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Crew Dragon Is In Space


lnuss

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SpaceX successfully launched Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken a few minutes ago, aboard the Crew Dragon that rode Falcon 9 into orbit, headed for the ISS.

 

Larry N.

As Skylab would say:

Remember: Aviation is NOT an exact Science!

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The Launch America live stream on YouTube and other sites was fun to watch. They did a great job.

 

Reminded me of when I was a kid, when my elementary school teachers would bring a TV into the classroom so we could watch the Gemini and early Apollo launches. I've always been grateful that they did that for us.

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It was great -- and it was neat to watch the docking this morning, too. I wish Heinlein (and a few others) could have seen this, the first commercially operated people carrier in space (other than a few light nibbles for X-prize and such).

 

Larry N.

As Skylab would say:

Remember: Aviation is NOT an exact Science!

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The head of NASA said this morning that he hoped sometime in the near future that Americans might still hitch a ride in the Soyuz capsule and perhaps a Russian, in turn, would ride up in the Dragon. Thus, the cost would then be a "wash". He also said that up until now, we paid the Russians $90 million a pop for a ride...
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Reminded me of when I was a kid, when my elementary school teachers would bring a TV into the classroom so we could watch the Gemini and early Apollo launches. I've always been grateful that they did that for us.

 

I was at Grammar School in the 60's here in the UK (I think you'd call it High School).

 

No TV allowed, but we had an American teacher on some sort of exchange scheme, who would come to school with a Stars & Stripes pennant in his hat after every launch.

 

Us kids loved it, but the Headmaster took a very dim view!

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I was at Grammar School in the 60's here in the UK (I think you'd call it High School).

Grammar school in the U.S. (often called Elementary School) is generally first through sixth grades, and in some places they add 7th and 8th. In many places Middle School is 6th through 8th, while other places Junior High School is 7th through 9th.

 

Thus high school is either 10th through 12th grade with a Junior High or, 9th through 12th with a Middle School.

 

Larry N.

As Skylab would say:

Remember: Aviation is NOT an exact Science!

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Last time I drove through where I grew up, there are no more Jr. High Schools (7,8,9) Now all are Middle Schools What's up with that??

 

Am I going to lose breakfast, lunch, and dinner next?? Breakfast, dinner, supper coming up! :mad:

Still thinking about a new flightsim only computer!  ✈️

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  • 6 months later...

Ok, well done!

And why were people there? Take a ride?

We are going into an era of automation of everything. And we are sending into space not robots, not specially prepared machines, but people?

In my opinion something is going wrong. Why are people so happy about this?

A lot of people are sitting in the wilds hoping to get normal communication methods (I mean satellite Internet, telephones, etc.) And we send living people to ride a rocket. Something is wrong with this planet. Stop, I'll get off

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And why were people there? Take a ride?

The first post in this thread was referencing a TEST flight six months ago, with two test pilots on board (there had been uncrewed flights of the Dragon previously), and they were checking out a new means of getting to the ISS (among other places) in ways that automation cannot check, trying (as test pilots always have) new machines for developing them to safely transport people (to the ISS in this case). It was LOTS more than just a ride. Since the shuttle was retired in 2011 only the aging Soyuz from Russia was taking people to the ISS, but now there's a newer, better way.

 

In the six months since the previous post (prior to yours) there's been another crew dragon dock with the ISS. There've been people on the ISS for 20 years or so, and they've been traveling via (Soyuz) rocket ships, since the shuttle retired.

 

We are going into an era of automation of everything.

No, not everything, though some would like to believe that. Nor SHOULD everything be automated. There are many times and many things in which there is no substitute for human judgement and experience, though sometimes the training could be better.

 

In my opinion something is going wrong. Why are people so happy about this?

Are you saying that there's something wrong with people going into space (if so, then what)? There are LOTS of folks that disagree with you about that. Why are you NOT happy about this?

 

A lot of people are sitting in the wilds hoping to get normal communication methods (I mean satellite Internet, telephones, etc.)

The Crew Dragon going or not going won't affect these "normal" methods, except possibly in a positive way. Corporate greed (among other things) is hindering this more than sending people to space.

 

Note that in the days of the Bell System, telephone companies were looking to provide "universal service" in the US. Phone service, costs, profits, etc. were government regulated and so they could afford to spread into relatively remote areas. Since the breakup (1984) more companies and more competition, along with new technology development brought us the internet and cell phones, which have combined to spread "universal service" to much more of the world, but at a cost in corporations wanting much higher profit percentages (among other things) such that they are now reluctant to spend that extra to get into more remote areas.

 

However SpaceX (and a couple of others) are now littering (polluting, IMHO) space with thousands of small satellites to try to get low latency internet service almost everywhere, but that is NOT negatively impacted by the Crew Dragon (more likely there are positive effects), as the two sets of developments complement each other, and neither would be as advanced without the other. And note that space is not a place where it's easy to clean up the junk from dead satellites and other man made debris, and that, in itself, is starting to be a problem.

 

Something is wrong with this planet. Stop, I'll get off

That's exactly what they are trying to develop is a means for you to actually do that someday.

 

Another thing that you might take note of is that the manned space program has been instrumental in developing (or at least enabling) many (most?) of the medical advances over the last 50+ years, not to mention the accelerated development of miniaturized electronics that save space, weight and cost vs the previous technologies. Lots of people are alive with pacemakers, organ transplants, surgery techniques that are much less invasive, and much, much more that is primarily due to the manned space program.

 

Broaden your outlook and think about it, educating yourself about it so that your criticisms can be more accurately formulated instead of a generalized broadside that misses the mark, for the most part.

 

Larry N.

As Skylab would say:

Remember: Aviation is NOT an exact Science!

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However SpaceX (and a couple of others) are now littering (polluting, IMHO) space with thousands of small satellites to try to get low latency internet service almost everywhere, but that is NOT negatively impacted by the Crew Dragon (more likely there are positive effects), as the two sets of developments complement each other, and neither would be as advanced without the other. And note that space is not a place where it's easy to clean up the junk from dead satellites and other man made debris, and that, in itself, is starting to be a problem.

 

Note that Starlink is actively designing their satellites to de-orbit at the end of their lives, unlike most previous satellites. On top of this, the much lower orbits also mean they would re-enter the atmosphere far sooner than most other satellites if something does go wrong. Combined with the reusable 1st stages and payload shields of the Falcon rockets, they are doing far better than others when it comes to leaving junk in orbit. I'm sure there are still opportunities for improvement, but they are also moving much faster at implementing changes too.

 

Starlink itself is basically being run as a way to generate money for SpaceX itself to help reach their goal of getting people to Mars.

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Some good points, Gary, but with the thousands they plan to put up there (first phase alone is 1440 satellites), it's still getting cluttered, especially since others are trying to do the same (Amazon, for example, with over 3200 satellites planned). And note this quote from ZDnet:

 

SpaceX recently applied to the Federal Communications Commission to launch 30,000 second-generation satellites over and above the 12,000 that had already been approved.

 

So there can be some good benefits from this program, such as internet service in places that are otherwise difficult to reach, but some problems as well. And LEO (Low Earth Orbit) does not have infinite space available -- it's good they are trying to keep deadwood cleared out, and I hope they succeed.

 

Larry N.

As Skylab would say:

Remember: Aviation is NOT an exact Science!

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I agree, the amount of space in low earth orbit certainly is limited, and Starlink and their competitors do need to be watched. However, I don't think they are the biggest problem. This would be all of the other stuff already up there, especially the dead satellites in higher orbits that are tumbling out of control etc. And then there are events like countries destroying satellites seemingly just to prove they can, that leave large, and expanding, debris clouds in their wake.
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The first post in this thread was referencing a TEST flight six months ago, with two test pilots on board (there had been uncrewed flights of the Dragon previously), and they were checking out a new means of getting to the ISS (among other places) in ways that automation cannot check, trying (as test pilots always have) new machines for developing them to safely transport people (to the ISS in this case). It was LOTS more than just a ride. Since the shuttle was retired in 2011 only the aging Soyuz from Russia was taking people to the ISS, but now there's a newer, better way.

 

In the six months since the previous post (prior to yours) there's been another crew dragon dock with the ISS. There've been people on the ISS for 20 years or so, and they've been traveling via (Soyuz) rocket ships since the shuttle retired.

 

 

No, not everything, though some would like to believe that. Nor SHOULD everything be automated. There are many times and many things in which there is no substitute for human judgement and experience, though sometimes the training could be better.

 

 

Are you saying that there's something wrong with people going into space (if so, then what)? There are LOTS of folks that disagree with you about that. Why are you NOT happy about this?

 

 

The Crew Dragon going or not going won't affect these "normal" methods, except possibly in a positive way. Corporate greed (among other things) is hindering this more than sending people to space.

 

Note that in the days of the Bell System, telephone companies were looking to provide "universal service" in the US. Phone service, costs, profits, etc. were government regulated and so they could afford to spread into relatively remote areas. Since the breakup (1984) more companies and more competition, along with new technology development brought us the internet and cell phones, which have combined to spread "universal service" too much more of the world, but at a cost in corporations wanting much higher profit percentages (among other things) such that they are now reluctant to spend that extra to get into more remote areas.

 

However SpaceX (and a couple of others) are now littering (polluting, IMHO) space with thousands of small satellites to try to get low latency internet service almost everywhere, but that is NOT negatively impacted by the Crew Dragon (more likely there are positive effects), as the two sets of developments complement each other, and neither would be as advanced without the other. And note that space is not a place where it's easy to clean up the junk from dead satellites and other man-made debris, and that, in itself, is starting to be a problem.

 

 

That's exactly what they are trying to develop is a means for you to actually do that someday.

 

Another thing that you might take note of is that the manned space program has been instrumental in developing (or at least enabling) many (most?) of the medical advances over the last 50+ years, not to mention the accelerated development of miniaturized electronics that save space, weight, and cost vs the previous technologies. Lots of people are alive with pacemakers, organ transplants, surgery techniques that are much less invasive, and much, much more that is primarily due to the manned space program.

 

Broaden your outlook and think about it, educating yourself about it so that your criticisms can be more accurately formulated instead of a generalized broadside that misses the mark, for the most part.

 

 

I agree, I didn’t really mean to say that you understood.

Here the role of subjective perception plays a little more. I did not say that the desire of people to fly into space is bad.

More specifically, I would like to see automation for such test flights so that we can be sure that we will not lose a single crew member 100 percent.

 

Second: I am very fond of all the achievements of medicine, physics, astrophysics, propulsion engineering, aerodynamics, and other things (not directly about all, but about many), and yes, it's really great. Although most of them could be achieved by the same teams of incredibly smart and talented people and without the cost of space. Although, chance played a role here. As with many other inventions and breakthroughs, which were originally conceived as something completely different.

 

 

I understand your indignation at my "supposedly narrow outlook".

Taking into account the fact that you did not understand my idea.

I repeat: I am not against people who want to fly to the moon, to other planets, to other galaxies. I am opposed to conducting tests with living people in the era of supposedly high technologies. And the fact that there is still a lot of garbage, with which no one has figured out not that in orbit, but right here, under our feet, is not even worth mentioning.

Trying to fly away from here looks like a solution to a problem for teens: I don't want to clean my room, so I'll just leave.

 

 

Globally, I also meant that humanity has not yet matured either morally or technically in order to think about moving to Mars, because all projects of this company look like a stage of development towards the main goal.

 

And further. What modern robotic systems cannot cope with, what can humans cope with?

I don't see the point here at all. To rule? All these missions do not require passing the Turing test and highly artistic things. It is possible to collect and interpret information from the Earth

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More specifically, I would like to see automation for such test flights so that we can be sure that we will not lose a single crew member 100 percent.

 

You must have missed the many years of testing and development, including automated flights, that took place before this test flight. SpaceX has been flying their automated Dragon supply missions to the ISS for years, which contributed to the Crew Dragon development. They even deliberately destroyed a Falcon booster to test the abort systems. This test flight wasn't really a test in the same way the first Mercury launches were decades ago. As the goal of Crew Dragon is to get astronauts to the ISS, they have to put people on it eventually.

 

Forgot to add a link to the first Crew Dragon flight with astronauts aboard.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crew_Dragon_Demo-1

Edited by loki
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You must have missed the many years of testing and development, including automated flights, that took place before this test flight. SpaceX has been flying their automated Dragon supply missions to the ISS for years, which contributed to the Crew Dragon development. They even deliberately destroyed a Falcon booster to test the abort systems. This test flight wasn't really a test in the same way the first Mercury launches were decades ago. As the goal of Crew Dragon is to get astronauts to the ISS, they have to put people on it eventually.

 

Forgot to add a link to the first Crew Dragon flight with astronauts aboard.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crew_Dragon_Demo-1

 

 

No, I have not missed it. I have followed and follow many things in all areas of cosmic progress.

I just expressed my personal opinion. That it seems to me that we are not yet too well prepared to send people too far. Although it is insanely interesting. Indeed, from such flights, science could get new ideas about how the universe works.

But my opinion is that while there would be enough satellites, probes, and other automatic or human-controlled vehicles.

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Answering the first post of this thread. Cleaning up after yourself in orbit is becoming a modern trend in any space company. As far as I know, everyone includes in their technical specifications the minimization of debris in orbit. And also production from new materials. New ways. Printing engines on 3D printers. In general, all modern space companies are trying to do everything with much less damage to the planet than it was before.
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