Well I'll say this, so far Space X's automated abort systems have worked flawlessly which probably saved them a few rockets. Hopefully if there's any issues during countdown and liftoff they'll have that in their back pocket.
Well I'll say this, so far Space X's automated abort systems have worked flawlessly which probably saved them a few rockets. Hopefully if there's any issues during countdown and liftoff they'll have that in their back pocket.
You got me, Sol? As far as I recall, the automated abort escape rockets have never been used to "push" separate the capsule from the rocket main body during a launch, crewed or otherwise. Unless I've missed something!
Edit: sorry Sol. I'm a bit groggy. I get ya now.
The mission specialists sit on the outside, with 'window' seats and the pilots are in the centre 'aisle' looking at and interacting with the 'pull down' flat screens, letting their fingers do the walking.
That mockup crew dragon looks like it is 2 windows short?
Well I'll say this, so far Space X's automated abort systems have worked flawlessly which probably saved them a few rockets. Hopefully if there's any issues during countdown and liftoff they'll have that in their back pocket.
You got me, Sol? As far as I recall, the automated abort escape rockets have never been used to "push" separate the capsule from the rocket main body during a launch, crewed or otherwise. Unless I've missed something!
Edit: sorry Sol. I'm a bit groggy. I get ya now.
Yes, you got it now. I meant the automated abort systems have halted some launches (down to the seconds) when it read anomalies that could've threaten the mission.
Edit: as inspector Clouseau would say. There is a small "beump." The hatch has been reopened to check out the seal due to an internal pressure issue.
Seems an item of FOD has been identified and ejected from the spacecraft environment. Onwards and upwards.
If there is no hull breach then the internal environment has no direct connection to the vacuum outside. Introduce a small 'gap' and the thing wants to expode. The story of the Dutch boy with his finger in the leaking dike.
I wonder if it is possible to have an internal sense of direction of motion after the vehicle lifts off the pad. That is, I'm thinking if it is possible to strongly sense left/right yawing, nose up/down pitching and roll movements so that one could check off the continuity of the pathway the ship is taking inside of one's head as it makes its way to orbit?
How much of the flight is presented w.r.t. the local horizon? Sort of "wings level," like with an aircraft. That way, the crew only follow a laminar section of a parabolic trajectory all the way up. Keep it simple.
That's a nail-biter. Too bad it didn't launch with some daylight so we could watch the first stage engine landing. Still amazing we can watch all this.
Edit: as inspector Clouseau would say. There is a small "beump." The hatch has been reopened to check out the seal due to an internal pressure issue.
Seems an item of FOD has been identified and ejected from the spacecraft environment. Onwards and upwards.
If there is no hull breach then the internal environment has no direct connection to the vacuum outside. Introduce a small 'gap' and the thing wants to expode. The story of the Dutch boy with his finger in the leaking dike.
OMG! I missed that bit of news. That would've been a disaster if the capsule decompressed.
There was a group ceremony on board Resilience in which pilot astronaut Victor Glover was given a gold pin, to commemorate his leap to operational status from being a trainee. This supercedes the silver pin, which is awarded after initial training. The bottom line is the recipient is no longer a rookie, having participated in actual spaceflight. So, I guess it could also connote with having broken the barrier which places both feet firmly and permanently on the ground by completing at least one full earth orbit hands and feet free by going from theory to practice.
The Resilience is getting close to ISS. They've just performed a translation burn to engage with the entry corridor to the docking port on ISS. In other words, the orbital ellipse of the Crew-Dragon capsule has been adjusted to more closely approach the orbital elliptic curve followed by the space station itself. They don't want to exactly intercept just yet because Resilience needs to use the latter end of the advantage orbital mechanics gives them to coast towards ISS with minimal fuel expenditure. At some point, however, the trusters on Resilience will have to be engaged on a more or less constant basis to keep it zeroing in onto the ISS docking port.
Edit: 02:57 GMT. We're told by SpaceX Resilience is about 1k distant to Iss, having performed one of the zeroing-in (mid-course correction) thruster bursts. Lovely view of the cescent Earth as the daylight part of the planet appears from ISS. At about 600m from the station at 0.5m/s it should take Resilience about 20 minutes to get there. Obviously, as Crew-Dragon gets closer to ISS its forward speed will be progressively reduced to abide by the rules and regs concerning rendezvous with the space station. If I were Victor I'd be itching to activate those thrusters as required to complete the job. The gilted glint on the Golden pin. What is interesting is that the four thrusters grouped at the forward end of the capsule's nose bulkhead are arrayed as a rectangle rather than a square. I'd have thought the square aspect was better by default, so they must have been constructed that way for some purpose, as yet unclear to me. Those solar panel arrays on ISS make it look somewhat akin to a rectilinear wind-jammer, bracing to go round The Horn. Hard docked and secure. Good show. Question: how is the total amount of breathable air regulated when the number of on-board occupants can range from 3 to 7 - The scrubbers and purifiers would seemingly need to be recalibrated?
It does admittedly look somewhat tinny. But then again, this is a demonstration of the basic airframe with a bare-bones engine setup that can loft it and hopefully enable it to set down IN ONE PIECE.
What is interesting is seeing if the Falcon-9 experience can be extrapolated sufficiently to prototype the SN8 in one hit. That has got to be one heavy piece of kit, even if it is hollowed out and devoid of the weight the final article would need to haul around operationally.
Edit: I think it set down in one piece, but unfortunately, a couple of the Raptor engines appear to have cut out too soon by the look of things. It went from vertical to horizontal, then back to vertical again but without enough down force engine thrust it impacted the ground a little too hard and RUDed.
The ship may have ended up in pieces, but at least they ended up where they were supposed to. Incredible to see a Flash Gordon rocketship for real.
It looks to me they've got serious problems with the methane fuelled engines. On the ascent it appears one of them had cut out - you could see explosive blooming of combusting fuel vapor at the engine cluster on the base of the rocket. Since the vehicle had altitude it appears they still went ahead with the belly flop evolution to get as much physicality out of the test as possible. Thankfully, an engine started back up to push the rocket upright for correct landing orientation. But they were one engine short and then the second flame-out occurred.
That was it. Looks like the remaining engine was under orders to exceed 100% thrust capability in a last ditch attempt to save the vehicle. There have been lots of comments about the green flame which ensued. When SN8 touched the ground you could see it was momentarily intact, however, it was an impact and not a touchdown with the inevitable result.
@ Grecchus- Your breakdown sounds about right. I noticed the engine cutting off. Actually a second engine cut off too, unless that was part of the accent procedures. Something was burning inside the rocket. That's happened on previous tests. I think they have a leak of some kind.
This thing is to bulky and top heavy. Seems like its going to be a rough ride on decent even if it works and the chances of a hard landing or tipping over is far to great for this design. I would never fly on it.
And it's certainly NOT going to impress the Galactic Federation. No wonder they won't contact us, we're a laughingstock! Still, good to know the face on Mars is real.
