[Centraal] SpaceX #11 - Semper Fi, Aim High, Go Falcon, Go Dragon

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elonmusk twitterde op woensdag 18-03-2020 om 14:03:50 @SciGuySpace Yeah. There was also an early engine shutdown on ascent, but it didn't affect orbit insertion. Shows value of having 9 engines! Thorough investigation needed before next mission. reageer retweet

twitter:

SpaceX twitterde op woensdag 18-03-2020 om 15:34:25 Today’s Falcon 9 launch was the second time SpaceX has re-flown a full payload fairing. After landing in the water, both fairing halves were quickly recovered. https://t.co/JF9y7yrkxp reageer retweet

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NASA Awards Artemis Contract for Gateway Logistics Services


Illustration of the SpaceX Dragon XL as it is deployed from the Falcon Heavy's second stage in high Earth orbit on its way to the Gateway in lunar orbit.

NASA has selected SpaceX of Hawthorne, California, as the first U.S. commercial provider under the Gateway Logistics Services contract to deliver cargo, experiments and other supplies to the agency’s Gateway in lunar orbit. The award is a significant step forward for NASA’s Artemis program that will land the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024 and build a sustainable human lunar presence.

At the Moon, NASA and its partners will gain the experience necessary to mount a historic human mission to Mars.

SpaceX will deliver critical pressurized and unpressurized cargo, science experiments and supplies to the Gateway, such as sample collection materials and other items the crew may need on the Gateway and during their expeditions on the lunar surface.

“This contract award is another critical piece of our plan to return to the Moon sustainably,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “The Gateway is the cornerstone of the long-term Artemis architecture and this deep space commercial cargo capability integrates yet another American industry partner into our plans for human exploration at the Moon in preparation for a future mission to Mars.”

NASA is planning multiple supply missions in which the cargo spacecraft will stay at the Gateway for six to 12 months at a time. These firm-fixed price, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contracts for logistics services guarantee two missions per logistics services provider with a maximum total value of $7 billion across all contracts as additional missions are needed.

“Returning to the Moon and supporting future space exploration requires affordable delivery of significant amounts of cargo,” said SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell. “Through our partnership with NASA, SpaceX has been delivering scientific research and critical supplies to the International Space Station since 2012, and we are honored to continue the work beyond Earth’s orbit and carry Artemis cargo to Gateway.”

The Gateway Logistics Services contract enables NASA to order missions for as long as 12 years with a 15-year performance period and provides the ability to add new competitive providers. These missions will support NASA’s plans for sustainable exploration with both international and commercial partners, while developing the experience and capabilities necessary to send humans to Mars.

“This is an exciting new chapter for human exploration,” said Mark Wiese, Deep Space Logistics manager at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. “We are bringing the innovative thinking of commercial industry into our supply chain and helping ensure we’re able to support crews preparing for lunar surface expeditions by delivering the supplies they need ahead of time.”

Charged with returning to the Moon in the next four years, NASA’s Artemis program will reveal new knowledge about the Moon, Earth and our origins in the solar system. The Gateway is a vital part of NASA’s deep space exploration plans, along with the Space Launch System(SLS) rocket, Orion spacecraft, and human landing system that will send astronauts the Moon. One standard logistics service mission is anticipated for each Artemis SLS/Orion crewed mission to the Gateway. Gaining new experiences on and around the Moon will prepare NASA to send the first humans to Mars in the coming years, and the Gateway will play a vital role in this process.

“We’re making significant progress moving from our concept of the Gateway to reality,” said Dan Hartman, Gateway program manager at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “Bringing a logistics provider onboard ensures we can transport all the critical supplies we need for the Gateway and on the lunar surface to do research and technology demonstrations in space that we can’t do anywhere else. We also anticipate performing a variety of research on and within the logistics module.”

For more information about NASA’s Moon to Mars exploration plans, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/moontomars

https://www.nasa.gov/pres(...)y-logistics-services

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Op dinsdag 31 maart 2020 19:21 schreef Jonmen het volgende:


Starship User's guide v1.pdf
[ afbeelding ]

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In-space demonstration spacecraft that remainsintegrated with Starship and returns to Earth

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For payloads requiring return to Earth, landing sites are coordinated with SpaceX and could include Kennedy Space Center, FL or Boca Chica, TX

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Op vrijdag 3 april 2020 12:20 schreef xzaz het volgende:

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Ze gaan door heel wat SN's voordat het stabiel wordt.

SpaceX's Starship SN3 prototype fails cryogenic proof test

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JimBridenstine twitterde op donderdag 02-04-2020 om 18:06:21 The worm is back! When the @SpaceX Falcon 9 lifts off carrying @NASA_Astronauts aboard #CrewDragon, it will sport the iconic symbol to mark the return of human spaceflight on American rockets from American soil. More: https://t.co/jQQv5ZcTY0 #TheWormIsBack https://t.co/9Ltk1nMa8j reageer retweet

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NASA, SpaceX Simulate Upcoming Crew Mission with Astronauts



Joint teams from NASA and SpaceX continue making progress on the first flight test with astronauts to the International Space Station by completing a series of mission simulations from launch to landing. The mission, known as Demo-2, is a close mirror of the company’s uncrewed flight test to station in March 2019, but this time with NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft launching atop a Falcon 9 rocket as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP).

Over the last several months, key members of flight control teams working from NASA’s Johnson and Kennedy Space Centers and SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, simulated different phases of the upcoming mission while the Demo-2 astronaut crew practiced procedures from inside a realistic simulator of Crew Dragon.

“The simulations were a great opportunity to practice procedures and to coordinate decision-making for the mission management team, especially with respect to weather,” said Michael Hess, manager of Operations Integration for CCP. “Simulation supervisors do a great job at picking cases that really make the team think and discuss.”

Recent simulations saw teams execute timelines from hatch closure to undocking with the space station — as well as a free flight in preparation for re-entry and splashdown. In March, the control teams and crew ran through a simulated mission starting at prelaunch and continuing through ascent and eventual rendezvous with the station.

This recent sim makes the excitement all the more tangible, especially for the greater NASA team.

“What’s happening in commercial crew is a big deal,” Hess said. “It will be the first time to launch astronauts from U.S. soil since the end of the Space Shuttle Program in 2011, and it will be the first time since STS-1 that we will launch astronauts in a new spacecraft. This new spacecraft, Crew Dragon, was designed and built by SpaceX, not by NASA and traditional contractor partnerships — another first. Bob (Behnken) and Doug (Hurley) will definitely be earning their spacecraft test pilot wings with this mission. Also, the Space Station Program is really looking forward to another way to rotate crews to station to perform science and experiments to benefit all.”

As the countdown clock winds down, Crew Dragon is undergoing final testing and prelaunch processing in a SpaceX facility on nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. All the activity is also kicking off “more simulations, final crew training and flight readiness reviews to ensure all of the mission systems and subsystems are ready for a crewed test flight,” Hess noted.

When Crew Dragon launches atop a Falcon 9 rocket with Behnken and Hurley strapped inside as early as mid-to-late May, it will herald a new era for human spaceflight, enabling greater access to low-Earth orbit and destinations beyond with the help of commercial partners.

The Demo-2 crew is proceeding with its scheduled training activities. Astronaut trainers, along with all NASA employees, are closely adhering to CDC recommendations on infection control for the coronavirus. As all NASA centers are currently operating in a mode that requires any non-mission-essential work to be done remotely, the number of employees in contact with the crew is limited.

https://www.nasa.gov/feat(...)sion-with-astronauts

twitter:

elonmusk twitterde op zondag 05-04-2020 om 07:54:54 @PPathole @austinbarnard45 @LabPadre Pretty much. Good news is that this was a test configuration error, rather than a design or build mistake. Not enough pressure in the LOX tank ullage to maintain stability with a heavy load in the CH4 tank. This was done with N2. reageer retweet

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Erdayastronaut twitterde op zondag 05-04-2020 om 08:30:07 @elonmusk @PPathole @austinbarnard45 @LabPadre What keeps a pressurized rocket safe from decompression like that? Is there a way to have redundancy on valves without adding more failure points? What happens if that happened before landing or while on Mars? reageer retweet

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elonmusk twitterde op zondag 05-04-2020 om 09:06:56 @Erdayastronaut @PPathole @austinbarnard45 @LabPadre If you lose pressure control on rocket propellant tanks, you’re doomed anyway, so might as well go all in reageer retweet

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elonmusk twitterde op zondag 05-04-2020 om 09:08:43 @Erdayastronaut @PPathole @austinbarnard45 @LabPadre There are redundant pressure control valves. It’s a new system and SN3 was simply commanded wrong. Rockets are hard. reageer retweet

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Op woensdag 8 april 2020 08:21 schreef Digi2 het volgende:

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Het gaat nog wel ff duren voordat er een bemande lancering gaat plaatsvinden met Starliner. Het is nog niet eens duidelijk wanneer Orbital Flight Test 2 plaats gaat vinden.

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JimBridenstine twitterde op woensdag 08-04-2020 om 21:02:30 We’re bringing back the worm, but the @NASA meatball isn’t going anywhere. Check out how the @SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will look when we launch @AstroBehnken & @Astro_Doug to the @Space_Station. More: https://t.co/5RewV8ayAb https://t.co/aHObOVEmR8 reageer retweet