On 4/28/2018 2:29 PM, JF Mezei wrote:
On 2018-04-28 12:30, Jeff Findley wrote:

Adding a service module to Dragon, in place of the simpler trunk, would
be possible, but it would be adding to Dragon's primary mission
capabilities and the crew's lives would depend on the proper functioning
of the service module. As such, it would have to be fully "crew rated"
in a way that relatively benign recovery devices simply do not.


Yeah but what does "crew rated" mean outside of NASA? If say SpaceX were
flying it's own customers not NASA astronauts? Also I fear "crew rating"
when NASA is a primary customer is a bit of a political tool that can be
used to hammer contractors in line in case they get too far out in front
of SLS.



Since BFR/BFS are being built in separate facility, would it really hurt
BFR/BFS if NASA were to send mega pork money for SpaceX to build an
upgraded Dragon with service module to do moon excursions? If the later
is built at Hawthorne facility that is focused on Falcon/Dragon, it
shouldn't hinder BFR/BFS much.


Well I'm not going to speak for SpaceX. If such a thing were to happen
it would be up to SpaceX to respond in a fashion that makes sense for
SpaceX. My blathering about it without any knowledge of what is
transpiring within SpaceX is pointless. Blathering about it WITH
knowledge of what is transpiring within SpaceX (outside of being a
journalist) probably would get me fired.

Yes, it makes more sense for SpaceX to respond to RFP with BFR/BFS
proposal for moon. The mega pork from NASA would help fund BFR/BFS
development.

Yes it does. I wouldn't call it pork. I'd call it a "public investment
in the future". :-)


But if BFR/BFS proposal would not win, then it is better for SPaceX to
win with Dragon/Falcon so at least profits from that work go to fund
BFR/BFS. (aka: better than nothing)


Depends. Maybe, maybe not. Distraction of an engineering organization
has its own costs.

Longer term though, if BFR/BFS do to manned space travel what Fan[/l]con9
reusability has done for cargo costs, then eventually, it will win
any/all NASA contracts for manned space travel.


Maybe. Depends upon how the RFP is written. Sometimes they can be pretty
specific and exclusionary. "Contracted vendor must be able to legally
display "Boeing" name and insignia in highly visible portion of
vehicle."... Well, usually not this bad...

Dave