Posted on 05/31/2020 7:37:07 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
SpaceX just completed another milestone in Crew Dragon’s historic journey. Astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley have successfully docked the capsule with the International Space Station just under 19 hours after launch from Cape Canaveral. The largely automated process was uneventful. The crew tested manual operation at one point, which they said behaved much like the simulator.
Don’t expect a hasty return after this. Behnken and Hurley are expected to spend weeks aboard the ISS before returning to Earth. The capsule’s solar arrays are only rated for 119 days in space, so it will have to return by the fall no matter how eager the astronauts might be eager to stay. However long they stay, it’s a historic moment — this is the first time a crewed private spacecraft has docked in orbit. If all goes well, this is an important step toward making space more accessible.
(Excerpt) Read more at engadget.com ...
Watching it. NASA select on Pluto TV.
Pretty darn cool.
Space tourism is just around the corner.
Are they Space X employees? Still adding to their military pensions?
Fantastic. Tears in my eyes as I watch and listen.
I can’t help remember how when I was an early teenager, during the historic moments of the Gemini and Apollo missions, large-scale civil unrest was sweeping America.
The Apollo 11 landing on the moon took place on 20 July 1969, and the recovery of Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins took place on 24 July.
The Manson family murders of Sharon Tate and her friends happened on 9 August, just 16 days later.
Maybe they degrade over time by the solar radiation..
RE: Question about Astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley??
Are they Space X employees?
From Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Hurley
Douglas Gerald Hurley (born October 21, 1966) is an American engineer, former Marine Corps pilot, and current NASA astronaut.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Behnken
Robert Louis Behnken ( born July 28, 1970 in St. Ann, Missouri) is a NASA astronaut, engineer, and former Chief of the Astronaut Office.
I have no idea on the concept of solar arrays deteriorating, other than noting that generally I don’t recall life of the solar panels or their replacement being an immediate issue on the ISS or on the Hubble.
Perhaps these arrays are new, different and Space X wants to use them sparingly and then evaluate the performance.
I have no idea on the concept of solar arrays deteriorating, other than noting that generally I don’t recall life of the solar panels or their replacement being an immediate issue on the ISS or on the Hubble.
Perhaps these arrays are new, different and Space X wants to use them sparingly and then evaluate the performance.
oops sorry for the double.
No mention of the launch, or anything to do with the launch, in the Lakeland (FL) Ledger today! This newspaper even fails at being a mullet wrapper or bird cage liner!
Dragon/Endeavour can, and currently is, drawing power from the ISS. There are connections in the docking mechanism that connect to station power.
Right now, the thing they’re having problems with is the ‘hardline’ communication with the ISS. That’s also part of the connections in the docking mechanism. They have radio comms with the ground and with the ISS, but not through the hardline system.
Thank you.
That pointed me to seek and find a bit more.
“Military astronauts are detailed to the Johnson Space Center and remain on active duty for pay, benefits, leave, and similar military matters.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_Astronaut_Corps
All astronauts work for NASA.
Still adding to their military pensions?
What do you mean by that? I don't like your tone.
Astronauts are fed employees, GS-15 I think, unless they are active duty military, in which case they get their military pay while assigned to NASA.
Still adding to their military pensions?
What do you mean by that? I don’t like your tone.
Simple, both of them were near 20 years active, if they left the system they are screwed.
As to my tone?
My hearing as been gone since I was shot in the head RVN 1969.
I may be tone-deaf.
So what?
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