38 a.m. EST, or 6:38 UTC. Following stage separation, SpaceX will attempt to land Falcon 9’s first stage on the “Of Course I Still Love You” droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. Crew Dragon, designed from the beginning to be one of the safest human space vehicles ever built, benefits from the flight heritage of the current iteration of Dragon, which restored the United States’ capability to deliver and return significant amounts of cargo to and from the International Space Station. Dragon has completed 16 missions to and from the orbiting laboratory. To support human spaceflight, Crew Dragon features an environmental control and life support system, which provides a comfortable and safe environment for crew members. The spacecraft is equipped with a highly reliable launch escape system capable of carrying crew to safety at any point during ascent or in the unlikely event of an anomaly on the pad. While the crew can take manual control of the spacecraft if necessary, Crew Dragon missions will autonomously dock and undock with the International Space Station. After undocking from the space station and reentering Earth’s atmosphere, Crew Dragon will use an enhanced parachute system to splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean. https://www.spacex.com/sites/spacex/files/crew_demo-1_press_kit.pdf https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1101370880486076416
ITS BEEN A LONG WAIT https://www.instagram.com/spacex/p/BucYA72AYJ1/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=1dqxunkio21mp
This has been a very long time coming. The Russian Space Agency has had a monopoly on ISS crew transportation since mid-2011. The genesis of both SpaceX's Crew Dragon and Boeing's Starliner are the opening of a new space frontier. Where nation states can purchase Crewed flights from private industry, rather than having their own at-cost launchers and vehicles. This also means the advent of private orbital spaceflight, where individuals can purchase tourist flights to Low Earth Orbit and companies can plan for Crew transportation to new facilities in space without relying on national Space Agencies for transportation. Do not forget and make no mistake, both Capsules are the most advanced Spacecraft to ever carry humans. I for one couldn't be more excited.
cockpit looks sexy af, probably to appease investors but still
A bit outdated: https://youtu.be/xjSb_b4TtxI Why can't design just be nice? It's just SpaceX's design philosophy.
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1101701552153219072
Saturn V first flight Apollo 4 from Pad 39a https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/gbzTCW9qeVo7ikrmZc2dwH-320-80.jpg Space Shuttle Colombia first flight STS-1 from Pad 39a http://www.astronomy.com/-/media/Images/columbialaunch1981.jpg?mw=600 Crew Dragon first flight Demo-1 from Pad 39a https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D0oNSa5XgAEYfiI.jpg:large
Stream is live now.
here we go
Jumped on to the stream on a whim with 15 seconds left to launch, first one i've caught live, purely amazing.
Wow, that was some of the best landing footage I've ever seen. Is that the first time we've caught a hoverslam on picture without the signal cutting out?
It's always so amazing and satisfying to see 1st stage landings.
Also someone correct me but wasn't this one of the hottest landings a first stage has made? I read that they were having the first stage come in hotter to give Dragon a more comfortable ascent profile
Perfect success!
Both successful crew demo launch and landing of stage 1? Roscosmos is fucking annihilated.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQBWqpU-53U
I have not heard anything about that. I'm a bit doubtful because all things considered, this is neither a heavy payload, nor a high orbit. The ISS doesn't orbit particularly high (400km or so), and while this was a fairly heavy payload (12Mg), it's not that much more than the routine Iridium launches (9.6Mg, plus however much the fairings etc. weigh). The main factor in how hot and fast a landing has to be is how much propellant is left - the re-entry burn takes care of most momentum, they all basically "fall" from the same height, it's just how much margin do they have left to do a less-efficient but safer landing. Like if you can find a source, I'm sure they can explain what's going on, but your vague recollection doesn't sound right to me.
I thought I read that they were having the first stage use more fuel on ascent in a different, less-efficient ascent profile in order to make any possible abort scenario more comfortable/less dangerous for crew onboard, and as a result there would be less fuel left for landing equaling a hotter landing, but I may have been thinking of last week's launch which came in pretty hot on descent. I can't remember where I read it but I'm assuming I'm wrong for now, I'll search for it but it was just something that came to mind.
I believe the landing before this was more intense... after the first burn, plasma was glowing around everything.
Docking stream is live now: https://youtu.be/21X5lGlDOfg
First time KSP players https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D0uT-4RXgAAxxvt.jpg Pro KSP players https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D0uacUEV4AAJDNT.jpg:large
https://twitter.com/Commercial_Crew/status/1102161781349380098?s=19
https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1102194489500753921
https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/1177/2ee938c4-6e17-40b6-a8d4-40473bba975c/image.png
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/16217/production/_105874609_1.jpg What a cute zero gravity detection device
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