FighterJock
ACCESS: Top Secret
- Joined
- 29 October 2007
- Messages
- 4,218
- Reaction score
- 3,406
Flyaway said:
Good news for SpaceX, I cannot wait until the first crewed flight to the ISS, whenever that will occur.
SpaceX (general discussion)
- Thread starter FutureSpaceTourist
- Start date
Good news for SpaceX, I cannot wait until the first crewed flight to the ISS, whenever that will occur.
FighterJock
ACCESS: Top Secret
- Joined
- 29 October 2007
- Messages
- 4,218
- Reaction score
- 3,406
Anyone knows what the time will be for the Dragon launch in terms of Greenwich Mean Time (for the UK)? I do not want to miss this launch.
FighterJock
ACCESS: Top Secret
- Joined
- 29 October 2007
- Messages
- 4,218
- Reaction score
- 3,406
TomS said:
Thanks for that update TomS, I will try and not sleep in tomorrow morning.
FighterJock
ACCESS: Top Secret
- Joined
- 29 October 2007
- Messages
- 4,218
- Reaction score
- 3,406
Thanks for the video Flyaway, I missed the lift off just by two minutes but got the rest of the Dragon capsule launch into space.
- Joined
- 21 January 2015
- Messages
- 10,680
- Reaction score
- 12,331
March 02, 2019
RELEASE 19-014
NASA, SpaceX Launch First Flight Test of Space System Designed for Crew
For the first time in history, a commercially-built and operated American crew spacecraft and rocket, which launched from American soil, is on its way to the International Space Station. The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft lifted off at 2:49 a.m. EST Saturday on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
“Today’s successful launch marks a new chapter in American excellence, getting us closer to once again flying American astronauts on American rockets from American soil,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “I proudly congratulate the SpaceX and NASA teams for this major milestone in our nation’s space history. This first launch of a space system designed for humans, and built and operated by a commercial company through a public-private partnership, is a revolutionary step on our path to get humans to the Moon, Mars and beyond.”
Known as Demo-1, SpaceX’s inaugural flight with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is an important uncrewed mission designed to test the end-to-end capabilities of the new system. It brings the nation one-step closer to the return of human launches to the space station from the United States for the first time since 2011 – the last space shuttle mission. Teams still have work to do after this flight to prepare the spacecraft to fly astronauts. The best way to advance the system design was to fly this spacecraft and uncover any other areas or integrated flight changes that might be required.
The program demonstrates NASA’s commitment to investing in commercial companies through public-private partnerships and builds on the success of American companies, including SpaceX, already delivering cargo to the space station. Demo-1 is a critical step for NASA and SpaceX to demonstrate the ability to safely fly missions with NASA astronauts to the orbital laboratory.
“I’d also like to express great appreciation for NASA,” said Elon Musk, CEO and lead designer at SpaceX. “SpaceX would not be here without NASA, without the incredible work that was done before SpaceX even started and without the support after SpaceX did start.”
The public-private partnership combines commercial companies’ unique, innovative approaches to human spaceflight and NASA’s decades-long experience in design, development and operations of a crew space system.
“We are watching history being made with the launch of the SpaceX Demo-1 mission,” said Steve Stich, launch manager and deputy manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. “SpaceX and NASA teams have been working together for years, and now we are side-by-side in control rooms across the country for launch, in-orbit operations and, eventually, splashdown of the Crew Dragon right here off Florida’s coast.”
SpaceX controlled the launch of the Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy’s Launch Control Center Firing Room 4, the former space shuttle control room, which SpaceX has leased as its primary launch control center. As Crew Dragon ascended into space, SpaceX commanded the Crew Dragon spacecraft from its mission control center in Hawthorne, California. NASA teams will monitor space station operations throughout the flight from Mission Control Center at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft is on its way to the space station for a 6:05 a.m. Sunday, March 3 docking to the low-Earth orbit destination. Live coverage of the rendezvous and docking will air on NASA Television and the agency’s website beginning at 3:30 a.m. Coverage will resume at 8:30 a.m. with the hatch opening, followed at 10:45 a.m. with a crew welcoming ceremony.
Teams in the space station mission center at Johnson will monitor station crew members’ opening of the spacecraft hatch, entering Crew Dragon and unpacking the capsule.
Mission Objectives
All the launch pad and vehicle hardware, and the launch day operations, were conducted in preparation for the next flight with crew aboard, including the control teams and ground crews. The mission and testing continues once the Falcon 9 lifts off the pad.
During the spacecraft’s approach, in-orbit demonstrations will include rendezvous activities from a distance of up to 2.5 miles (4 kilometers), known as far field, and activities within one mile (1.6 kilometers), known as near field. As the spacecraft approaches the space station, it will demonstrate its automated control and maneuvering capabilities by reversing course and backing away from the station before the final docking sequence.
The docking phase, as well as the return and recovery of Crew Dragon, include many first-time events that cannot be totally modeled on the ground and, thus, are critical to understanding the design and systems ability to support crew flights. Previous cargo Dragon vehicles have been attached to the space station after capture by the station’s robotic arm. The Crew Dragon will approach to dock using new sensor systems, new propulsion systems and the new international docking mechanism to attach to the station’s Harmony module forward port, fitted with a new international docking adapter. Astronauts installed the adapter during a spacewalk in August 2016, following its delivery to the station in the trunk of a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on its ninth commercial resupply services mission.
For Demo-1, Crew Dragon is carrying more than 400 pounds of crew supplies and equipment to the space station and will return some critical research samples to Earth. A lifelike test device named Ripley also will travel on the Crew Dragon, outfitted with sensors to provide data on potential effects on humans traveling in Crew Dragon.
For operational missions, Crew Dragon will be able to launch as many as four crew members and carry more than 220 pounds of cargo, enabling the expansion of the crew members, increasing the time dedicated to research in the unique microgravity environment, and returning more science back to Earth.
The Crew Dragon is designed to stay docked to station for up to 210 days, although the Crew Dragon used for this flight test will not have that capability. This spacecraft will remain docked to the space station only five days, departing Friday, March 8. After undocking from the station, Crew Dragon will begin its descent to Earth. Live coverage of the undocking will air on NASA Television and the agency’s website beginning at 2 a.m., with deorbit and landing coverage resuming at 7:30 a.m.
Additional spacecraft mission objectives include a safe departure from the station, followed by a deorbit burn and parachute deployment to slow the spacecraft before splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean, off the Florida Space Coast. SpaceX’s recovery ship, Go Searcher, will retrieve Crew Dragon and transport it back to port. Teams will be closely monitoring the parachute system and entry control system operation, which have been changed from cargo Dragons to provide higher reliability for crew flights.
NASA and SpaceX will use data from Demo-1, along with planned upgrades and additional qualification testing, to further prepare for Demo-2, the crewed flight test that will carry NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station. NASA will validate the performance of SpaceX’s systems before putting crew on board for the Demo-2 flight, currently targeted for July.
NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is working with Boeing and SpaceX to design, build, test and operate safe, reliable and cost-effective human transportation systems to low-Earth orbit. Both companies are focused on test missions, including abort system demonstrations and crew flight tests, ahead of regularly flying crew missions to the space station. Both companies’ crewed flights will be the first times in history NASA has sent astronauts to space on systems owned, built, tested and operated by private companies.
Learn more about NASA’s Commercial Crew program at:
https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew
Post launch press conference.
https://youtu.be/HuXPLtJXd14
RELEASE 19-014
NASA, SpaceX Launch First Flight Test of Space System Designed for Crew
For the first time in history, a commercially-built and operated American crew spacecraft and rocket, which launched from American soil, is on its way to the International Space Station. The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft lifted off at 2:49 a.m. EST Saturday on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
“Today’s successful launch marks a new chapter in American excellence, getting us closer to once again flying American astronauts on American rockets from American soil,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “I proudly congratulate the SpaceX and NASA teams for this major milestone in our nation’s space history. This first launch of a space system designed for humans, and built and operated by a commercial company through a public-private partnership, is a revolutionary step on our path to get humans to the Moon, Mars and beyond.”
Known as Demo-1, SpaceX’s inaugural flight with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is an important uncrewed mission designed to test the end-to-end capabilities of the new system. It brings the nation one-step closer to the return of human launches to the space station from the United States for the first time since 2011 – the last space shuttle mission. Teams still have work to do after this flight to prepare the spacecraft to fly astronauts. The best way to advance the system design was to fly this spacecraft and uncover any other areas or integrated flight changes that might be required.
The program demonstrates NASA’s commitment to investing in commercial companies through public-private partnerships and builds on the success of American companies, including SpaceX, already delivering cargo to the space station. Demo-1 is a critical step for NASA and SpaceX to demonstrate the ability to safely fly missions with NASA astronauts to the orbital laboratory.
“I’d also like to express great appreciation for NASA,” said Elon Musk, CEO and lead designer at SpaceX. “SpaceX would not be here without NASA, without the incredible work that was done before SpaceX even started and without the support after SpaceX did start.”
The public-private partnership combines commercial companies’ unique, innovative approaches to human spaceflight and NASA’s decades-long experience in design, development and operations of a crew space system.
“We are watching history being made with the launch of the SpaceX Demo-1 mission,” said Steve Stich, launch manager and deputy manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. “SpaceX and NASA teams have been working together for years, and now we are side-by-side in control rooms across the country for launch, in-orbit operations and, eventually, splashdown of the Crew Dragon right here off Florida’s coast.”
SpaceX controlled the launch of the Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy’s Launch Control Center Firing Room 4, the former space shuttle control room, which SpaceX has leased as its primary launch control center. As Crew Dragon ascended into space, SpaceX commanded the Crew Dragon spacecraft from its mission control center in Hawthorne, California. NASA teams will monitor space station operations throughout the flight from Mission Control Center at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft is on its way to the space station for a 6:05 a.m. Sunday, March 3 docking to the low-Earth orbit destination. Live coverage of the rendezvous and docking will air on NASA Television and the agency’s website beginning at 3:30 a.m. Coverage will resume at 8:30 a.m. with the hatch opening, followed at 10:45 a.m. with a crew welcoming ceremony.
Teams in the space station mission center at Johnson will monitor station crew members’ opening of the spacecraft hatch, entering Crew Dragon and unpacking the capsule.
Mission Objectives
All the launch pad and vehicle hardware, and the launch day operations, were conducted in preparation for the next flight with crew aboard, including the control teams and ground crews. The mission and testing continues once the Falcon 9 lifts off the pad.
During the spacecraft’s approach, in-orbit demonstrations will include rendezvous activities from a distance of up to 2.5 miles (4 kilometers), known as far field, and activities within one mile (1.6 kilometers), known as near field. As the spacecraft approaches the space station, it will demonstrate its automated control and maneuvering capabilities by reversing course and backing away from the station before the final docking sequence.
The docking phase, as well as the return and recovery of Crew Dragon, include many first-time events that cannot be totally modeled on the ground and, thus, are critical to understanding the design and systems ability to support crew flights. Previous cargo Dragon vehicles have been attached to the space station after capture by the station’s robotic arm. The Crew Dragon will approach to dock using new sensor systems, new propulsion systems and the new international docking mechanism to attach to the station’s Harmony module forward port, fitted with a new international docking adapter. Astronauts installed the adapter during a spacewalk in August 2016, following its delivery to the station in the trunk of a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on its ninth commercial resupply services mission.
For Demo-1, Crew Dragon is carrying more than 400 pounds of crew supplies and equipment to the space station and will return some critical research samples to Earth. A lifelike test device named Ripley also will travel on the Crew Dragon, outfitted with sensors to provide data on potential effects on humans traveling in Crew Dragon.
For operational missions, Crew Dragon will be able to launch as many as four crew members and carry more than 220 pounds of cargo, enabling the expansion of the crew members, increasing the time dedicated to research in the unique microgravity environment, and returning more science back to Earth.
The Crew Dragon is designed to stay docked to station for up to 210 days, although the Crew Dragon used for this flight test will not have that capability. This spacecraft will remain docked to the space station only five days, departing Friday, March 8. After undocking from the station, Crew Dragon will begin its descent to Earth. Live coverage of the undocking will air on NASA Television and the agency’s website beginning at 2 a.m., with deorbit and landing coverage resuming at 7:30 a.m.
Additional spacecraft mission objectives include a safe departure from the station, followed by a deorbit burn and parachute deployment to slow the spacecraft before splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean, off the Florida Space Coast. SpaceX’s recovery ship, Go Searcher, will retrieve Crew Dragon and transport it back to port. Teams will be closely monitoring the parachute system and entry control system operation, which have been changed from cargo Dragons to provide higher reliability for crew flights.
NASA and SpaceX will use data from Demo-1, along with planned upgrades and additional qualification testing, to further prepare for Demo-2, the crewed flight test that will carry NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station. NASA will validate the performance of SpaceX’s systems before putting crew on board for the Demo-2 flight, currently targeted for July.
NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is working with Boeing and SpaceX to design, build, test and operate safe, reliable and cost-effective human transportation systems to low-Earth orbit. Both companies are focused on test missions, including abort system demonstrations and crew flight tests, ahead of regularly flying crew missions to the space station. Both companies’ crewed flights will be the first times in history NASA has sent astronauts to space on systems owned, built, tested and operated by private companies.
Learn more about NASA’s Commercial Crew program at:
https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew
Post launch press conference.
https://youtu.be/HuXPLtJXd14
I was wondering at first looking at the cabin arrangement and seat bracing structure why they put so much emphasis toward astronauts comfort but I understand now that Dragon will be offered as a ride for paying civilian customers. With a 4g acceleration (and a bunch of pocket money), a bit comfort will certainly do for me 
- Joined
- 21 January 2015
- Messages
- 10,680
- Reaction score
- 12,331
SOFT CAPTURE of Dragon 2 with ISS.
https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1102159988028555264
Video.
https://twitter.com/Space_Station/status/1102162692033306624
Crew Dragon docking
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPmPUrE5IYI
https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1102159988028555264
Video.
https://twitter.com/Space_Station/status/1102162692033306624
Crew Dragon docking
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPmPUrE5IYI
FighterJock
ACCESS: Top Secret
- Joined
- 29 October 2007
- Messages
- 4,218
- Reaction score
- 3,406
Good news Flyaway, It is going to stay at the station for five days before returning to Earth.
- Joined
- 13 August 2007
- Messages
- 7,148
- Reaction score
- 6,519
FighterJock
ACCESS: Top Secret
- Joined
- 29 October 2007
- Messages
- 4,218
- Reaction score
- 3,406
Michel Van said:some pictures
i started to hum "The Blue Danube" during docking sequence :
i guess there will soon Dragon crew docking video with that music coming on You tube...
You were not the only one humming the Blue Danube tune Michel Van, thanks for posting the photos.
- Joined
- 21 January 2015
- Messages
- 10,680
- Reaction score
- 12,331
Picture of Dragon 2 docked to the ISS.
https://twitter.com/Commercial_Crew/status/1102171801117962240
Not to go OTT but it really looks like a twenty first century crew vehicle if you get my meaning.
https://twitter.com/Commercial_Crew/status/1102171801117962240
Not to go OTT but it really looks like a twenty first century crew vehicle if you get my meaning.
- Joined
- 13 August 2007
- Messages
- 7,148
- Reaction score
- 6,519
Flyaway said:
Or the SpaceX guys finally caught up with that Stanley Kubrick who envision this 50 years ago...
https://youtu.be/0ZoSYsNADtY
- Joined
- 13 August 2007
- Messages
- 7,148
- Reaction score
- 6,519
the microgravity indicator is a success
At Amazon: momentarily not available
at manufacture Celestial Buddies: "EARTH - TEMPORARILY OUT OF STOCK DUE TO HIGH DEMAND"
Silencer1
That now I am the Ruler of the Queen's Navee!
- Joined
- 3 August 2009
- Messages
- 887
- Reaction score
- 507
Hello!
Sounds like Slartibartfast's phrase from "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" ;D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7vC8T0umig
It's nice, that Crew Dragon' first launch bring such positive mood to many persons.
Michel Van said:
Sounds like Slartibartfast's phrase from "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" ;D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7vC8T0umig
It's nice, that Crew Dragon' first launch bring such positive mood to many persons.
- Joined
- 21 January 2015
- Messages
- 10,680
- Reaction score
- 12,331
FighterJock
ACCESS: Top Secret
- Joined
- 29 October 2007
- Messages
- 4,218
- Reaction score
- 3,406
That is the door of the SpaceX's Dragon capsule shut in preparation for the return to Earth tomorrow morning, the time for splashdown is 2:31 am Eastern (that makes it 07:31 GMT in the UK).
https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/tag/spacex/
https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/tag/spacex/
- Joined
- 21 January 2015
- Messages
- 10,680
- Reaction score
- 12,331
- Joined
- 13 June 2007
- Messages
- 2,029
- Reaction score
- 2,251
Impressive - mildly surprised how much the main chutes move around though...
Thanks! Mark
Thanks! Mark
- Joined
- 13 August 2007
- Messages
- 7,148
- Reaction score
- 6,519
nice successful mission of Crew Dragon
only one question
What are those dark stains on the main chutes?
only one question
What are those dark stains on the main chutes?
- Joined
- 21 January 2015
- Messages
- 10,680
- Reaction score
- 12,331
https://twitter.com/spacepadreisle/status/1104034451388956673
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1104090692215726080
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1104091386230403072
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1104092184230289408
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1104090692215726080
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1104091386230403072
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1104092184230289408
- Joined
- 13 August 2007
- Messages
- 7,148
- Reaction score
- 6,519
some dark coloration and dark stains this link show them clearlyTomS said:
http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/shared/npr/styles/x_large/nprshared/201903/701460226.jpg
It's look like roasted marshmellow, gonna be allot clean-up work for second flight in abort test later this year...
- Joined
- 6 August 2007
- Messages
- 3,011
- Reaction score
- 2,307
Michel Van said:
The heat shield is ablative. As the capsule re enters the heat shield cooks - like a marshmallow - and the marks you see are residue from that. Completely normal.
- Joined
- 21 January 2015
- Messages
- 10,680
- Reaction score
- 12,331
Demo-1 Post-Splashdown Remarks from Benji Reed
Marie Lewis Posted on March 8, 2019
The following is a transcript of SpaceX Director of Crew Mission Management Benji Reed’s comments during the NASA TV broadcast following Crew Dragon splashdown on Friday, March 8:
To be honest, I’m shaking, and I’m super excited. It was an incredible journey to get to this moment. The teams have just done an amazing job, both the SpaceX and the NASA teams jointly. Fundamentally this is a great day for the nation, for SpaceX, for NASA, for all of us—really for the world.
I think it was Anne (McClain) who said this is the first time in 40 years that we’ve had a spacecraft designed for humans (test) fly, and not only did she fly and go to the space station and do everything she was supposed to do, but we brought her home safe and sound landing in the Atlantic. It’s amazing.
I can’t believe how well the whole mission has gone. I think on every point, everything’s been nailed, all the way along—particularly this last piece. We were all very excited to see re-entry and parachute and drogue deploy and main deploy, splashdown—everything happened just perfectly, right on time the way that we expected it to. It was beautiful.
As a team, SpaceX, we’re just super honored to have the opportunity to have done this mission, to work with NASA, to work through this. You know, Demo-1 is fundamentally this first major milestone in our process towards certification. I always like to remind everybody that this is a whole system—there’s Crew Dragon, there’s the Falcon that’s going to be certified to fly humans, there’s also the ground systems, the operations, our entire factory and production system—everything that we do is being certified to be able to fly astronauts safely, and this is a huge step towards that.
If you kind of look back over what happened over the last two days, which just seems incredible to me, really it’s the culmination of years of work to get us to this day. We had launch, Crew Dragon deployed, and we saw beautiful free flight. One of the things that’s hard to test when you’re on the ground is how fluids work in microgravity. And what’s amazing is everything worked just like we expected.
We got to station, docked, and, you know, it’s the first time I think in history a commercial vehicle and also an American vehicle has docked autonomously to the International Space Station, so that’s super cool. (Crew Dragon was) loaded with all kinds of sensors, all kinds of tests that we did. We all met Ripley, and she’s loaded with sensors so we can understand exactly all the forces that the crew will feel as they’re launched to station from home. We got to meet the little Earth guy (laughs); I heard he’s going to stay on station. Undocking, of course, some more free flight, and then we came home. We jettisoned the trunk, closed the nose cone, and then again, like I said, just beautiful parachute deployment, everything the way we expected. All of these tests that we’ve been doing on parachutes, all of the analysis that we’ve done on understanding the aerodynamics of re-entry and coming home. Everything was just wonderful.
The important thing now is we’re going to take all of this data and we’re going to apply that to the next steps. There’s a lot more to do because our ultimate goal is to be able to continue to staff space station, to provide astronauts rides up to space, give them a safe place to be, a safe place to come home in, and do crew rotations every six months. So how do we get there? So we finished Demo-1, huge milestone, the next step is we take that data, we apply it, we learn from it, and we’re going to go to our in-flight abort test, similar to that pad abort test that we did a few years ago. We actually will put the same Dragon that we flew on Demo-1, we’re going to take that and we’re going to put it on top of Falcon 9, launch it, get it going super fast to test conditions, and then escape it off of the rocket and again do the same thing, bring it home safely under parachutes, land it in the ocean.
From there, after we get that done, we go to Demo-2, and that’s kind of like, wow, that’s the big prize, because that’s going to be sending Bob (Behnken) and Doug (Hurley)—our NASA astronauts, our partners, our friends—sending them up on Dragon and taking them to station safely and bringing them home safely.
When that’s done, we’ll go through final, full certification and start those six-month rotation missions, which we’re all so excited about.
It’s important to take a step back and think about all that it took to get here, all the work of all the joint teams—NASA and SpaceX—all the support that we’ve had from friends and family. Really, I think, the most important thing is that on behalf of all of the 6,000 people here at SpaceX, we really want to thank NASA, we want to thank the space station, the international partners, and thank the American public for their support and partnership as we go through this. We’re really proud to be part of this endeavor.
https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/2019/03/08/demo-1-post-splashdown-remarks-from-benji-reed/
Marie Lewis Posted on March 8, 2019
The following is a transcript of SpaceX Director of Crew Mission Management Benji Reed’s comments during the NASA TV broadcast following Crew Dragon splashdown on Friday, March 8:
To be honest, I’m shaking, and I’m super excited. It was an incredible journey to get to this moment. The teams have just done an amazing job, both the SpaceX and the NASA teams jointly. Fundamentally this is a great day for the nation, for SpaceX, for NASA, for all of us—really for the world.
I think it was Anne (McClain) who said this is the first time in 40 years that we’ve had a spacecraft designed for humans (test) fly, and not only did she fly and go to the space station and do everything she was supposed to do, but we brought her home safe and sound landing in the Atlantic. It’s amazing.
I can’t believe how well the whole mission has gone. I think on every point, everything’s been nailed, all the way along—particularly this last piece. We were all very excited to see re-entry and parachute and drogue deploy and main deploy, splashdown—everything happened just perfectly, right on time the way that we expected it to. It was beautiful.
As a team, SpaceX, we’re just super honored to have the opportunity to have done this mission, to work with NASA, to work through this. You know, Demo-1 is fundamentally this first major milestone in our process towards certification. I always like to remind everybody that this is a whole system—there’s Crew Dragon, there’s the Falcon that’s going to be certified to fly humans, there’s also the ground systems, the operations, our entire factory and production system—everything that we do is being certified to be able to fly astronauts safely, and this is a huge step towards that.
If you kind of look back over what happened over the last two days, which just seems incredible to me, really it’s the culmination of years of work to get us to this day. We had launch, Crew Dragon deployed, and we saw beautiful free flight. One of the things that’s hard to test when you’re on the ground is how fluids work in microgravity. And what’s amazing is everything worked just like we expected.
We got to station, docked, and, you know, it’s the first time I think in history a commercial vehicle and also an American vehicle has docked autonomously to the International Space Station, so that’s super cool. (Crew Dragon was) loaded with all kinds of sensors, all kinds of tests that we did. We all met Ripley, and she’s loaded with sensors so we can understand exactly all the forces that the crew will feel as they’re launched to station from home. We got to meet the little Earth guy (laughs); I heard he’s going to stay on station. Undocking, of course, some more free flight, and then we came home. We jettisoned the trunk, closed the nose cone, and then again, like I said, just beautiful parachute deployment, everything the way we expected. All of these tests that we’ve been doing on parachutes, all of the analysis that we’ve done on understanding the aerodynamics of re-entry and coming home. Everything was just wonderful.
The important thing now is we’re going to take all of this data and we’re going to apply that to the next steps. There’s a lot more to do because our ultimate goal is to be able to continue to staff space station, to provide astronauts rides up to space, give them a safe place to be, a safe place to come home in, and do crew rotations every six months. So how do we get there? So we finished Demo-1, huge milestone, the next step is we take that data, we apply it, we learn from it, and we’re going to go to our in-flight abort test, similar to that pad abort test that we did a few years ago. We actually will put the same Dragon that we flew on Demo-1, we’re going to take that and we’re going to put it on top of Falcon 9, launch it, get it going super fast to test conditions, and then escape it off of the rocket and again do the same thing, bring it home safely under parachutes, land it in the ocean.
From there, after we get that done, we go to Demo-2, and that’s kind of like, wow, that’s the big prize, because that’s going to be sending Bob (Behnken) and Doug (Hurley)—our NASA astronauts, our partners, our friends—sending them up on Dragon and taking them to station safely and bringing them home safely.
When that’s done, we’ll go through final, full certification and start those six-month rotation missions, which we’re all so excited about.
It’s important to take a step back and think about all that it took to get here, all the work of all the joint teams—NASA and SpaceX—all the support that we’ve had from friends and family. Really, I think, the most important thing is that on behalf of all of the 6,000 people here at SpaceX, we really want to thank NASA, we want to thank the space station, the international partners, and thank the American public for their support and partnership as we go through this. We’re really proud to be part of this endeavor.
https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/2019/03/08/demo-1-post-splashdown-remarks-from-benji-reed/
Similar threads
-
-
-
-
McDonnell Model 66 Air to Air Missile- Started by Bill S
- Replies: 34
-
Spirit of Liberty/Altaris space tourism RLVs
- Started by FutureSpaceTourist
- Replies: 27