It looks like the launch will be scrubbed due to the weather, lightning risk during propellant loading is too high.
edit: yep, launch scrubbed. Too bad! But better safe than sorry, especially today with a crewed vehicle. Does anybody know if the crew dragon comes with different weather restrictions for LOX loading?
According to the stream, the crewed mission has stricter weather requirements for launch and further along the ascent path, in case of an abort. I didn't hear them mention stricter conditions for LOX loading.
For those who aren't giant space nerds (like me) the very best place to get info on SpaceX and SpaceX launches has always been Reddit's /r/SpaceX[0]. The launch today (like all launches) has a dedicated thread[1] with mods keeping all details up to date, all links that matter organized.
It's 100% not sponsored or run by SpaceX, but honestly it's probably doing a better job than a corporate PR side could manage. Fantastic amount of details on everything in their wiki and posts, and friendly people who answer questions happily.
I watched the first Space Shuttle launch live, I watched Challenger live. I watched the last shuttle launch live. I was sad then, realizing that America was losing launch capability on that day.
I can't tell you how exited I am to watch America's return to launch capability.
Edit: Disappointed at the scrub, but I know a lot of these weather rules were put in place because of Challenger, so I understand. Looking forward to Saturday!
Yes, but is manned missions really going to achieve much. I thought there was much differing opinion about the value/lack of value of manned missions among the space community itself.
The space suits, UI, design of it all feels exactly what I’ve though the future of space technology would be. Maybe not all the way there yet, but a great leap from hundreds of manual switches and raw aluminum of the shuttle era.
I think the Mercury/Gemini/Apollo cool was that the hardware was completely lacking in design: it was as practical as a carburetor and as stylish. And that's why we liked them.
I don't understand. What is the difference between that video and this [0] one? They're both by NASA.
Then there's also the one by SpaceX [1] for those interested. I know that SpaceX usually has two webcasts going during launches; one for the public-friendly chatter and another for the go/nogo technical chatter
I always look for the SpaceX or NASA official links. Don't search for SpaceX on youtube, you'll drown in unofficial garbage from news companies
I have tried and barely succeeded, I just hope those are not real controls. Those should be either automated or they should consult someone from gaming industry. Sorry to say UX controls are terrible (saying from gaming position).
> Demo-2 is the final major test for SpaceX’s human spaceflight system to be certified by NASA for operational crew missions to and from the International Space Station.
The two astronauts along with the Falcon 9 will be docking with the ISS and then returning home. No crew swap is happening, which seems like a waste of energy. I get that SpaceX isn't "operationally certified", but is a crew swap inherently more risky?
They will stay for 1 to 4 months. Its apparently partially dependent on whether they are prepared to launch the first actual crew mission on Aug 30.
A crew swap would require astronauts that are on station to return on the dragon, something they may not have trained for. So to do a swap, you'd probably have to take more than just the two test pilots up since they are likely required to pilot the capsule back down. Taking additional crew on the test flight would certainly be more risky to those additional lives.
The mission was initially intended to be a short, crewed test flight, lasting only a week and a half but the spacecraft that was planned to be used for this was lost in a test accident.
Now they are flying on its successor capsule which is rated for much longer (iirc up to 110 days of) space operations. This allows NASA to extend the mission and lets the astronauts Hurley and Behnken help out on the ISS which are currently short on people iirc. They received training for this extended mission in the last few month.
> The two astronauts along with the Falcon 9 will be docking with the ISS and then returning home
Just to be clear, the Falcon 9 is the booster that never gets to orbit. It's not going to the ISS- not moving fast enough to achieve orbit. Just the little Dragon spaceship on the nose of the rocket will get to the ISS.
> No crew swap is happening, which seems like a waste of energy. I get that SpaceX isn't "operationally certified", but is a crew swap inherently more risky?
Believe it or not, they've sent this 7-seat spacecraft to the ISS already (well, the same model) just to verify it could do it. It arrived empty, it went home empty (except for a plushy that stayed behind). The point is that SpaceX is going to be doing this maybe hundreds of times in the future, but the first time, they want to minimize the number of people that could die if something goes wrong.
Remember, this whole test would have been done 6 months ago except that the sister to this spaceship unexpected exploded during a simple ground test. This stuff is dangerous.
Honestly, wondering how the touch interface will work in this mission. Always thought it will be tough to make sure the touch works as opposed to physical switches and buttons.
eagerly waiting for the launch, though! Wishing luck from India!
If they have to take their gloves off to get the TouchID to work, then that's kind of a bummer. Don't know how well FaceID works while wearing the helmets either.
Memories of the first few Space Shuttle launches. I was lucky enough to see STS-3 from Jetty Park when I was 12. Today I'll watch from home on YouTube with my own kids (16 and 17).
I assume the astronauts and everyone involved is tested daily for COVID-19. I am sure that bringing the virus to the IIS would be disastrous. Anyone has any insights on the measures taken to prevent it?
This Verge article[0] appears to describe the preventative steps to be less severe than I'd expect.
[0] https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/25/21264868/spacex-nasa-laun...
[+] [-] jacquesm|5 years ago|reply
edit: yep, launch scrubbed. Too bad! But better safe than sorry, especially today with a crewed vehicle. Does anybody know if the crew dragon comes with different weather restrictions for LOX loading?
[+] [-] elliekelly|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dmurray|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mauvehaus|5 years ago|reply
https://www.spacex.com/launches/
[+] [-] tosh|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mabbo|5 years ago|reply
It's 100% not sponsored or run by SpaceX, but honestly it's probably doing a better job than a corporate PR side could manage. Fantastic amount of details on everything in their wiki and posts, and friendly people who answer questions happily.
[0] https://reddit.com/r/spacex
[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/glwz6n/rspacex_cctc...
[+] [-] majkinetor|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] coronadisaster|5 years ago|reply
but it feels like it is sometimes
[+] [-] jedberg|5 years ago|reply
I can't tell you how exited I am to watch America's return to launch capability.
Edit: Disappointed at the scrub, but I know a lot of these weather rules were put in place because of Challenger, so I understand. Looking forward to Saturday!
[+] [-] minxomat|5 years ago|reply
Perfection.
[+] [-] 98Windows|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mrtksn|5 years ago|reply
Wish you the best luck and hope that this will lead to some serious competition. Soyuz is great but we need to do more as species.
[+] [-] billfruit|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dmos62|5 years ago|reply
Space exploration and exploitation is awesome, but shouldn't the first items on the "do more as species" todo list be about taking care of earth?
[+] [-] badrabbit|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] aquajet|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] billfruit|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] NiceWayToDoIT|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] imshashank|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mariushn|5 years ago|reply
Or, maybe there isn't much to do manually during this phase, and for the little things there are some classic controls.
[+] [-] luizfzs|5 years ago|reply
The touch screen panel is surely very cool.
[+] [-] danbr|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|5 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] JKCalhoun|5 years ago|reply
I think the Mercury/Gemini/Apollo cool was that the hardware was completely lacking in design: it was as practical as a carburetor and as stylish. And that's why we liked them.
[+] [-] localhost|5 years ago|reply
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aymrnzianf0
[+] [-] inetknght|5 years ago|reply
Then there's also the one by SpaceX [1] for those interested. I know that SpaceX usually has two webcasts going during launches; one for the public-friendly chatter and another for the go/nogo technical chatter
I always look for the SpaceX or NASA official links. Don't search for SpaceX on youtube, you'll drown in unofficial garbage from news companies
[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21X5lGlDOfg
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjb9FdVdX5I
[+] [-] qchris|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rrmm|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] TrainedMonkey|5 years ago|reply
Astronauts will be using similar for manual piloting demo before docking.
[+] [-] _Microft|5 years ago|reply
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=iss+sim+speedru...
[+] [-] tboerstad|5 years ago|reply
I hope they practiced on tablets
[+] [-] NiceWayToDoIT|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gpm|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dgritsko|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] exdsq|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] TomVDB|5 years ago|reply
Working on manned space flight is not for me. The stakes are just too high.
[+] [-] onion2k|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ak-47|5 years ago|reply
The two astronauts along with the Falcon 9 will be docking with the ISS and then returning home. No crew swap is happening, which seems like a waste of energy. I get that SpaceX isn't "operationally certified", but is a crew swap inherently more risky?
[+] [-] QuotedForTruth|5 years ago|reply
A crew swap would require astronauts that are on station to return on the dragon, something they may not have trained for. So to do a swap, you'd probably have to take more than just the two test pilots up since they are likely required to pilot the capsule back down. Taking additional crew on the test flight would certainly be more risky to those additional lives.
[+] [-] _Microft|5 years ago|reply
Now they are flying on its successor capsule which is rated for much longer (iirc up to 110 days of) space operations. This allows NASA to extend the mission and lets the astronauts Hurley and Behnken help out on the ISS which are currently short on people iirc. They received training for this extended mission in the last few month.
[+] [-] mabbo|5 years ago|reply
Just to be clear, the Falcon 9 is the booster that never gets to orbit. It's not going to the ISS- not moving fast enough to achieve orbit. Just the little Dragon spaceship on the nose of the rocket will get to the ISS.
> No crew swap is happening, which seems like a waste of energy. I get that SpaceX isn't "operationally certified", but is a crew swap inherently more risky?
Believe it or not, they've sent this 7-seat spacecraft to the ISS already (well, the same model) just to verify it could do it. It arrived empty, it went home empty (except for a plushy that stayed behind). The point is that SpaceX is going to be doing this maybe hundreds of times in the future, but the first time, they want to minimize the number of people that could die if something goes wrong.
Remember, this whole test would have been done 6 months ago except that the sister to this spaceship unexpected exploded during a simple ground test. This stuff is dangerous.
[+] [-] Diederich|5 years ago|reply
I read somewhere that the first 'operational' SpaceX <-> ISS will be in a couple of months.
[+] [-] os7borne|5 years ago|reply
eagerly waiting for the launch, though! Wishing luck from India!
[+] [-] dylan604|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] heyflyguy|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hadtodoit|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] james_pm|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] relham|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] manaskarekar|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|5 years ago|reply
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