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I wonder if it is going to be only two people who are going to go. Will they add more people if they come forward with significant amount of money too? Seems t
by ktta 10y ago
I wonder if it is going to be only two people who are going to go. Will they add more people if they come forward with significant amount of money too?
Seems to me like the cost of taking in another person will be negligible in comparison to the funding they could contribute. This is literally a one-in-a-lifetime experience
- trafficlight 10y agoProbably not a ton of extra space for a multi-day trip?
- olex 10y agoThat's probably it. Not as much space I think, but life support for an extended period of time. This is one key difference between Dragon/CST-100 and Orion: the latter is designed for extended deep space travel with full crew, and can support them accordingly, while the former are primarily LEO taxis with more limited deep space capabilities.
- nickik 10y agoThe problem with the Orion is that there simply aren't many useful missions. Orion can also go around the moon, just like Dragon 2, but for both craft that is the end of the line (at least for Crewed versions). The difference is that Orion cost about as much as Dragon 1, Dragon 2, Falcon and Falcon Heavy combined. If we add the cost of a SLS launch it goes into another dimension of cost.
- strictnein 10y agoOthers will likely follow, per SpaceX, but I think this is a two person ride. > "Other flight teams have also expressed strong interest and we expect more to follow."
- edsouza 10y agoThe two private citizens will need a support team in capsule unless they are experienced astronauts and have the technical skills to learn all the systems on the dragon crew capsule.
- avar 10y agoDo you have a source stating that the people crewing the Dragon would need to do anything at all? Won't it just be on autopilot, what duties is the crew of the capsule expected to perform?
- euyyn 10y agoIf something bad happens, you don't want to say "oh well, guess I should have sent an expert with them after all."
- jessaustin 10y agoWhy do we expect that an "expert" could do anything for an automated craft? Will there be soldering involved? Changing batteries? Rather than allowing for such things, just build more redundancy. Unlike Apollo, this program will have access to powerful computers and other electronic components. Where would one find an expert in lunar circumnavigation?
- euyyn 10y agoPlanes can take off, fly, and land themselves. Do you expect that a pilot can do anything for it? They don't solder anything, nor change batteries. > Where would one find an expert in lunar circumnavigation? The branch of astronautics that deals with navigation in space is called Astrodynamics. It is taught at universities across the world. You can find experts among the astronauts of the various space agencies. Or you can train your own, the same way those agencies do.
- jessaustin 10y agoWhich planes are these? I've never seen an autopilot that could take off or land. The people who need to know astrodynamics are those who plan the tour. They will encode all the maneuvers required before launch. In the exceedingly unlikely event that corrections need to be made, they'll be made by radio. Even if they wasted an $80M berth on a pilot, where would she practice twiddling the knobs?
- strainer 10y agoIm curious it might be two lovers, with intimate heavenly aspirations.
- firebones 10y agoJoining the 10^-8 Parsecs High Club.
- cbhl 10y agoI imagine they don't want to send too many people up at first because 1) it's heavy and 2) there's a non-trivial risk of mission failure.