SpaceX’s New Crew Capsule Aces Space Station Docking

KTLA ^

[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.

[fireman15]

I think one of the reasons they don’t like DIYers is the hazards inherent in such a large battery

I did mean to thank you for the video. We had quite a few classes on how to deal with electric and hybrid car battery hazards to fire fighters. Our main focus was on the electrical hazards. A few thousand Li-Ion cells rupturing as they overheat from being shorted and going off like popcorn on steroids is enough to add a little variety to your day. Our instructors always tried to find videos to keep us awake and paying attention.

I am sure you have seem this one...

https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/new-mercedes/3021121