Future F9/Dragon flights.

I note that the launch manifest page says that there are several
launches out of Canaveral in 2011.
Any news on when the first is, and what these missions are?
I'd assume dragon in-orbit extended GNC testing, with real solar
cells.

Any surprises?

Recovery of first stages still continues to be a 'we'd like to do
it' priority?

On 12/10/2010 3:35 PM, Ian Stirling wrote:


Recovery of first stages still continues to be a 'we'd like to do
it' priority?

SpaceX is stating they still want to do it, but considering the complete
lack of success they've had with it so far in both the Falcon 1 and 9,
at some point they are going to be tempted to ditch the whole concept in
favor of greater payload capacity to orbit by removing the weight of the
recovery system from the first stage.
What they need to do is stick some live video cameras on the first stage
so they can see what's going wrong with the recovery process as it descends.

Pat

On 12/10/2010 05:35 PM, Ian Stirling wrote:
I note that the launch manifest page says that there are several
launches out of Canaveral in 2011.
Any news on when the first is, and what these missions are?
I'd assume dragon in-orbit extended GNC testing, with real solar
cells.

Two more COTS Demos, 2 and 3. 2 will be the first flight of the
"full-up" Dragon and will perform two flybys of ISS. 3 will be the first
to approach and be berthed to ISS.

On Dec 11, 12:48*pm, "Jorge R. Frank" wrote:
On 12/10/2010 05:35 PM, Ian Stirling wrote:

I note that the launch manifest page says that there are several
launches out of Canaveral in 2011.
Any news on when the first is, and what these missions are?
I'd assume dragon in-orbit extended GNC testing, with real solar
cells.

Two more COTS Demos, 2 and 3. 2 will be the first flight of the
"full-up" Dragon and will perform two flybys of ISS. 3 will be the first
to approach and be berthed to ISS.

they want top dock on flight 2 after first checking out in formation
flying..

sounds good to me

On Sat, 11 Dec 2010 10:28:21 -0800 (PST), "
wrote:

Two more COTS Demos, 2 and 3. 2 will be the first flight of the
"full-up" Dragon and will perform two flybys of ISS. 3 will be the first
to approach and be berthed to ISS.

they want top dock on flight 2 after first checking out in formation
flying..

sounds good to me

ATV and HTV docked on their first flights. Shuttle did a flyby first
and docked on the second Mir flight.

Brian

On 12/11/2010 01:49 PM, Brian Thorn wrote:
On Sat, 11 Dec 2010 10:28:21 -0800 (PST), "
wrote:

Two more COTS Demos, 2 and 3. 2 will be the first flight of the
"full-up" Dragon and will perform two flybys of ISS. 3 will be the first
to approach and be berthed to ISS.

they want top dock on flight 2 after first checking out in formation
flying..

sounds good to me

ATV and HTV docked on their first flights.

ESA and JAXA had a lot more NASA and RSA oversight before their first
flights. In airport security terms, SpaceX is getting a couple of waves
with the metal detector wand while ESA and JAXA got the full body cavity
searches.

Pat Flannery writes:

Okay, leaving the odd anal references to one side, both ATV and HTV
never even tried out their maneuvering systems in orbit before the
flights in which they were allowed to berth with the ISS.
Dragon has already done that on its first orbital flight, and can also
check out if everything is working right on flight two before attempting
to get close enough to the ISS for the robotic arm to grab.

As long as they can make sure that everything works as expected before
getting near the ISS it's indeed hard to see what could be gained by
putting this off to another flight.


Jochem

--
"A designer knows he has arrived at perfection not when there is no
longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away."
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

In message tatelephone
Pat Flannery wrote:

On 12/11/2010 7:41 PM, Jorge R. Frank wrote:

they want top dock on flight 2 after first checking out in formation
flying..

sounds good to me

ATV and HTV docked on their first flights.

ESA and JAXA had a lot more NASA and RSA oversight before their first
flights. In airport security terms, SpaceX is getting a couple of waves
with the metal detector wand while ESA and JAXA got the full body cavity
searches.

Okay, leaving the odd anal references to one side, both ATV and HTV
never even tried out their maneuvering systems in orbit before the
flights in which they were allowed to berth with the ISS.

The first ATV spent about 3 weeks in orbit exercising various systems
before docking, although 10 days of that was waiting for a shuttle
mission. The HTV spent a week doing similar tests. Both test programmes
included simulated approaches and collison avoidance manoeuvres.

Anthony

On 12/11/2010 7:41 PM, Jorge R. Frank wrote:

they want top dock on flight 2 after first checking out in formation
flying..

sounds good to me

ATV and HTV docked on their first flights.

ESA and JAXA had a lot more NASA and RSA oversight before their first
flights. In airport security terms, SpaceX is getting a couple of waves
with the metal detector wand while ESA and JAXA got the full body cavity
searches.

Okay, leaving the odd anal references to one side, both ATV and HTV
never even tried out their maneuvering systems in orbit before the
flights in which they were allowed to berth with the ISS.
Dragon has already done that on its first orbital flight, and can also
check out if everything is working right on flight two before attempting
to get close enough to the ISS for the robotic arm to grab.
The really damning part though is that SpaceX developed both the Falcon
9 and dragon for around $600 million...around the cost of a single
Shuttle flight.
In contrast, Constellation ate up $9 billion dollars by February of
2010: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/02/science/02nasa.html
....produced some boiler plate capsules, an escape system, and a flyable
kinda-sorta Ares 1 that didn't even have a first stage that was
identical to the one that was going to be used for an operational
vehicle, with only a aerodynamic model for the second stage and Orion.

Pat

On Mon, 13 Dec 2010 07:28:21 -0800, Pat Flannery
wrote:


In contrast, Constellation ate up $9 billion dollars by February of
2010: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/02/science/02nasa.html
...produced some boiler plate capsules, an escape system,

Which is no small task. The LAS is about the same as Apollo's and
Apollo's was more powerful than the Redstone that launched Mercury,
remember.

and a flyable
kinda-sorta Ares 1 that didn't even have a first stage that was
identical to the one that was going to be used for an operational
vehicle, with only a aerodynamic model for the second stage and Orion.

And a Launch Pad.
And Five-Segment SRB.
And completed Orion to Critical Design Review.

Not to dismiss SpaceX's accomplishment, but Constellation did more
than you imply. A lot more.

Brian