Dragon Crew v.2.0

[tnt22]

http://spaceflight101.com/spacex-cuts-plans-for-powered-dragon-landing/

SpaceX cuts Plans for Powered Dragon Landings, places Focus on Commercial Crew
July 20, 2017

SpaceX decided against the company's previous plan of having their next generation Dragon spacecraft return to Earth via a powered landing to bring back cargo and crews fr om the International Space Station, company chief Elon Musk said on Wednesday at the International Space Station Research and Development Conference in Washington.

Спойлер

SpaceX Artwork of a Dragon Spacecraft touching down on Mars – Credit: SpaceX

Unveiling the design of SpaceX's Dragon 2 spacecraft in May 2014, Musk highlighted the craft's ability to make a pin-point landing atop a flat concrete pad using its powerful SuperDraco engines and four landing legs that would extend from the vehicle's protective heat shield. Initial Dragon 2 flights were planned to stick to the ocean-based splashdown landing technique used by the current generation of Dragon spacecraft, but SpaceX had hoped to inaugurate propulsive landings later in the program and use a similar landing technique for uncrewed Dragon spacecraft attempting a daring touchdown on the surface of Mars.


SuperDraco Engines to be used as Launch Escape Engines & Landing Thrusters – Photo: SpaceX

Elon Musk said on Wednesday that these plans would be abandoned, citing safety concerns & certification issues and questioning the usefulness of the landing scheme for SpaceX's Mars plans. Per the revised design, the four landing legs will be eliminated but Dragon 2 will retain the side-mounted SuperDracos that double as a launch escape system to boost the capsule away from a failing launch vehicle. The cargo version of the Dragon 2 will drop both, the SuperDracos and legs, as no propulsive launch abort capability is needed for cargo missions.

"It would have taken a tremendous amount of effort to qualify that for safety, particularly for crew transport," Musk said about the propulsive landing technique. "There was a time that I thought the Dragon approach, wh ere you've got a base heat shield and side-mounted thrusters, would be the right way to land on Mars. – Now, I'm pretty confident that is not the right way and there's a far better approach."


Dragon 2 Landing on ground-based pad – Image: SpaceX

Musk did not elaborate on the alternative approach, but his remarks seem to imply that SpaceX is abandoning plans of Red Dragon missions that would have seen a Dragon 2 vehicle launch on a Falcon Heavy rocket and land on Mars powered by the SuperDraco thrusters to deliver valuable data on retropropulsion in the tenuous Martian atmosphere and deploy an experiment suite to the surface to explore whether resources present at Mars could be effectively used for human settlement. NASA had expressed interest in the missions and offered technical assistance, communications and tracking support.

Plans for Red Dragon were made public last year for launch as early as 2018, but SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said earlier this year that the launch slipped to 2020. Although Musk did not directly address Red Dragon in his remarks, the elimination of Dragon's propulsive landing provisions, particularly the deployable legs, would rule out such missions.


SpaceX Interplanetary Transport System (Booster & Spaceship) – Credit: SpaceX


ITS Descending toward Mars – Image: SpaceX

Concerning SpaceX's Mars plans, Musk confirmed on Wednesday that the company had made significant revisions of their overall Mars architecture that was unveiled last year in a highly publicized presentation at the International Astronautical Congress in Mexico. This plan called for the development of a giant reusable Interplanetary Transport System consisting of a booster rocket, a tanker spacecraft, and a very large crew craft capable of ferrying several dozen passengers and cargo from Earth to the surface of Mars.

"It's evolved quite a bit since the last talk," Musk said of SpaceX's proposed Mars architecture. "The key thing that I've figured out is how to pay for this whole system to go to Mars. It's super expensive." To be financially viable, Musk said, the new system must be useful for Mars missions as well as activity in Earth orbit (i.e. through the deployment of commercial satellite constellations or servicing existing systems). This way, revenue would be generated by the craft's Earth-orbit services which in turn would finance the Mars effort.

"It's a little smaller, still big, but I think this one has got a shot at being real on the economic front," Musk said about SpaceX's upd ated Mars launch vehicle and spacecraft design. He said he might present more details at this year's International Astronautical Congress, held September 25-29 in Adelaide, Australia.

Musk said on Wednesday that primary focus is currently on the company's Dragon 2 spacecraft, progressing toward crewed missions by mid-2018 to begin services as part of NASA's Commercial Crew program to end reliance on Russia's Soyuz craft for the launch of ISS crew members.


Crew Dragon in Flight – Image: SpaceX

SpaceX holds a $2.6 billion contract awarded by NASA in 2014, covering final development work of the upgraded Dragon spacecraft and up to six crew rotation missions to ISS. Boeing holds a similar contract worth $4.2 billion and expects to complete the first crewed flight of their CST-100 Starliner spacecraft in the August 2018 time frame.

Both companies have fallen well behind the original plan of having Commercial Crew up and running by the end of this year. Musk noted much tougher NASA oversight for the crewed spacecraft than for the commercial cargo program. "As soon as people enter the picture, it's really a giant step up in making sure things go right," Musk said. "For sure, the oversight from NASA is much tougher. I thought it was tough for cargo, but it's really intense for crew."

One major precursor to crewed flights of the Dragon will be the debut of the Falcon 9 Block 5 version later this year – featuring another slight performance boost on its Merlin 1D engines as well as modifications enabling easy and quick re-use of the first stage for turnarounds of just 24 hours in between missions.

NASA requires seven flights of the Falcon 9 in a 'frozen design' to certify the vehicle for crew transportation. To date, SpaceX introduced new components and system modifications on a flight-to-flight basis in addition to Falcon 9 evolving through several larger design blocks.


Falcon Heavy at a highly modified Launch Complex 39A – Image: SpaceX

Elon Musk also used Wednesday's interview for a preview of the upcoming debut of the Falcon Heavy rocket, SpaceX's heavy-lift vehicle comprising three cores firing in unison with a second stage sitting atop the central core. Managing expectations for the rocket's first flight, Musk said "there's a lot of risk associated with the Falcon Heavy. There's a real good chance that vehicle does not make it to orbit. I want to make sure and se t expectations accordingly."

Musk explained that development of the Falcon Heavy turned out to be much more complex 'than simply strapping three Falcon 9 cores together.' Challenges arise from harnessing the power of 27 Merlin 1D engines that have to light up in a carefully controlled sequence to avoid excessive thrust-induced forces that could rip the rocket apart while still sitting on the pad. Another design challenge was within the central core of the Falcon Heavy stack, needing a major re-work of its structural air frame compared to a single-core Falcon 9 because of the massively powerful boosters sending their thrust force along with engine-related vibrations into the central core.

The next major watch item for the first Falcon Heavy flight will be the rocket's aerodynamic behavior, especially around the point of Maximum Dynamic Pressure as structural loads and aerodynamics have proven difficult to model, according to Musk, requiring a real-world test flight to obtain firm data. The separation of the twin booster cores is also a major unknown for the inaugural mission as there had been earlier concerns that the lack of separation rockets on the outer cores may pose a risk of contact with the center core during separation.


Image: SpaceX

If that were not enough, SpaceX will employ a pair of previously flown boosters as the two outer cores for the maiden Falcon Heavy voyage and aims to return them to landing pads at Cape Canaveral while the central core will target SpaceX's Drone Ship after dispatching the second stage toward orbit.

Schedule plans call for Launch Complex 39A to enter around two months of outfitting for Falcon Heavy once the Cape's Space Launch Complex 40 can be re-activated after last year's Falcon 9 testing mishap, currently looking at late August/early September for a resumption of launch operations. This would place Falcon Heavy's earliest rollout into November which will be followed by a period of on-pad testing that may include several static fire tests before clearing the rocket for its highly-anticipated mission.

"I encourage people to come down to the Cape to see the first Falcon Heavy mission," Musk said. "It's guaranteed to be exciting."

[свернуть]

[tnt22]

https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/2017/07/20/recovery-and-rescue-teams-practice-with-full-size-crew-dragon-trainer/

Recovery and Rescue Teams Practice with Full-Size Crew Dragon Trainer
Posted on July 20, 2017 at 12:00 pm by Amanda Griffin.

SpaceX, NASA and Air Force personnel who will help astronauts out of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft returning fr om a mission to the International Space Station have begun practicing for that using a full-size model of the spacecraft. In certain unusual recovery situations, SpaceX may need to work with the U.S. Air Force to send parajumpers to recover astronauts from the capsule in the water. Recently, the Recovery Trainer was lowered into the Indian River Lagoon near NASA's Kennedy Space Center so Air Force pararescue and others could learn techniques for getting aboard the spacecraft and rescuing the astronauts.

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Such rescue practice is typical of all human missions because it gives astronauts and support teams many opportunities to practice and refine the critical steps in safely rescuing the crew in a contingency situation. A number of procedures will be developed and then practiced over time to deal with recoveries in many different conditions.

SpaceX is developing the Crew Dragon in partnership with NASA's Commercial Crew Program to carry astronauts to the International Space Station. The Recovery Trainer was built by SpaceX and subsequently modified by Kennedy's Prototype Lab to SpaceX specifications. The same dimensions as the outside mold line of a Crew Dragon, it has indicators wh ere thrusters will be and other markings on the exterior. Inside, the crew area matches that of the operational spacecraft and includes an instrument panel.

[свернуть]

Photo Credit: SpaceX

This entry was posted in Commercial Spaceflight, NASA, SpaceX and tagged Commercial Crew Program, Crew Dragon on July 20, 2017 by Amanda Griffin.

[Max Andriyahov]

В блоге НАСА опубликованы новые даты испытательных полетов новых коммерческих пилотируемых кораблей.

Беспилотная миссия:
SpaceX Dragon 2 - февраль 2018
Boeing Starliner - июнь 2018

Пилотируемая миссия:
SpaceX Dragon 2 - июнь 2018
Boeing Starliner - август 2018.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/2017/07/20/nasas-commercial-crew-program-target-flight-dates/

[tnt22]

http://spacenews.com/nasa-and-companies-express-growing-confidence-in-commercial-crew-schedules/

NASA and companies express growing confidence in commercial crew schedules
by Jeff Foust — July 21, 2017


NASA, SpaceX and Boeing expect test flights of their Crew Dragon and CST-100 Starliner vehicles to take place next year after extensive delays. Credit: SpaceX artist's concept and Boeing

WASHINGTON — Both NASA and the two companies developing commercial crew vehicles say those efforts remain on schedule for test flights that are in some cases less than a year away.

NASA published July 20 what it called "the most recent publicly-releasable dates" of the test flights of Boeing's CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX's Crew Dragon vehicles. Each company, under terms of Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contracts awarded in September 2014, are required to first fly an uncrewed test flight of their spacecraft, followed by one with astronauts on board.

The latest SpaceX schedule calls for an uncrewed test flight in February 2018, followed by a crewed test flight in June 2018. Boeing's schedule anticipates an uncrewed test flight in June 2018 and a crewed test flight in August 2018.

Спойлер

Those scheduled have slipped considerably from the original CCtCap announcement. At that time, NASA expected both vehicles to have completed their test flights and be certified for regular crew transportation missions to the International Space Station by the end of 2017. Both companies have suffered technical problems that have pushed back those flights, in some cases by more than a year.

A leading NASA official, though, sounded more confident about the companies' efforts towards those 2018 test flights. "Commercial crew is making great progress," said Kirk Shireman, ISS program manager, in a July 18 speech at the ISS Research and Development Conference here.

"By the next ISS R&D Conference, I expect to have flown the first Boeing CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX Crew Dragon flight," he said. The 2018 conference is scheduled for late July in San Francisco.

In an on-stage interview with Shireman at the conference July 19, SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk also expressed confidence his company's schedule. "Our primary focus will be on, particularly over the next year or so, our Dragon 2 spacecraft," he said, using the company's name for what NASA calls Crew Dragon.

"What's our primary focus? Making sure we stay on track for getting crew to station, as we promised NASA, around the middle of next year," he said. "That's going to be real exciting."

Musk acknowledged that developing the Crew Dragon spacecraft has been "way more difficult" than the cargo version of Dragon currently flying. "As soon as people enter the picture, it's really a giant step up in making sure things go right," he said. "The oversight from NASA is much tougher."

"We have some debates going into next year about some of the technical details," he said of SpaceX's relationship with NASA. However, he later described those debates as minor "technical bones of contention" on unspecified "esoteric" issues.

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...

[tnt22]

Stephen Clark‏ @StephenClark1 5 мин. назад

NASA's Greg Williams: Installation of SpaceX's crew access arm and white room at pad 39A now planned for "late fall."

[tnt22]

Jeff Foust‏ @jeff_foust 1 ч назад

Stich: four Dragon 2 spacecraft under construction at SpaceX now: qual model, the two demo flights, and first operational flight.

[SGS_67]

То есть, ставка на приводнение, пока без возможности мягкой посадки на сушу, в случае аварии РН, или нерасчётного спуска.
Если я правильно понял, конечно.

[Виктор Кондрашов]

tnt22 пишет:

Jeff Foust ‏ @ jeff_foust 1 ч назад

Stich: four Dragon 2 spacecraft under construction at SpaceX now: qual model , the two demo flights , and first operational flight .

А когда второй демо-пуск нарисовался? Или первый пилотируемый тоже в эту категорию попадает?

[Искандер]

Виктор Кондрашов пишет:

tnt22 пишет:

Jeff Foust ‏ @ jeff_foust 1 ч назад

Stich: four Dragon 2 spacecraft under construction at SpaceX now: qual model , the two demo flights , and first operational flight .

А когда второй демо-пуск нарисовался? Или первый пилотируемый тоже в эту категорию попадает?

Он и есть, второй демо пуск...

[LRV_75]

Странно, что у них не объявлена новая дата сертификационного пилотируемого полета (третий демо пуск).
Именно после этого полета задача в рамках  Commercial Crew Integrated Capability считается выполненной и можно отказываться от русских кресел на Союзах

[testest2]

LRV_75 пишет:
Странно, что у них не объявлена новая дата сертификационного пилотируемого полета (третий демо пуск).
Именно после этого полета задача в рамках Commercial Crew Integrated Capability считается выполненной и можно отказываться от русских кресел на Союзах

Чушь не несите. Сертификация проводится на основании результатов одного пилотируемого полета. Никакого третьего сертификационного полета нет. Есть первый - демонстрационный беспилотный, второй - демонстрационный пилотируемый - и последующие эксплуатационные полеты.

[LRV_75]

testest пишет:

LRV_75 пишет:
Странно, что у них не объявлена новая дата сертификационного пилотируемого полета (третий демо пуск).
Именно после этого полета задача в рамках Commercial Crew Integrated Capability считается выполненной и можно отказываться от русских кресел на Союзах

Чушь не несите. Сертификация проводится на основании результатов одного пилотируемого полета. Никакого третьего сертификационного полета нет. Есть первый - демонстрационный беспилотный, второй - демонстрационный пилотируемый - и последующие эксплуатационные полеты.

Сертификация проводится на основании  certified crewed flight.
Уже несколько раз давал ссылки на документ НАСА с картинками и графиками.

https://oig.nasa.gov/audits/reports/FY16/IG-16-028.pdf

Будьте добры ознакомиться на странице 14 с Графиком по ключевым вехам программы.
Итак, по графику 3 полета:
1.Flight to ISS without Crew (сейчас планируется в марте 2018)
2.Flight to ISS with Crew (сейчас планируется на май/июнь 2018)
3. Certified crewed flight (актуальная дата ?)

Только после Certified crewed flight вехи программы считаются выполненными, ракета сертифицируется и допускается о штатных полетов


см. таблицу 


В этой же теме все обсуждалось http://novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/forum/forum10/topic14210/?PAGEN_1=46

[testest2]

LRV_75 пишет:
Сертификация проводится на основании certified crewed flight.
Уже несколько раз давал ссылки на документ НАСА с картинками и графиками.

Я орнул. Что означает ed в слове certified?
Оно означает совершенный вид. Certified crewed flight - это первый полет после сертфикации. Честно говоря, лень тратить на вас время. Просто четко говорю: вы несете чушь. Если хотите разобраться - ищите информацию сами.

[Виктор Кондрашов]

LRV_75 пишет:
 Сертификация проводится на основании certified crewed flight.
Уже несколько раз давал ссылки на документ НАСА с картинками и графиками.

 ...

Только после Certified crewed flight вехи программы считаются выполненными, ракета сертифицируется и допускается о штатных полетов

Не-а. Certified Crew Flight - это уже "регулярный" (штатный полет) полет. Т.е. уже сертифицированного носителя/корабля. Вы приписочки почитайте на стр. 11 (для Боинга) и 14 (для СХ). Т.е. это никакой не демо-пуск, а начало эксплуатации (контрактом предусмотрено от 2 до 6 таких регулярных полетов).

[LRV_75]

testest пишет:

LRV_75 пишет:
Сертификация проводится на основании certified crewed flight.
Уже несколько раз давал ссылки на документ НАСА с картинками и графиками.

Я орнул. Что означает ed в слове certified?
Оно означает совершенный вид. Certified crewed flight - это первый полет после сертфикации. Честно говоря, лень тратить на вас время. Просто четко говорю: вы несете чушь. Если хотите разобраться - ищите информацию сами.

Ok, в формулировках согласен. Это будет уже сертифицированный полет.
Но The first certified crewed flight is the ultimate culmination of this contracted effort
Т.е. этим полетом завершается программа CCP.
А Вы делаете вид , что в рамках программы осталось 2 полета.
На  самом деле, после первого пилотируемого полета и для получения сертификации нужно будет пройти еще 2 вехи: 

1. Operational Readiness Review: 
 
A review to
demonstrate that the actual Crew
Transportation System characteristics and
procedures used in operations reflect the
deployed state of the System. The review
evaluates all project and support hardware,
software, personnel, and procedures to ensure
flight and associated ground system are in
compliance with requirements.


2. Certification Review (Delivery Milestone): 

A review in which the contractor provides
evidence that the Crew Transportation System
has met all NASA requirements and provides
documentation of the crew safety and mission
assurance risks. И только после успешного выполнения этих вех получить сертификацию и провести Certified crewed flight 


После завершения (успешного) программы CCP, США получают свой пилотируемый корабль.

Поэтому в рамках программы еще не 2, а 3 (ТРИ!) обязательных полета

[makandser]

CCP включает в себя ещё и до шести постсертификационных миссий для каждого из участников и тогда она будет завершена. Собственно, все эти 12 миссий уже заказаны. В графиках первый штатный полёт просто выделен как логичный этап после завершения процесса сертификации компаний.

[LRV_75]

makandser пишет:
CCP включает в себя ещё и до шести постсертификационных миссий для каждого из участников и тогда она будет завершена. Собственно, все эти 12 миссий уже заказаны. В графиках первый штатный полёт просто выделен как логичный этап после завершения процесса сертификации компаний.

Это и логичный и обязательный этап/веха программы CCP.
Без него нельзя подтвердить выполнение обязательных вех Operational Readiness Review и Certification Review 

[LRV_75]

Виктор Кондрашов пишет: 

Не-а.    Certified Crew Flight - это уже "регулярный" (штатный полет) полет. Т.е. уже сертифицированного носителя/корабля. Вы приписочки почитайте на стр. 11 (для Боинга) и 14 (для СХ). Т.е. это никакой не демо-пуск, а начало эксплуатации (контрактом предусмотрено от 2 до 6 таких регулярных полетов).

Уже уточнил выше формулировки.

Certified Crew Flight нужен чтобы подтвердить вехи Operational Readiness Review и Certification Review.
В рамках этих вех будут рассматриваться итоги первого пилотируемого полета и возможны замечания, которые нужно будет устранить и проверить и это надо будет подтвердить полетом.

[makandser]

LRV_75 пишет:

makandser пишет:
CCP включает в себя ещё и до шести постсертификационных миссий для каждого из участников и тогда она будет завершена. Собственно, все эти 12 миссий уже заказаны. В графиках первый штатный полёт просто выделен как логичный этап после завершения процесса сертификации компаний.

Это и логичный и обязательный этап/веха программы CCP.
Без него нельзя подтвердить выполнение обязательных вех Operational Readiness Review и Certification Review

Выдумываете вы. Сертификацию не нужно подтверждать, она сама подтверждает готовность к штатным полётам, а вот для её (сертификации) прохождения и существуют два (а не три) демонстрационных полёта.

[LRV_75]

makandser пишет: Сертификацию не нужно подтверждать, она сама подтверждает готовность к штатным полётам, 

Она САМА это где? Можете на графике показать?
Маскофилизм опять полез из всех щелей )))