Posted on 05/30/2012 6:31:00 PM PDT by KevinDavis
http://preview.tinyurl.com/869cajm
I saw an article about a year ago comparing the various private projects .... btw, I don't see why there has to be a "just one design" elimination contest at the end of the evaluation period .....but it seems the SpaceX Dragon concept is a very simple module that might make an ideal replacement for Soyuz as an ISS standby lifeboat design. You'd think NASA and either ESA or JSA would go halvsies on one or two of them to have ready to take ISS crew off in a hurry (solar flare, threatening meteoroid swarm or dust cloud, imminent space-junk collision, etc. etc.). Media mentioned that, as a people-hauler, the Dragon can take five or six people.
It would probably be an idea to add another biggish module as a "concourse" for parking two or three space vehicles at once, Soyuz and other designs.
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