On 1/8/2016 6:33 AM, Jeff Findley wrote:

Not if NASA restricts Dragon such that it is against the rules to use
that capability.


This is why SpaceX needs to have a reason to fly crew on its own not
just part of CCDev. If SpaceX could launch a Bigelow module for their
own purpose, such as renting lab time to various Industry & University
consortium or even under NSF program grants of a few million to
partially fund it, then trips up and down are under the purview of the
FAA not NASA. SpaceX can land as they see fit, for I believe commercial
spaceflight is still operating under FAA rules which IIRC had their
October 2015 moratorium extended, basically to allow companies such as
SpaceX to establish them!

If NASA insists on their flying ISS missions under their own antiquated
and inconsistent "man-ratings"* they are free to do so. They are only
going to end up looking pretty stupid in the end dropping their
astronauts in the drink when everybody else uses a staircase.

Maybe to satisfy NASA "man-rating" reqs. they could just drop them in
the Banana River instead? :-P

Dave

*-Safe Is Not An Option - Rand Simberg pg. 33 also see Chapters 3, 6 &
8. ISBN-978-0-9891355-1-1





Once such a landing would be tested, then they could go the next step
and do parachute descent, and powered legged landing (ditching
parachute) and then do the full re-entry without parachute.

The point being that since NASA accepts Soyuz landings, it should accept
similar landing by Dragon (even if these represent only a portion of it
capabilities).

"Soyuz landings" are not the same at all, which you *still* don't seem
to get.

Jeff