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SpaceX Plan To Fuel Rockets With People Aboard Raises Alarm Bells (fortune.com)

Posted by msmash on from the space-hurdles dept.

Several space industry experts that advise NASA have told the US space agency there are safety risks in a proposal by Elon Musk's SpaceX to fuel its rockets while astronauts are on board. From a report on Fortune: "This is a hazardous operation," Space Station Advisory Committee Chairman Thomas Stafford, a former NASA astronaut and retired Air Force general, said during a conference call on Monday. Stafford said the group's concerns were heightened after an explosion of an unmanned SpaceX rocket while it was being fueled on Sept. 1. The causes of that explosion are still under investigation. Members of the eight-member group, which includes veterans of NASA's Gemini, Apollo and space shuttle programs noted that all previous rockets that have flown people into space were fueled before astronauts got to the launch pad. "It was unanimous ... Everybody there, and particularly the people who had experience over the years, said nobody is ever near the pad when they fuel a booster," Stafford said, referring to an earlier briefing the group had about SpaceX's proposed fueling procedure.

7 of 190 comments (clear)

  1. People Fuel? by pubwvj · · Score: 5, Funny

    They're going to use the people aboard as the rocket fuel? How do the people feel about that?

    1. Re:People Fuel? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      I don't think they'd get too many people willing to sacrifice themselves as rocket fuel just to raise a bunch of alarm bells into space.

    2. Re:People Fuel? by tsqr · · Score: 4, Funny

      They're going to use the people aboard as the rocket fuel? How do the people feel about that?

      Why, they feel empowered, of course.

  2. Why? by 110010001000 · · Score: 4, Funny

    With SpaceX's advanced high speed sensor suite they can react faster to problems, unlike those luddite NASA people. This means mistakes can be corrected immediately by the advanced SpaceX technology and the system shut down before any issues. Plus, they are going to add some cameras so they have video feeds of the snipers shooting at their rockets. What could possibly go wrong?

    1. Re:Why? by Gorobei · · Score: 2, Funny

      NASA has how many years experience in this area and how many has SpaceX got?

      You Luddite!

      Elon Musk has the expertise in the 100km/hr vehicle space from his Tesla work.
      Elon Musk has the expertise in working with high-ISP energy systems from his battery and solar city work.
      Elon Musk has the expertise in the 500km/hr vehicle space from his Hyperloop work (including low-cost bridges and tunnels and vomit bags.)
      Elon Musk has the expertise in reusing the booster tin-can in rockets (getting 200lbs of rocks back from the moon was so expensive because we forgot to make the first stage reusable.)
      Elon Musk has the expertise to go to Mars because he said so, and the turn-around time of the rockets is just a few days.

      So, sit in the luxury space capsule and watch the blickenlights while he fuels that puppy up.

  3. Please call the fuel soylent by Overzeetop · · Score: 3, Funny

    That is all

    --
    Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
  4. Re:How dangerous is it really? by Tablizer · · Score: 3, Funny

    But on the other hand, what would possibly be gained by loading the astronauts before the fuel?

    Reduces the chance of forgetting to put the astronauts in before launching. It's the same reason I put my pants on as soon as I wake up in the morning.

    --
    Table-ized A.I.