Posted on 05/29/2014 12:02:49 PM PDT by Jack Hydrazine
SpaceX will be unveiling their manned version of the SpaceX Dragon tonight. The Dragon V2 has been designed to transport live human cargo to and from the International Space Station (ISS), making it the second craft to taxi men and women to the station since the retirement of NASA's shuttle program in 2011.
The Dragon Version 2 (V2) is a manned rendition of the SpaceX Dragon cargo capsules, which have been delivering supplies to the ISS since 2012. According to reports, the third unmanned Dragon cargo flight launched in April and returned to Earth earlier this month as part of a $1.6 billion contract with NASA, who retired their own shuttle programs - shipping cargo and people - back in 2011.
You can watch the live webcast of the unveiling of the Dragon V2 craft online Thursday, May 29, at 10 PM eastern-standard-time.
Currently, only the Soyuz Russian spacecraft has been taxiing people to and from the ISS in recent years. According to Space.com, the Soyuz is only capable of transporting three people at a time. However, once fully operational, the SpaceX Dragon V2 will be able to taxi up to seven crew members at a time - matching the capacity of NASA's costly space shuttles.
According to the SpaceX website, the Dragon is modeled off a "gumdrop" design, where the pressurized compartment and unpressurized cargo-truck sit atop the private company's flagship rocket, the Falcon 9. Once the Dragon breaches the Earth's atmosphere, it detaches from the rocket to free-float to the ISS. Small thrusters surrounding the craft help guide it until it reaches its destination. Once its cargo is delivered, an automated system guides it to simply "fall" away back to Earth via a parachute system designed to slow its decent onto water.
The manned V2 will do the same thing, making it the first private craft to taxi astronauts to and from the station. SpaceX's founder Elon Musk and NASA have both previously declared that they plan to see a manned Dragon craft reach the ISS by 2017.
V2? Perhaps they are trying to avoid British investors?
It would be my dream to work for this company.
I wouldn’t mind owning some stocks and let them work for me.
They could have called it DV2 or DV.2 or Dragon V.2, but they chose V2. Perhaps they are trying to avoid them.
should be:
designed to slow its descent onto water.
So it’ll make a decent descent!
From what I have read they won’t do an IPO until they have the Mars Colonial Transporter flying regularly.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/steveschaefer/2013/06/06/with-tesla-and-solarcity-soaring-elon-musk-talks-down-spacex-ipo-plans/
It’ll be sometime after 2025.
By 2017? One would think this could be accelerated a bit more.
And if it was a NASA run program we'd be lucky to see it docking with the space station by 2021 and only after billions in cost overruns.
They have to get Falcon 9 man-rated which is supposed to happen by the end of the year. Then they have to do the same with the Dragon V.2. It takes a bit of time, but I do agree with you that they really should accelerate things a bit.
Did you see this
Virgin space flights cleared for US take-off
http://news.yahoo.com/virgin-space-flights-cleared-us-off-212930473.html;_ylt=AwrBEiH7qYdTD3QALPrQtDMD
Nope. Didn’t see it. Thanks for posting it here.
Related to this article and your question.
NASA’s latest Soyuz seat procurement may be its last
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1405/27soyuz/#.U4etAChr2og
NASA’s recent purchase of six more round-trip seats on Russian Soyuz spacecraft, a deal worth $458 million, could be the last time the space agency sends a check abroad to ferry U.S. astronauts to and from International Space Station as rampant Russian inflation pushes the price of crew transportation higher, officials said.
The latest deal, finalized in April, ensures U.S. astronauts have a ride to the space station through the end of 2017, with provisions for landings into 2018.
NASA officials say the deal was necessary to avoid a gap between the end of the previous agreement for Soyuz seats until U.S. commercial spacecraft are ready to take over the job of shuttling astronauts between Earth and the space station.
NASA intends to switch its astronauts to U.S.-built commercially-operated spaceships as soon as they complete certification and at least one crewed demonstration mission to the space station, which is expected in the fall of 2017.
(more at link.)
Did you see this?
The Battle Against What Spaceflight Does To Your Health
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3161523/posts
I would hope so.
Ping for later.
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