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SpaceX One Step Closer To Launching Astronaut

Posted by samzenpus on from the getting-closer dept.

BarbaraHudson writes SpaceX has passed NASA's "certification baseline review," which required the company to outline exactly how it plans to ferry crews to and from the International Space Station using the Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket under SpaceX's Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contract with NASA. The contract will include at least one test flight with an astronaut in the spacecraft.

6 of 70 comments (clear)

  1. this is good news by ganjadude · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I didnt expect this news for at least another year. Ever since the shuttles have retired i have been patiently waiting the day we get a new craft back up and running.

    --
    have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
  2. Re:That's will be one dead astronugh by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 4, Informative

    Musk and everyone at space x should be executed for the murder they are going to commit.

    By that thinking, everyone at NASA should have been executed after the capsule fire that killed astronauts Grissom, White, and Chaffee.

    Astronauts know that what they are doing is fraught with risk. As one of them said, "You're sitting on millions of pounds of explosive chemicals, with thousands of parts, all made by the lowest bidder."

    The don't have to ask what could go wrong. They know. And they still go.

    --
    "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
  3. Re:That's will be one dead astronugh by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Musk and everyone at space x should be executed for the murder they are going to commit.

    By that thinking, everyone at NASA should have been executed after the capsule fire that killed astronauts Grissom, White, and Chaffee.

    That's was as an accident by a government agency. Space x is going to commit murder for profit. If you're too stupid to understand the difference you should be executed along side them.

    So nominate me to make the flight. If it blows up, you get what you want. If it doesn't, I get what I want. Either way, we ultimately advance our knowledge and capabilities.

    --
    "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
  4. 7 seats on the Dragon by Spy+Handler · · Score: 2

    but they only send up 3 people at a time to ISS. Seems like a waste. They should set up a lottery for an extra person or two, seems reasonable. I'll buy some tickets.

    1. Re:7 seats on the Dragon by Scottingham · · Score: 2

      The dragon will be in service much longer than the ISS. SpaceX is playing the long game.

      I'm also excited to see a future where returning astronauts no longer have to be plucked out of the ocean (old school capsules) or have a really hard landing in a cornfield (soyuz). The super-draco engines on the dragon v2 are designed to be used as retro-rockets so the capsule could land anywhere (softly!) with pinpoint accuracy. Of course, it still can drop into the ocean safely if the engines aren't nominal.

    2. Re:7 seats on the Dragon by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 2

      >

      I'm not sure how long Dragon is allowed to remain in space. Would be nice if they could use it as an emergency exit as well.

      The last paragraph in the article:

      Dragon is expected to last up to 210 days while docked to the International Space Station, providing an escape route if astronauts need to leave the orbiting complex quickly.

      You're welcome, and happy 2015 :-)

      --
      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.