nomadd22 From United States of America, joined Feb 2008, 1561 posts, RR: 0 Reply 1, posted (2 months 3 weeks 1 day 18 hours ago) and read 2751 times:
I never heard if they actually made any changes because of the engine investigation or just decided not to worry about it since this batch hasn't been fired for nearly as long as the last and it's the last of the M1Cs anyhow.
This'll be the first mission they deliver something in the trunk. Should be interesting. It's just grapple fixtures this trip, but if it works out, they could start sending some major items in there. It's a huge space and they can make it longer according to Elon. With the M1Ds, they shouldn't have to worry about payload weight restrictions anymore.
nomadd22 From United States of America, joined Feb 2008, 1561 posts, RR: 0 Reply 4, posted (2 months 2 weeks 6 days 15 hours ago) and read 2477 times:
Good launch, but Draco problems. Three out of four pods are offline. They got solar arrays deployed and they are trying to bringing Dracos online one at a time. Speculation is another sensor issue that they might be able to work around. ISS ops needs 3 out of 4 pods working right.
MadameConcorde From San Marino, joined Feb 2007, 10243 posts, RR: 40 Reply 5, posted (2 months 2 weeks 6 days 13 hours ago) and read 2447 times:
Tweets
ISS Updates @ISS101
#Dragon will not perform its Rendezvous with #ISS tomorrow as teams continue to work the problems with the Thruster System. #SpX2
8:19 p.m. - Mar 1, 2013 · Details
the required burn for ISS berthing on Saturday was missed.
MadameConcorde From San Marino, joined Feb 2007, 10243 posts, RR: 40 Reply 8, posted (2 months 2 weeks 5 days 23 hours ago) and read 2306 times:
I don't think it's much of a big deal if they can grapple the capsule one day late - better that than lose the whole thing. Seems they have got everything fixed.
Twitter:
Chris Hadfield @Cmdr_Hadfield
The Dragon resupply spaceship is 7 km above ISS and 2850 km in front, her problems fixed. Re-planning the rendezvous and grapple schedule.
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Andreas Schepers Maria Voyatzi Fortrel Xerxes Rånby The Disaster Channel Henry Blyth Chris
zanl188 From United States of America, joined Oct 2006, 3247 posts, RR: 0 Reply 9, posted (2 months 2 weeks 5 days 16 hours ago) and read 2254 times:
Quoting MadameConcorde (Reply 8): I don't think it's much of a big deal if they can grapple the capsule one day late - better that than lose the whole thing.
I agree whole heartedly. I'm beginning to see a strategy... NASA buys 12 cargo flights from SpaceX. SpaceX builds an inventory of 12, slightly used, Dragons & an experience base. Sets them up quite nicely to bid the next commercial cargo contract as well as commercial crew.
Legal considerations provided by: Dewey, Cheatum, and Howe
Dragon is scheduled to be captured Sunday at 6:01 a.m. EST by NASA Expedition 34 Commander Kevin Ford and NASA Flight Engineer Tom Marshburn. Once grappled, Dragon will be installed onto the Earth-facing port of the Harmony module by ground experts at mission control in Houston. The cargo vehicle will be bolted into place through commands by Flight Engineer Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency.
Areopagus From United States of America, joined Sep 2001, 1356 posts, RR: 1 Reply 12, posted (2 months 2 weeks 5 days 5 hours ago) and read 2165 times:
Quoting zanl188 (Reply 10):
Some nice launch video from SpaceX.
The earthbound camera view of the vehicle departing the scene under first stage power shows the usual long incandescent flame tail. From the downward-facing rocket-cam, the high altitude overexpansion of the plume is smoky, although the yellow flame can still be seen all the way to burnout. But during the second stage burn, no yellow flame shows up, just smoke. It surprises me that the vacuum engine bell would be long enough to contain the incandescent flame. Is this due to the length of the bell, or the lower pressure at its end, or something else?
MadameConcorde From San Marino, joined Feb 2007, 10243 posts, RR: 40 Reply 13, posted (2 months 2 weeks 5 days ago) and read 2137 times:
SPX2 the Musk Flyer is getting near the ISS
ISS Updates @ISS101
#Dragon is now inside 1,000 meters to #ISS. The crew is starting monitoring operations. #SpX2
Retweeted by Spaceflight101
ESA @esa
RT @Cmdr_Hadfield: Just caught sight of #Dragon, crisply white against horizon, sneaking up on us from behind. We're readying to grapple.
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Tesseract
9:20 a.m. - Mar 3, 2013 · Details
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Reply to @esa @Cmdr_Hadfield
MadameConcorde From San Marino, joined Feb 2007, 10243 posts, RR: 40 Reply 14, posted (2 months 2 weeks 4 days 23 hours ago) and read 2116 times:
Looks like they are well ahead of schedule
ISS Updates ISS Updates @ISS101
#Dragon now 100 meters from #ISS approaching at 0.05 meters per second. #SpX2
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Mauria Ellenson Dr. Ian O'Neill Discovery Space Spaceflight101
10:42 AM - Mar 3, 2013
Updates
4 mins ISS Updates ISS Updates @ISS101
HOLD - #Dragon has arrived at 30 meters and is holding. MCC-X is verifying good nav data and teams will be polled before proceeding.
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Ashley Ng miya_p Spaceflight101 飛び出せ豆腐の盛り
10:59 a.m. - Mar 3, 2013 · Details
ISS Updates @ISS101
FINAL APPROACH - With short pulses of its Draco engines, #Dragon starts its final approach to the Capture Point. http://bit.ly/143XyaM
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Alcyone ♕ 飛び出せ豆腐の盛り Discovery Space Dr. Ian O'Neill Spaceflight101 miya_p Iban Eguia
11:05 a.m. - Mar 3, 2013 · Details
3 mins ISS Updates ISS Updates @ISS101
CAPTURE POINT ARRIVAL - #Dragon is at the Capture Point. Rel Velocity is being reduced to zero. http://twitpic.com/c8amlc
Go for Capture says NASA
[Edited 2013-03-03 02:27:07]
There was a better way to fly it was called Concorde
rwessel From United States of America, joined Jan 2007, 1989 posts, RR: 2 Reply 15, posted (2 months 2 weeks 4 days 22 hours ago) and read 2101 times:
Quoting Areopagus (Reply 12): The earthbound camera view of the vehicle departing the scene under first stage power shows the usual long incandescent flame tail. From the downward-facing rocket-cam, the high altitude overexpansion of the plume is smoky, although the yellow flame can still be seen all the way to burnout. But during the second stage burn, no yellow flame shows up, just smoke. It surprises me that the vacuum engine bell would be long enough to contain the incandescent flame. Is this due to the length of the bell, or the lower pressure at its end, or something else?
It's a combination of things. The Merlin-1C (vacuum) has an expansion ratio of 117:1, vs. 14.5:1 of the "normal" 1C.
Ideally, you'd like all combustion in a rocket engine to take place in the combustion chamber. You never get that, though, and a fair quantity happens in the expansion bell, and in the atmosphere, particularly as the expansion ration drops far below optimal and you have significant lateral expansion of the plume.. And then most liquid fuel rockets run a bit rich, so there's always some unburned fuel being dumped into the atmosphere. I think you're just seeing the effects of much longer containment by the much larger bell (where the burn has a good fuel/oxidizer ratio), plus the lack of atmosphere to support combustion of the remaining unburned fuel.
I will say the Falcon 9 is a bit of a smoker, though. I wonder if they’re running a bit richer than most LOX/RP-1 designs.
MadameConcorde From San Marino, joined Feb 2007, 10243 posts, RR: 40 Reply 16, posted (2 months 2 weeks 4 days 22 hours ago) and read 2096 times:
Capture completed
Congratulations to all involved.
2 mins ISS Updates ISS Updates @ISS101
CAPTURE - #Dragon has arrived at #ISS following a bumpy start to its mission and a speedy recovery by SpaceX.
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E^2=(mc^2)^2+(pc)^2 Artyom Zharov Linda ひげのおじさん beta_angle JP Burke Spaceflight101
11:31 a.m. - Mar 3, 2013 · Details
3 mins Johnson Space Center Johnson Space Center @NASA_Johnson
Capture of #Dragon confirmed at 5:31am ET
Article: #Dragon Captured by Space Station Robotic Arm after "early late Arrival" - http://bit.ly/UvrtZQ
My question:
Are the Space X using "reusable equipment" for these ISS missions or have they been asked to build new equipment for every new cargo re-supply to the Station?
Have anyone got the right answer to this?
It would cost them much less to re-use the same equipment each time (= more profit) but maybe they are not allowed to?
[Edited 2013-03-03 03:02:37]
There was a better way to fly it was called Concorde
zanl188 From United States of America, joined Oct 2006, 3247 posts, RR: 0 Reply 17, posted (2 months 2 weeks 4 days 20 hours ago) and read 2071 times:
Quoting MadameConcorde (Reply 16): Are the Space X using "reusable equipment" for these ISS missions or have they been asked to build new equipment for every new cargo re-supply to the Station?
Yes & yes.
My guess is that NASA intended for SpaceX to build a fleet of Dragons with the first contract. It will be interesting to see if this continues with the followon contracts. Perhaps some will be converted to the crewed version.
Legal considerations provided by: Dewey, Cheatum, and Howe
MadameConcorde From San Marino, joined Feb 2007, 10243 posts, RR: 40 Reply 18, posted (2 months 2 weeks 4 days 19 hours ago) and read 2061 times:
Quoting zanl188 (Reply 17): My guess is that NASA intended for SpaceX to build a fleet of Dragons with the first contract. It will be interesting to see if this continues with the followon contracts. Perhaps some will be converted to the crewed version.
Elon Musk is a profit-minded money man. He went into this as he knows there is huge profit to be made out of this or he would have gone into another field - he is a banker not an engineer and he knew little or zilch about Space before he started the Space X.
The profits will be multiplied when this re-usable equipment will be used over and over for whatever number of missions they'll be able to use them for. That's when the big money will come into his pockets.
ISS Updates @ISS101
Robotics are proceeding. A slight adjustment of SSRMS positioning was made to precisely align #Dragon. Pushing in for Ready-To-Latch soon.
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Ring Winchell Chung 飛び出せ豆腐の盛り Spaceflight101 Cassandra Rose
2:17 p.m. - Mar 3, 2013 · Details
ISS Updates @ISS101
Update: #Dragon successfully berthed to #ISS for three-week Stay - http://bit.ly/UvrtZQ
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SSquire Dave T Star Heather D. Smith Spaceflight101 Winchell Chung
3:10 p.m. - Mar 3, 2013 · Details
Started wobbly now docked to the ISS. First part of mission accomplished.
The Astronauts can get to work unloading their new supplies.
[Edited 2013-03-03 06:21:54]
There was a better way to fly it was called Concorde
MadameConcorde From San Marino, joined Feb 2007, 10243 posts, RR: 40 Reply 20, posted (2 months 2 weeks 4 days 13 hours ago) and read 2004 times:
Latest update:
Running well ahead of the timeline, Expedition 34 Flight Engineer Tom Marshburn opened the hatch to the SpaceX / Dragon resupply vehicle at 1:14 p.m. EST Sunday, enabling Commander Kevin Ford of NASA and Canadian Space Agency Flight Engineer Chris Hadfield to enter the cargo craft a little more than four hours after Dragon was berthed to the International Space Station following a flawless rendezvous. Ford and Hadfield will begin to unload Dragon’s cargo on Monday morning at the outset of three weeks of operations to remove more than 1,200 pounds of supplies and science experiments and hardware from the cargo craft and to load more than a ton of items and experiments in Dragon for its return to Earth later this month.
connies4ever From Canada, joined Feb 2006, 3854 posts, RR: 13 Reply 22, posted (2 months 2 weeks 4 days 10 hours ago) and read 1979 times:
Quoting MadameConcorde (Reply 20): 1,200 pounds is how many metric tons?
I am a total ignoramus on Imperial measures.
A metric tonne (actually) is about 2,205 lbs. |So 1,200 lbs is about 0.55 tonne.
In Imperial units, a ton is 2,240 lbs, or about 1,010 or so kg. Imperial tons are sometimes referred to as long tons.
MadameConcorde From San Marino, joined Feb 2007, 10243 posts, RR: 40 Reply 23, posted (2 months 2 weeks 3 days 13 hours ago) and read 1884 times:
Quoting connies4ever (Reply 22): A metric tonne (actually) is about 2,205 lbs. |So 1,200 lbs is about 0.55 tonne.
In Imperial units, a ton is 2,240 lbs, or about 1,010 or so kg. Imperial tons are sometimes referred to as long tons.
Thank you.
Just came up on Twitter
Chris Hadfield @Cmdr_Hadfield
Dragon has an empty belly! We completely unpacked the visiting spaceship today. Many new experiments for Space Station, plus some goodies
7:48 p.m. - Mar 4, 2013 · Details
I wonder if they brought them anymore ice cream?
Also one thing I have always wondered is the astronauts seem to be changing clothes really frequently. They can't possibly have washing machines up in the ISS or even dry cleaning equipment?
How do they manage all the clothing and different sizes for all the astronauts on the ISS?
I would not mind a ISS flown polo shirt but I would not trust feebay for selling anything authentic. It's either NASA charity auctions or nothing. They must all fetch some crazy prices.
There was a better way to fly it was called Concorde
tugger From United States of America, joined Apr 2006, 4629 posts, RR: 7 Reply 24, posted (2 months 2 weeks 3 days 11 hours ago) and read 1853 times:
Quoting MadameConcorde (Reply 23): Also one thing I have always wondered is the astronauts seem to be changing clothes really frequently. They can't possibly have washing machines up in the ISS or even dry cleaning equipment?
Interesting question! And one I hadn't thought of until you asked it but I checked and found this (yes I know it is the Daily Mail but this might be actually accurate ) :
Quote: - astronauts usually wear underwear for three or four days before putting them in a capsule that is ejected and burns up in the atmosphere. Other clothes are worn 'for months'.
NASA has asked Oregon-based UMPQUA to build a low-power, low-water washer-dryer that can make life 250 miles up a bit more pleasant.
It would initially be deployed on the International Space Station, but also serve as a template for future missions such as to The Moon and Mars.
NASA commissioned the research because of the high cost of sending anything into space, which works out as between £3,100 and £6,200 per 500g.
This has meant that astronauts were only allowed a limited number of underpants per trip to keep costs down.
[...]
NASA said it wanted to develop a machine that would work for ‘long duration human missions beyond low Earth orbit’.
It said: ‘The system is suitable for use in any long term space mission where resupply logistics preclude routine delivery of fresh crew clothing and removal of disposable clothing articles.
At first I was wondering "Why put a laundry machine on board when they can just wash them here (now) or just get rid of them" but of course as they note, laundry will be an absolutely mandatory element for any longer space missions.
I just never thought of it before, thanks for asking!
Tugg
I don’t know that I am unafraid to be myself, but it is hard to be somebody else. -W. Shatner
gigneil From United States of America, joined Nov 2002, 16215 posts, RR: 88 Reply 25, posted (2 months 2 weeks 3 days 9 hours ago) and read 1843 times:
I would think that they could clean clothes using something not really water based - they end up with quite a bit of CO2 up there, works fine for many clothing items.
I am sure some of NASA's friendly chemical engineers have something low in density and high in bioactivity they could rinse something out with.
kalvado From United States of America, joined Feb 2006, 471 posts, RR: 0 Reply 26, posted (2 months 2 weeks 3 days 8 hours ago) and read 1849 times:
Looks like Dragon was much closer to a big trouble than SpaceX makes us believe. www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/005/130301launch/ (and some other sources) talk about spacecraft unable to orient properly - and hence unable to point antenna to communication satellite and receive commands from ground control.
USAF satellite communication network was used to transmit commands.. and I still don't understand if they had that as a worked-out plan B or that SpaceX had to improvise and were just lucky enough to get in touch with the ship.
Areopagus From United States of America, joined Sep 2001, 1356 posts, RR: 1 Reply 27, posted (2 months 2 weeks 3 days 8 hours ago) and read 1842 times:
Well, what has me wondering in that same article is the suggestion that there was a blockage in the helium line or valves, that went away after repeated cycling of the valves. So why were they so confident that the problem could not reappear?
rwessel From United States of America, joined Jan 2007, 1989 posts, RR: 2 Reply 28, posted (2 months 2 weeks 3 days 4 hours ago) and read 1813 times:
Quoting MadameConcorde (Reply 23): Also one thing I have always wondered is the astronauts seem to be changing clothes really frequently. They can't possibly have washing machines up in the ISS or even dry cleaning equipment?
How do they manage all the clothing and different sizes for all the astronauts on the ISS?
Obviously you're not a guy. All guys know that if you toss used clothing on the bedroom floor for a week or two, you can wear it again. Of course, on ISS that would probably involve some Velcro.
Quoting kalvado (Reply 26): Looks like Dragon was much closer to a big trouble than SpaceX makes us believe. www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/005/130301launch/ (and some other sources) talk about spacecraft unable to orient properly - and hence unable to point antenna to communication satellite and receive commands from ground control.
USAF satellite communication network was used to transmit commands.. and I still don't understand if they had that as a worked-out plan B or that SpaceX had to improvise and were just lucky enough to get in touch with the ship.
I don't know enough about Dragon, but a low-gain, omnidirectional comm system is common as a backup. You get limited bandwidth, but it doesn't have to be pointed. It's almost a requirement for any spacecraft that has a reasonably deep safe mode, as attitude control is invariably one thing lost during safe mode (or at least the deeper variants). They may have used the USAF facilities simply because it was available and working with the high-bandwidth system would have made everything easier.
As to a recurrence, the way that usually works is that the propellant tanks are unpressurized until you get to orbit, and once you get to orbit, you open some valves to the helium or nitrogen tanks (helium in the case of Dragon). Those are not usually the pressure regulators that finally meter the high-pressure helium into the propellant tanks (although they can be). So likely once you get pressurization, you're not going to lose it. And even if you did, you'd have a fair bit of time before the propellant tank pressure dropped below the critical level, certainly more than enough time to abort a close approach to ISS.
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