Oh my! Were you watching the news this week? They will be very lucky to avoid Chapter 11 this year. Can you ever give it a rest???
Posted on 03/03/2019 8:04:04 AM PST by BenLurkin
While SpaceX has sent plenty of cargo Dragons to the space station, crew Dragon is a different beast. It docked autonomously under the station astronauts’ watchful eyes, instead of relying on the station’s robot arm for berthing. The capsule’s nose cap was wide open like a dragon’s mouth, to expose the docking mechanism. Behnken said that’s the way it should work when he and Hurley are on board; they may push a button or two and will have the ability to intervene, if necessary.
As part of Sunday’s shakedown, the station astronauts sent commands for the Dragon to retreat and then move forward again, before the capsule closed in for good. SpaceX employees at company headquarters in Hawthorne, California, cheered and applauded as crew Dragon pulled up and docked at the orbiting lab, nearly 260 miles (400 kilometers) above the Pacific, north of New Zealand. They burst into applause again, several minutes later, when the Dragon’s latches were tightly secured.
The capsule’s lone passenger for launch — a mannequin wearing a white SpaceX spacesuit — remained strapped into its seat as the station’s U.S., Canadian and Russian crew removed supplies. The test dummy — or Smarty as SpaceX likes to call it, given all the instrumentation — is named Ripley after the lead character in the science-fiction “Alien” films.
Dragon will remain at the space station until Friday, when it undocks and aims for a splashdown in the Atlantic, a couple hundred miles off the Florida coast. Like Ripley, the capsule is rigged with sensors to measure noise, vibration and stresses, and to monitor the life-support, propulsion and other critical systems throughout the flight.
(Excerpt) Read more at ktla.com ...
*ping*
That’s great news. I can’t believe we were paying Russia 75 mil each time we sent one of ours.
Looks like the USA is back in the manned space business.
Way to go, SpaceX!
Now, if we can keep NASA from “helping”.
I hope that Tesla’s volatile situation has no carryover effect on SpaceX.
Russia is charging that per seat. SpaceX can do an entire launch for less than two seats and still make a profit.
I saw a Tesla this morning on the way to Mass - nice car, smooth acceleration …
Where are all the FReepers who have been complaining for years that we didn’t have the ability to launch our own astronauts?
Tesla is doing better now than they ever have. Regardless, it has no effect on SpaceX.
It ain’t back yet.
I know. I read the article.
This is really exciting. Hoping for a successful return.
Oh my! Were you watching the news this week? They will be very lucky to avoid Chapter 11 this year. Can you ever give it a rest???
Nice. Thank you!
I’ve not complained much myself. We have more than had the capability, what we lacked was the priority. Zerobama had to have NASA tracking global warming and all sorts of other crap, along with us trying to make everything “green” instead of leading the world in space exploration.
Here in the bay area you see them all the time. They’re like Toyotas.
If your Tesla is stolen, does it become an Edison?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.