SpaceX Tuesday...
Discussion
RobDickinson said:
Window starts at 2am here let's hope it's at the end lol
Looks like it will be:"Latest weather data suggests sustained winds and rough seas in the recovery area during the top of tomorrow’s four-hour launch escape test window; now targeting toward the end of the window. Will continue to monitor weather and update the T-0 accordingly in the morning"
- SpaceX
Scrubbed 
"SpaceX is standing down from today's in-flight Crew Dragon launch escape test attempt due to sustained winds and rough seas in the recovery area. We are now targeting Sunday, January 19 from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This test, which does not have NASA astronauts onboard the spacecraft, is intended to demonstrate Crew Dragon’s ability to reliably carry crew to safety in the unlikely event of an emergency on ascent.
Sunday's six-hour test window opens at 8:00 a.m. EST, or 13:00 UTC. A backup test opportunity is available on Monday, January 20.
Weather will remain a watch item for Sunday so keep an eye on our website and social media for additional updates as new data becomes available
"
"SpaceX is standing down from today's in-flight Crew Dragon launch escape test attempt due to sustained winds and rough seas in the recovery area. We are now targeting Sunday, January 19 from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This test, which does not have NASA astronauts onboard the spacecraft, is intended to demonstrate Crew Dragon’s ability to reliably carry crew to safety in the unlikely event of an emergency on ascent.
Sunday's six-hour test window opens at 8:00 a.m. EST, or 13:00 UTC. A backup test opportunity is available on Monday, January 20.
Weather will remain a watch item for Sunday so keep an eye on our website and social media for additional updates as new data becomes available
"
Thanks, I had a feeling that might happen. They may just have to take advantage of a gap in the weather to launch. Visibility and cloud cover are also factors. They don't normally launch through cumulus or thick cloud anyway.
https://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/pdf/531435mai...
Some other things about this flight:
The booster was the first Block 5 built.
They expect the most force an astronaut would face during the abort would be 4g.
The automatic flight termination system will be armed, but they don't expect it to activate.
The Dragon capsule is fully functional, but doesn't have all the interior fittings that an operational one would.
https://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/pdf/531435mai...
Some other things about this flight:
The booster was the first Block 5 built.
They expect the most force an astronaut would face during the abort would be 4g.
The automatic flight termination system will be armed, but they don't expect it to activate.
The Dragon capsule is fully functional, but doesn't have all the interior fittings that an operational one would.
Eric Mc said:
I think they require better visibility than for a normal launch as they need to have good visuals of the Dragon capsule after it separates to ensure they can see if it behaves as predicted.
Would that not mostly be via telemetry? I imagine video is a very crude mechanism (especially with nothing but the sky for contrast) for fault-finding compared to hard values from the instruments. Although since there's no pressure to launch I can see that you may as well gather data from as many sources as possible, and since they are also testing whether the capsule will keep the crew safe in the water until the rescue boats reach and recover it, and hence need wind/sea conditions to be as good as they would be for a crewed launch, I can see your point that they may as well wait.
Chester35 said:
Eric Mc said:
Chester35 said:
I have to say that I am still dubious that they can get a welded steel vehicle into space and landed again. Normally things don't fail at Max Q but this might ... and then has to do a re-entry.
Perhaps I am being over pessimistic though. What are other peoples thoughts?
Falcon series rockets are so well tuned now, why did they not just extrapolate that for this?
Original Atlas rockets were mainly of steel construction. That's why they were so shiny.Perhaps I am being over pessimistic though. What are other peoples thoughts?
Falcon series rockets are so well tuned now, why did they not just extrapolate that for this?
I don't get good vibes that after all this time they are changing the welding process so much to make it stronger. if you are going welding then picking the right type right at the very beginning seems like a no brainer, I think their welding tech / experience is still catching up with the requirements.
Well let's see what happens. You can never say Space X are boring.
Edited by Chester35 on Monday 13th January 22:11
CF is much more expensive, takes longer to make, it also has issues with long term space travel (resin breakdown in high intensity UV being the most obvious).
The other aspects we have to consider are more than just getting into orbit. If you're more than a few minutes away from atmosphere, we need the capability to repair in flight, welding is a lot easier than trying to cure resin in vacuum. There is probably a lot more I've missed.
I'm not saying you're wrong with regards to their experience, but if Elon wants to go to Mars, CF is probably the wrong path.
Has anybody ever tried outside welding in space? I know that various "in spacecraft/space station" welding experiments have been carried out over the years. But I'm not sure anyone has had to a welding job on the outside.
It's a rather dangerous activity to conduct in space, whether inside or outside the spacecraft.
It's a rather dangerous activity to conduct in space, whether inside or outside the spacecraft.
Eric Mc said:
Has anybody ever tried outside welding in space? I know that various "in spacecraft/space station" welding experiments have been carried out over the years. But I'm not sure anyone has had to a welding job on the outside.
It's a rather dangerous activity to conduct in space, whether inside or outside the spacecraft.
Isn't there also the thing where you end up with "cold welds" in space, so they have to actually put effort into stopping things from welding?It's a rather dangerous activity to conduct in space, whether inside or outside the spacecraft.
http://esmat.esa.int/Publications/Published_papers...
I haven't managed to find any "in anger" welding either, only experiments.
I find it interesting that they wanted to get an abort with conditions perfect so kept putting it off. The full test of an abort probably needs to be done at the worst scenario ever, which means doing it in conditions you would not normally launch at.
That's a rather a crossing all the t's and I's to the nth degree though...
That's a rather a crossing all the t's and I's to the nth degree though...
Chester35 said:
I find it interesting that they wanted to get an abort with conditions perfect so kept putting it off. The full test of an abort probably needs to be done at the worst scenario ever, which means doing it in conditions you would not normally launch at.
That's a rather a crossing all the t's and I's to the nth degree though...
They need to do the test in good conditions to maximise the amount of data they can get from it e.g. high quality video from ground camerasThat's a rather a crossing all the t's and I's to the nth degree though...
MartG said:
Chester35 said:
I find it interesting that they wanted to get an abort with conditions perfect so kept putting it off. The full test of an abort probably needs to be done at the worst scenario ever, which means doing it in conditions you would not normally launch at.
That's a rather a crossing all the t's and I's to the nth degree though...
They need to do the test in good conditions to maximise the amount of data they can get from it e.g. high quality video from ground camerasThat's a rather a crossing all the t's and I's to the nth degree though...
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