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SpaceX NASA returning human spaceflight to United States today (canceled)

316 points by danbr 6y ago

NikolaeVarius 6y ago
*Pending weather
- bonestamp2 6y ago
  On this note, does anybody know what the weather thresholds are that would cancel the launch? I mean, the current forecast suggests it will almost definitely be raining at 433pm Eastern, and wind will be around 10 mph. Is some amount of rain tolerable? How much wind is acceptable?
  - danbr 6y ago
    Here’s some information on the Space Shuttle Weather Launch Commit Criteria. There are probably some added bits for the water recovery incase of an abort with Crew Dragon. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/pdf/531435main_weather-rules-march2011.pdf https://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/pdf/531435main_weather-... Edit: and for the falcon 9 (non crew) https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/649911main_051612_falcon9_weather_criteria.pdf https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/649911main_051612_falcon9_weather_c...
- bryanlarsen 6y ago
  Nominally a 60% chance of a go for launch weather, but according to Ken the Bin on Ars Technica, the weather in the abort corridor is poor so he expects a postponement.
  - lovelettr 6y ago
    I live on Merritt Island. Our power has been out since 6:30 this morning due to intense storms in the area. That having been said, it is currently sunny and calm. Given what the weather has been like since Sunday I could see it being postponed. I hope the weather holds and gives a window.
  - gpm 6y ago
    Typically that percent chance doesn't actually consider all the launch criteria as crazy as that sounds. It misses the upper level winds, and for the human launch I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out that it is missing some weather criteria in the abort recovery zone as well.
  - bryanlarsen 6y ago
    Eric Berger now has an article about the iffy weather: https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/05/spacex-may-launch-today-but-weather-is-a-huge-concern/ https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/05/spacex-may-launch-to...
- S_A_P 6y ago
  I get that you dont want to fly a giant rocket full of liquid oxygen and other explosives into a thunderstorm or hurricane, but what are some practical reasons for postponing a launch due to weather. As I (hardly) understand once you get high up in the atmosphere there is high wind even on a clear day, does rain matter that much?
  - greedo 6y ago
    The weather needs to be good enough for a safe recovery downrange if there's an abort.
  - ceejayoz 6y ago
    Various reasons, well explained here (in several answers, including one pointing out that Challenger blew up in part due to cold weather): https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/4967/why-are-rocket-launches-so-sensitive-to-weather https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/4967/why-are-rocke...
  - danbr 6y ago
    I would think by far it’s for crew safety. Recovery due to an in-flight abort would be difficult in rough seas and weather if they had to be plucked out of the Atlantic. The aerostructure of the falcon 9 can only withstand so much side loading due to aerodynamic forces and wind before exceeding the operational limits of the rocket (body to keep it all from breaking apart, and the engines working hard to keep them on the correct trajectory).
    - S_A_P 6y ago
      Thank you for the answer. To those who downvoted- I normally don't comment on that, but damn it was an honest question and I admitted to having little knowledge on this and its not like I gave a hot take. Just wanting to learn something...
  - ncallaway 6y ago
    First of all, weather is much more than just rain. One of the things that's monitored closely in the launch corridor are the upper atmospheric winds. Specifically the wind sheer in the upper atmosphere. Strong wind isn't typically a problem, but high wind sheer in the upper atmosphere can be problematic. Additionally, they check the weather in the entire recovery corridor. That is, anywhere that the capsule could end up during an abort. They want to make sure that if the capsule ends up in the ocean, the weather permits recovery operations. An abort and safe splash-down doesn't do us much good if the astronauts then drown because recovery operations are impaired due to weather. We're putting two lives on this rocket. A small delay is absolutely the right trade-off to reduce risk.
imshashank 6y ago
Love the new "Space" suits and the touch screen panel inside the capsule. This is going to be amazing. My prayers with the brave astronauts.
- danbr 6y ago
  The space suits, UI, design of it all feels exactly what I’ve though the future of space technology would be. Maybe not all the way there yet, but a great leap from hundreds of manual switches and raw aluminum of the shuttle era.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - avmich 6y ago
    > a great leap from hundreds of manual switches and raw aluminum of the shuttle era. Wonder if reliability of virtualized controls surpasses the one of dedicated hardware though. I suspect one of the reasons Apollo computers were all built with just one type of logical chip is the ability to replace faulty parts - one just need a single type of replacement. If for some reason touchscreen malfunctions, what options are left for the crew?
    - ncallaway 6y ago
      > If for some reason touchscreen malfunctions, what options are left for the crew? First, the spacecraft is I believe fully automated. While there is the ability to pilot the craft manually using onboard controls, my understanding is that is already considered a backup or unusual scenario. As far as the touchscreens themselves, my understanding is there are four touchscreens total, and each can represent / control every aspect of the vehicle. So if a single touchscreen fails, the other 3 provide redundant access to necessary controls. Finally, the dragon capsule does have manual (non-touchscreen) joystick controls for the critical flight controls. So these systems have enough redundancy that a touchscreen failure should absolutely not jeopardize the flight.
heyflyguy 6y ago
Please let this go well.
- randomsearch 6y ago
  Agreed. I'm so nervous, this seems high risk.
  - NikolaeVarius 6y ago
    High risk relative to?
    - AmVess 6y ago
      Not launching your ass into space on a giant rocket?
      - throwaway_pdp09 6y ago
        Thank you for a delightfully clear explanation.
    - TomMarius 6y ago
      Relative to staying on the ground, at the very least
    - albntomat0 6y ago
      It's the first manned launch on the Dragon platform. There have been a number of unmanned launches and tests, but no where near as many as on Soyuz. A quick search through Wikipedia shows 140+ manned Soyuz launches, and around 20 total for the SpaceX Dragon. Note those numbers are for the spacecraft, not the booster (the Soyuz platform has both the spacecraft and booster named Soyuz, SpaceX has the Dragon spacecraft on the Falcon 9 booster).
      - randomsearch 6y ago
        Exactly. The odds are not what I'd like them to be.
ProAm 6y ago
This is just a link to the SpaceX homepage?
- xeromal 6y ago
  https://youtu.be/rjb9FdVdX5I https://youtu.be/rjb9FdVdX5I
adrow 6y ago
Anyone know of any other tool like this that might give an idea of where in the sky to look based on your location? https://james.darpinian.com/satellites/?special=starlink-latest https://james.darpinian.com/satellites/?special=starlink-lat...
- bujak3000 6y ago
  https://www.heavens-above.com/PassSummary.aspx?satid=71000&lat=47.3769&lng=8.5417&loc=Z%c3%bcrich&alt=0&tz=CET https://www.heavens-above.com/PassSummary.aspx?satid=71000&l... set your location top right
mrtksn 6y ago
The cold war is back, the fashion is back and out of all the things that are back I am glad that the USA is back in space flights. Wish you the best luck and hope that this will lead to some serious competition. Soyuz is great but we need to do more as species.
- dmos62 6y ago
  > do more as species Space exploration and exploitation is awesome, but shouldn't the first items on the "do more as species" todo list be about taking care of earth?
  - gpm 6y ago
    First, yes (or similar terrestrial activities). Only, definitely not.
  - mrtksn 6y ago
    These things don't have to be mutually exclusive. Unless you create an AI to build paperclips, of course.
    - kitsunesoba 6y ago
      In fact, if they are mutually exclusive it’d be indicative of incredible mismanagement. There are enough people for us to be able to do both, and nobody benefits from reallocating rocket scientists to things that aren’t rocket science.
      - gowld 6y ago
        Why not? Rocket scientists can work on fuel efficient cars and airplanes. And rocket science is only one small part of the overal industrial effort of launching rockets.
        Koshkin 6y ago
        > Rocket scientists can work on fuel efficient cars In all honesty, that's like saying that Jack the Ripper could work as a surgeon.
elteto 6y ago
How long will the approach to the ISS take? Previous unmanned Dragon missions take ~1 day to approach and dock but I can't imagine they will subject the astronauts to the same.
- ceejayoz 6y ago
  They've got it down to a few hours. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_TMA-08M#Expedited_docking https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_TMA-08M#Expedited_dockin... It used to take days. Not fun in a tiny capsule like Soyuz, I'd imagine. https://www.engadget.com/2013-03-29-soyuz-cuts-travel-time-to-iss.html https://www.engadget.com/2013-03-29-soyuz-cuts-travel-time-t...
- martythemaniak 6y ago
  Similar - about 18-19hrs before docking. You should be able to watch it live tomorrow morning. It's funny that it takes that long, since they could theoretically make it up there in like half an hour or so. Here's a good overview of what's gonna happen today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr_zfpzGxQQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr_zfpzGxQQ
  - elteto 6y ago
    Thanks, that was a really good mission rundown. On a separate note, it's amazing how Tim has built such a brand in such a short time, I remember when he started out a couple of years ago.
    - iso1631 6y ago
      He's been culturing the persona for about 5 years, and youtubing since 2017
  - futureproofd 6y ago
    He said exactly what I was thinking: Initiate ludicrous mode on the way to the launch site.
  - fanf2 6y ago
manaskarekar 6y ago
Good luck to all involved, this is a remarkable moment.
exdsq 6y ago
As a Brit, I am jealous that I'll not be able to work with NASA or SpaceX. This is a really exciting time, best of luck to the team.
- onion2k 6y ago
  There are lots of jobs in the space industry here in the UK - https://spacecareers.uk/ https://spacecareers.uk/
- TomVDB 6y ago
  I’ve been having mild anxiety about this mission ever since it was announced. Working on manned space flight is not for me. The stakes are just too high.
os7borne 6y ago
Honestly, wondering how the touch interface will work in this mission. Always thought it will be tough to make sure the touch works as opposed to physical switches and buttons. eagerly waiting for the launch, though! Wishing luck from India!
- dylan604 6y ago
  If they have to take their gloves off to get the TouchID to work, then that's kind of a bummer. Don't know how well FaceID works while wearing the helmets either.
  - iso1631 6y ago
    They don't
ak-47 6y ago
> Demo-2 is the final major test for SpaceX’s human spaceflight system to be certified by NASA for operational crew missions to and from the International Space Station. The two astronauts along with the Falcon 9 will be docking with the ISS and then returning home. No crew swap is happening, which seems like a waste of energy. I get that SpaceX isn't "operationally certified", but is a crew swap inherently more risky?
- Diederich 6y ago
  I understand your point, but it's just the way they do things. I believe it gives them more scheduling flexibility. I read somewhere that the first 'operational' SpaceX <-> ISS will be in a couple of months.
- _Microft 6y ago
  The mission was initially intended to be a short, crewed test flight, lasting only a week and a half but the spacecraft that was planned to be used for this was lost in a test accident. Now they are flying on its successor capsule which is rated for much longer (iirc up to 110 days of) space operations. This allows NASA to extend the mission and lets the astronauts Hurley and Behnken help out on the ISS which are currently short on people iirc. They received training for this extended mission in the last few month.
- QuotedForTruth 6y ago
  They will stay for 1 to 4 months. Its apparently partially dependent on whether they are prepared to launch the first actual crew mission on Aug 30. A crew swap would require astronauts that are on station to return on the dragon, something they may not have trained for. So to do a swap, you'd probably have to take more than just the two test pilots up since they are likely required to pilot the capsule back down. Taking additional crew on the test flight would certainly be more risky to those additional lives.
- mabbo 6y ago
  > The two astronauts along with the Falcon 9 will be docking with the ISS and then returning home Just to be clear, the Falcon 9 is the booster that never gets to orbit. It's not going to the ISS- not moving fast enough to achieve orbit. Just the little Dragon spaceship on the nose of the rocket will get to the ISS. > No crew swap is happening, which seems like a waste of energy. I get that SpaceX isn't "operationally certified", but is a crew swap inherently more risky? Believe it or not, they've sent this 7-seat spacecraft to the ISS already (well, the same model) just to verify it could do it. It arrived empty, it went home empty (except for a plushy that stayed behind). The point is that SpaceX is going to be doing this maybe hundreds of times in the future, but the first time, they want to minimize the number of people that could die if something goes wrong. Remember, this whole test would have been done 6 months ago except that the sister to this spaceship unexpected exploded during a simple ground test. This stuff is dangerous.
mabbo 6y ago
For those who aren't giant space nerds (like me) the very best place to get info on SpaceX and SpaceX launches has always been Reddit's /r/SpaceX[0]. The launch today (like all launches) has a dedicated thread[1] with mods keeping all details up to date, all links that matter organized. It's 100% not sponsored or run by SpaceX, but honestly it's probably doing a better job than a corporate PR side could manage. Fantastic amount of details on everything in their wiki and posts, and friendly people who answer questions happily. [0] https://reddit.com/r/spacex https://reddit.com/r/spacex [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/glwz6n/rspacex_cctcap_demonstration_mission_2_general/ https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/glwz6n/rspacex_cctc...
- coronadisaster 6y ago
  > It's 100% not sponsored or run by SpaceX but it feels like it is sometimes
  - skunkworker 6y ago
    There are a lot of fanboys in there for sure, but /r/spacex sometimes gets close to industrial espionage.
- majkinetor 6y ago
  Many reddit communities are like that. Not sure what they did to collect such folks on single place, but reddit is something else.
  - slfnflctd 6y ago
    Well, mostly, they replaced Usenet and a hodge-podge jumble of forum sites running generic interfaces where you have to click to a new page for every 50 comments (or less), which have no comment reply nesting. Reddit brought a more useful/readable interface, allowed anonymous accounts with no email address, and had a very simple & powerful (if flawed) voting system. This attracted content creators of all kinds, which led to a rapidly growing audience, and it snowballed. I don't like one company owning all this stuff, but I do love what users in niche subs have created there. With a massive general audience comes better populated niches, excellence riding the coattails of the mediocre. Also, should Condé Nast ever screw the pooch here, plenty of clones are waiting in the wings.
LoSboccacc 6y ago
all the best, of course, but isn't this a little premature
- sgt 6y ago
  We're in 2020, this is way overdue.
  - LoSboccacc 6y ago
    I didn't mean the go to space part but the boasting about it part
jonathanlydall 6y ago
Really appreciate them also having UTC on their website [1]. [1]: https://www.spacex.com/launches/ https://www.spacex.com/launches/
jcun4128 6y ago
curious those "NACA-duct-looking" things at the bottom of the capsule doesn't seem to have any holes... what are they for? edit: part of controlled airflow maybe when coming down in reverse/re-entry?
- Tuna-Fish 6y ago
  They are the SuperDraco thrusters, for launch escape. There are no holes because there are covers that get blown away by the thrusters, to protect them during re-entry if they are not used.
  - jcun4128 6y ago
    Ahh that's right I think I've seen footage of them firing before. The cover thing makes sense, thanks.
sidcool 6y ago
Are the space suits also designed by SpaceX?
- minkzilla 6y ago
  Yes they are both designed and made by SpaceX. There was a short segment about them in the official coverage.
  - sidcool 6y ago
    Wow. Are these suits comparable to the ones worn by Apollo astronauts?
    - rurban 6y ago
      The NASA Orion suits are super ugly IMHO. Very different. https://youtu.be/yj6LYpZosRU https://youtu.be/yj6LYpZosRU The xEMU suites even more.
- nickik 6y ago
  They hired the guy who did the marvel super hero customs.
tibbydudeza 6y ago
Last time I was interested in space was the Mars Lander. Going to ISS is easy afaik but when are we ever going to try landing on the moon again (don't even talk about Mars).
- Jaruzel 6y ago
  NASA's Artemis project has got you covered on that one: https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis/ https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis/
- nickik 6y ago
  > Going to ISS is easy afaik Given that only 3 nations in history have produce anything that could potentially do it, that statement seems like utter lunacy.
mchusma 6y ago
The production quality of the SpaceX feed is amazing and emotional. Right now (9:40am or so) the bios on the astronauts are great. They have really invested over their launches in making space inspirational, and this feed is clearly something they spent a ton of time on. Very emotionally uplifting, I highly recommend watching the feed now if you like space.
- ardy42 6y ago
  > The production quality of the SpaceX feed is amazing and emotional. Right now (9:40am or so) the bios on the astronauts are great. They have really invested over their launches in making space inspirational, and this feed is clearly something they spent a ton of time on. Kinda like a Nike ad.
relham 6y ago
I assume the astronauts and everyone involved is tested daily for COVID-19. I am sure that bringing the virus to the IIS would be disastrous. Anyone has any insights on the measures taken to prevent it? This Verge article[0] appears to describe the preventative steps to be less severe than I'd expect. [0] https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/25/21264868/spacex-nasa-launch-pandemic-covid-crew-dragon-astronaut https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/25/21264868/spacex-nasa-laun...
- Symmetry 6y ago
  Ever since one of the astronauts got sick on one of the Gemini missions the astronauts have undergone quarantines for a period before going up into space.
  - relham 6y ago
    And still Ken Mattingly was pulled from Apollo 13 3 days before takeoff because of a potential exposure to measles. In the live video, most of the technicians and even Musk are wearing masks, most of them staying at some distance though. I doubt they were all quarantined for the last 2 weeks.
- rurban 6y ago
  Why should it be desastrous? I hope you do know the odds. The COVID-19 fatality odd is 0.3%, the Dragon-lost odd probably much higher, maybe at around 5%. The Falcon 9 has over 80 starts now, but this is only the 3nd Dragon 2 start, and one of it failed.
  - relham 6y ago
    I think the astronauts health makes them much less likely to die from Corona than 0.3% but exposing the current crew of the IIS does not sound like a good idea either. Fatality rate is one thing, but being in a small space can cause high concentrations of virus and any health complication in space is a big deal. A catastrophic failure is definitely a risk, but not sure how its magnitude should diminish our caution when it comes to bringing the virus to the space station (by your calc, it lowers the risk only by 5%).
sevencolors 6y ago
When did NASA switch back to the "worm" logo? One of my favorites
hadtodoit 6y ago
Godspeed to the men on board. And God bless the SpaceX team for bringing it all back home.
- seph-reed 6y ago
  It really warms my heart that the landing pad is called "OF COURSE I STILL LOVE YOU DRONE SHIP" In a consumer era where almost all naming is done by marketing and void of any soul, it really, really makes me happy to see a little bit growing through the cracks in the concrete.
  - tialaramex 6y ago
    The name is just "Of course I still love you". They're named after vessels from Iain M Banks' "Culture" SF setting. Culture spaceships have AI "minds" and the mind of a large ship-constructing ship will name its offspring. They tend to have an odd sense of humour, there are plenty of sites with lists of Culture ship names, and Banks wrote footnotes excusing the obvious references to 20th century human culture as matters of translation (e.g. there is an Offensive Unit named "I said I have a big stick" which is a reference to Theodore Roosevelt's "Speak softly and carry a big stick"). https://theculture.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_spacecraft_in_the_Culture_series https://theculture.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_spacecraft_in_the...
    - shkkmo 6y ago
      I believe that the ships pick their own name rather than having it picked for them by the ship that built them.
  - Reelin 6y ago
    It's actually a drone ship (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_spaceport_drone_ship https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_spaceport_drone_shi...) named "Of Course I Still Love You" after the fictional ship of the same name from Bank's novel "The Player of Games" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Player_of_Games https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Player_of_Games). - Your friendly neighborhood pedant.
gpm 6y ago
> 40% chance of good weather, if you're an optimist (from livestreamer) Heh
- grecy 6y ago
  An update just now on the radio said the one they were tracking is no longer a concern, and the one over Orlando is expected to be their decision today, and it's getting weaker. Good news!
finger 6y ago
I see they are using touch screens. What would they do if the screens froze?
- minkzilla 6y ago
  If one freezes then use the other 3. If they all freeze let the autopilot do it's job.
  - naggreg 6y ago
    I find it sort of weird to not have buttons in there: with all the vibrations you would think it's rather difficult to touch the exact control that you want. I guess they considered that...
    - NikolaeVarius 6y ago
      The exact same thing applies to buttons, its just harder to screw up. they also have buttons just fine https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/04/03/photos-astronauts-train-to-ride-a-dragon-into-space/ https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/04/03/photos-astronauts-trai...
    - dahfizz 6y ago
      I don't think the astronauts make extensive manual corrections during takeoff. And if you watch the livestream, the UI elements are much larger on the screen than would be possible with physical buttons. So if you are worried about precision, the touch screens would actually be safer.
    - minkzilla 6y ago
      I think the astronauts have very little to actually control. There are a variety of buttons underneath the screens, a big red one being for abort.
- mirekrusin 6y ago
  ctrl+alt+del
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
qchris 6y ago
I'm so excited, and just hoping the weather holds. The best of luck to the entire team, and hoping everything goes smoothly and safely!
- rrmm 6y ago
  u/UpperLevelWinds is apparently accepting bribes over on r/SpaceX
dgritsko 6y ago
The interior design of the capsule looks so futuristic and cool - closer to Star Trek than Soyuz.
- ardy42 6y ago
  > The interior design of the capsule looks so futuristic and cool - closer to Star Trek than Soyuz. Too bad they didn't skin the touchscreen interface to look like LCARS. /s https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LCARS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LCARS
- jedberg 6y ago
  Those space suits look so cool, don't they?
  - q3k 6y ago
    I don't know, they look kitschy to me - as if someone designed them just to look 'cool' and futuristic instead of utilitarian, like a fashion statement.
    - DennisP 6y ago
      An astronaut on TV just said they're designed to be slim and do exactly what's needed in this case: emergency life support in case the capsule loses pressure. They're custom fit, they don't have a lot of doodads hanging off them, I'm guessing you wouldn't use them for a spacewalk, but for a launch they get the job done and don't take up a lot of room.
    - jedberg 6y ago
      I think they're both. It feels like they went for utility, but also kept watching Kubrick's 2001 for inspiration.
  - Melting_Harps 6y ago
    > Those space suits look so cool, don't they? That was the aim: https://www.inverse.com/innovation/spacex-crew-dragon-spacesuit https://www.inverse.com/innovation/spacex-crew-dragon-spaces... The Dragon's interior was also built with that in mind, its less NASA and more Hollywood, throw Ripley and Earth Plushy into the mix and this how you do get regular people into Space [1]. 1: http://www.collectspace.com/images/news-030219d-lg.jpg http://www.collectspace.com/images/news-030219d-lg.jpg
holler 6y ago
Elon Musk is the greatest entrepreneur and coolest billionaire in our lifetime, change my mind!
- jacquesm 6y ago
  Musk doesn't have much in terms of competition today but I have high hopes for the Collison brothers, they are on a similar trajectory (starting with payment systems), are both already billionaires and contrary to Musk are modest and when they say something it tends to be very well thought out. I called Elon Musk many years before he was as important as he is today, let's see where Patrick and John end up in a decade or more.
- dvh 6y ago
  Bill Gates. Entrepreneur, billionaire, can jump over the chair: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxaCOHT0pmI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxaCOHT0pmI
  - holler 6y ago
    aha! So he IS a human afterall :p
- bialpio 6y ago
  Just want to make sure that s we're talking about the same person here - are you referring to the author of "pedo guy" tweet? I guess he's the best role model we have for now...
localhost 6y ago
FYI the live stream is playing on YouTube right now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aymrnzianf0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aymrnzianf0
- inetknght 6y ago
  I don't understand. What is the difference between that video and this [0] one? They're both by NASA. Then there's also the one by SpaceX [1] for those interested. I know that SpaceX usually has two webcasts going during launches; one for the public-friendly chatter and another for the go/nogo technical chatter I always look for the SpaceX or NASA official links. Don't search for SpaceX on youtube, you'll drown in unofficial garbage from news companies [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21X5lGlDOfg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21X5lGlDOfg [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjb9FdVdX5I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjb9FdVdX5I
  - localhost 6y ago
    I have no idea why you have a different ID for your first link. But you'll see that the link I posted and your link are both on the official NASA channel.
  - alixanderwang 6y ago
    Useful for me since I have the youtube app on my TV and can pull it up.
  - cbhl 6y ago
    I wouldn't be surprised if streaming to two different channels gives them some redundancy...
kilroy123 6y ago
I hope when they do launch all goes well.
grecy 6y ago
So cool to hear "Dragon copies" over the radio. For the first time, Dragon can talk back!
- testplzignore 6y ago
  Audio of Dragon comms: https://youtu.be/90X5NJleYJQ?t=152 https://youtu.be/90X5NJleYJQ?t=152
spuz 6y ago
I wonder if they are using an already used Falcon 9 or a brand new one? Is there are statistical difference in the reliability of unused vs reused Falcon 9s?
- grecy 6y ago
  It's new, as per NASA's requirements. They will attempt a landing on a drone ship to recover it.
- nickff 6y ago
  This is a brand new one, and I don't think there have been enough launches of similar (current version/block) new and used first stages to find a statistically significant difference.
- jccooper 6y ago
  Thus far all SpaceX F9 launch failures have been on all-new vehicles. But those were both in the second stage, which are not and cannot be reused. The F9 first stage has basically been perfect on launch, save for two single engine-out incidents (one new, one on the reused fleet leader) which did not impact payload delivery. Thus far the sample size is low, but to the extent you can measure it they're equal.
NiceWayToDoIT 6y ago
Does anyone else feel super excited? I guess this was the feeling my parents had when they watched men landing on the Moon...
- S_A_P 6y ago
  I'll admit I went and looked at SpaceX open positions...
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - DarmokJalad1701 6y ago
    I do that every other month
  - lutorm 6y ago
    There are tons of software openings! If you're excited about space, go check out https://www.spacex.com/careers https://www.spacex.com/careers.
- mempko 6y ago
  Today is a melancholy feeling. Happy to see SpaceX sending people to space, but sad a decade was lost. EDIT: I spoke about that we had a regression, I meant that NASA lost a capability and just got it back.
  - randomsearch 6y ago
    Untrue
  - bpodgursky 6y ago
    I understand this sentiment, but if SpaceX pulls this off, it's going to be an order of magnitude cheaper and more sustainable than the incredibly awesome but one-off and flashy Apollo (or even shuttle) missions. Crew Dragon is not visually BIGGER than a Saturn V, but it is in a lot of ways a firmer footstep into space than we've ever taken before. SpaceX's program isn't going to dry up as soon as the cold war is over, and we stop devoting 5% of GDP to beating the Soviets. This is for real.
TrainedMonkey 6y ago
Here is pretty accurate in terms of spacecraft UI docking simulator: https://iss-sim.spacex.com/ https://iss-sim.spacex.com/ Astronauts will be using similar for manual piloting demo before docking.
- gpm 6y ago
  Note that docking is automatic by default, this is a simulation of the backup system.
- _Microft 6y ago
  Guess what - there are speedruns already :D https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=iss+sim+speedrun https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=iss+sim+speedru...
- NiceWayToDoIT 6y ago
  I have tried and barely succeeded, I just hope those are not real controls. Those should be either automated or they should consult someone from gaming industry. Sorry to say UX controls are terrible (saying from gaming position).
  - zlsa 6y ago
    The docking is automated by default. The manual controls are only to be used in case the automated docking doesn't work.
    - jacquesm 6y ago
      UI is even more important when there is an anomaly.
      - NikolaeVarius 6y ago
        You assume that whatever you prefer is a better UI.
sidcool 6y ago
Why is this called Demo-2?
- khuey 6y ago
  It's the second test flight (demo). The first was an uncrewed flight to the International Space Station last year.
- jedberg 6y ago
  Demo 1 launched last year. It was an identical mission, docking with the ISS, but with no crew (only supplies). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crew_Dragon_Demo-1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crew_Dragon_Demo-1
- jccooper 6y ago
  Because it's the second demonstration flight before certification for regular rotation. Demo-1 was 13 months ago, flown without a crew.
jedberg 6y ago
I watched the first Space Shuttle launch live, I watched Challenger live. I watched the last shuttle launch live. I was sad then, realizing that America was losing launch capability on that day. I can't tell you how exited I am to watch America's return to launch capability. Edit: Disappointed at the scrub, but I know a lot of these weather rules were put in place because of Challenger, so I understand. Looking forward to Saturday!
- 98Windows 6y ago
  Sorry to hear you guys haven't had lunch for so long
  - corrupt_measure 6y ago
    We need to bring down our national BMI.
- minxomat 6y ago
  > America's return to lunch capability Perfection.
  - jedberg 6y ago
    Damnit autocorrect!
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
james_pm 6y ago
Memories of the first few Space Shuttle launches. I was lucky enough to see STS-3 from Jetty Park when I was 12. Today I'll watch from home on YouTube with my own kids (16 and 17).
_Microft 6y ago
ISS will be visible from Germany at 22:23 today, coming from north-west moving towards south-east and it will be followed by Crew Dragon and the Falcon 9 upper stage about 20 minutes later. It should pass almost straight over you in the south of Germany.
- jedberg 6y ago
  Do you know where ISS will be when Crew Dragon actually docks?
  - _Microft 6y ago
    No idea, ISS is also moving very fast (> 7.5 km/s, that's more than 27000km/h), so even short delays will change the position massively.
  - _Microft 6y ago
    Docking is scheduled for 10:29 EDT (14:29 UTC) today (2020-05-31) at which time the ISS is predicted to be 1000km east of the Philippines, approximately 300km west of Guam.
    - jedberg 6y ago
      Thanks! I probably won't be up, but I did get to see them chasing each other across the sky a few hours ago. Thanks for thinking of me!
      - _Microft 6y ago
        You're welcome!
skyfaller 6y ago
I have one question/concern: why is almost nobody wearing a mask? Of course there is no need for people videoconferencing from home to wear masks, but many of the people in the livestream seem to be physically present on site. The only people I saw with masks were the people in the black suits helping the astronauts into the capsule. Masks seem like an inexpensive way to reduce risk, the CDC and WHO recommend them. Sure, there are other measures that can reduce transmission, but the lack of masks makes me concerned that other measures are not being taken, perhaps because both Elon Musk and Trump have been downplaying the risk of covid-19 and they are both present today.
blhack 6y ago
Man, seeing the guys cruising out there in the Teslas... Just think about how cool this scene is. Something that is in line with the vision of the future people used to have. Very inspiring.
synaesthesisx 6y ago
This is easily the most exciting moment of 2020. I can't overstate the emotions running through my body right now - godspeed to the crew & cheers to a new era for human space exploration.
deleted 6y ago
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akeck 6y ago
Having seen the first shuttle launch and the Challenger and Columbia failures, I'm both excited and terrified.
deleted 6y ago
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jacquesm 6y ago
It looks like the launch will be scrubbed due to the weather, lightning risk during propellant loading is too high. edit: yep, launch scrubbed. Too bad! But better safe than sorry, especially today with a crewed vehicle. Does anybody know if the crew dragon comes with different weather restrictions for LOX loading?
- elliekelly 6y ago
  Can someone ELI5 why they sometimes need to have an “instantaneous launch window” that can’t be pushed even by a few minutes?
  - lutorm 6y ago
    It depends on the target orbit. For launches to the ISS, you have to launch at the correct instant because even a few minutes later means the ISS is so far ahead it will take much longer, and use more propellant, to rendezvous. I think they could probably delay a few seconds without too much trouble, but I guess the extra complication of recalculating the rendezvous isn't worth it because most of the time a few seconds won't matter anyway.
    - dmurray 6y ago
      Can you delay the launch window 90 minutes until the next ISS orbit? Maybe you then run into the next on the long list of reasons.
      - NikolaeVarius 6y ago
        The orbit moves because the earth is moving, so it will not be in the same trajectory as planned. This requires a change in fuel requirements as well as programming
      - skykooler 6y ago
        No, because in 90 minutes the cryogenic liquid oxygen would have warmed up too much. The Falcon doesn't have an onboard refrigeration unit; it relies on loading the propellant shortly before launch. However, "shortly" is also relative, and 90 minutes is not long enough to purge all the fuel from the rocket and refuel it with cold oxygen (it took close to an hour today to de-fuel the rocket), so it can't be cycled in that window.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
tosh 6y ago
launch aborted :(
NiceWayToDoIT 6y ago
launch abort ... pffffffffff
jgotti92 6y ago
canceled?
- rvz 6y ago
  Not really. Postponed for Saturday due to concerns about bad weather.
  - jgotti92 6y ago
    Its a pitty, I just started watching live and see that the astronauts already have boarded. Yeah, its a pitty, but at least can watch the whole procedure again on Saturday.
- camjohnson26 6y ago
  Temporarily for weather, not for technical issues.
deleted 6y ago
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camjohnson26 6y ago
Rescheduled for 3:22pm ET on Saturday https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1265739654810091520?s=20 https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1265739654810091520?s=20
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
itsspring 6y ago
They finally announced it publicly: https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1265739654810091520 https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1265739654810091520
code4tee 6y ago
Good old Florida weather. Will try again Saturday.

316 points by danbr 6y ago

NikolaeVarius 6y ago

*Pending weather

bonestamp2 6y ago
On this note, does anybody know what the weather thresholds are that would cancel the launch? I mean, the current forecast suggests it will almost definitely be raining at 433pm Eastern, and wind will be around 10 mph. Is some amount of rain tolerable? How much wind is acceptable?
- danbr 6y ago
  Here’s some information on the Space Shuttle Weather Launch Commit Criteria. There are probably some added bits for the water recovery incase of an abort with Crew Dragon. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/pdf/531435main_weather-rules-march2011.pdf https://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/pdf/531435main_weather-... Edit: and for the falcon 9 (non crew) https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/649911main_051612_falcon9_weather_criteria.pdf https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/649911main_051612_falcon9_weather_c...
bryanlarsen 6y ago
Nominally a 60% chance of a go for launch weather, but according to Ken the Bin on Ars Technica, the weather in the abort corridor is poor so he expects a postponement.
- lovelettr 6y ago
  I live on Merritt Island. Our power has been out since 6:30 this morning due to intense storms in the area. That having been said, it is currently sunny and calm. Given what the weather has been like since Sunday I could see it being postponed. I hope the weather holds and gives a window.
- gpm 6y ago
  Typically that percent chance doesn't actually consider all the launch criteria as crazy as that sounds. It misses the upper level winds, and for the human launch I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out that it is missing some weather criteria in the abort recovery zone as well.
- bryanlarsen 6y ago
  Eric Berger now has an article about the iffy weather: https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/05/spacex-may-launch-today-but-weather-is-a-huge-concern/ https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/05/spacex-may-launch-to...
S_A_P 6y ago
I get that you dont want to fly a giant rocket full of liquid oxygen and other explosives into a thunderstorm or hurricane, but what are some practical reasons for postponing a launch due to weather. As I (hardly) understand once you get high up in the atmosphere there is high wind even on a clear day, does rain matter that much?
- greedo 6y ago
  The weather needs to be good enough for a safe recovery downrange if there's an abort.
- ceejayoz 6y ago
  Various reasons, well explained here (in several answers, including one pointing out that Challenger blew up in part due to cold weather): https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/4967/why-are-rocket-launches-so-sensitive-to-weather https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/4967/why-are-rocke...
- danbr 6y ago
  I would think by far it’s for crew safety. Recovery due to an in-flight abort would be difficult in rough seas and weather if they had to be plucked out of the Atlantic. The aerostructure of the falcon 9 can only withstand so much side loading due to aerodynamic forces and wind before exceeding the operational limits of the rocket (body to keep it all from breaking apart, and the engines working hard to keep them on the correct trajectory).
  - S_A_P 6y ago
    Thank you for the answer. To those who downvoted- I normally don't comment on that, but damn it was an honest question and I admitted to having little knowledge on this and its not like I gave a hot take. Just wanting to learn something...
- ncallaway 6y ago
  First of all, weather is much more than just rain. One of the things that's monitored closely in the launch corridor are the upper atmospheric winds. Specifically the wind sheer in the upper atmosphere. Strong wind isn't typically a problem, but high wind sheer in the upper atmosphere can be problematic. Additionally, they check the weather in the entire recovery corridor. That is, anywhere that the capsule could end up during an abort. They want to make sure that if the capsule ends up in the ocean, the weather permits recovery operations. An abort and safe splash-down doesn't do us much good if the astronauts then drown because recovery operations are impaired due to weather. We're putting two lives on this rocket. A small delay is absolutely the right trade-off to reduce risk.

imshashank 6y ago

Love the new "Space" suits and the touch screen panel inside the capsule. This is going to be amazing. My prayers with the brave astronauts.

danbr 6y ago
The space suits, UI, design of it all feels exactly what I’ve though the future of space technology would be. Maybe not all the way there yet, but a great leap from hundreds of manual switches and raw aluminum of the shuttle era.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- avmich 6y ago
  > a great leap from hundreds of manual switches and raw aluminum of the shuttle era. Wonder if reliability of virtualized controls surpasses the one of dedicated hardware though. I suspect one of the reasons Apollo computers were all built with just one type of logical chip is the ability to replace faulty parts - one just need a single type of replacement. If for some reason touchscreen malfunctions, what options are left for the crew?
  - ncallaway 6y ago
    > If for some reason touchscreen malfunctions, what options are left for the crew? First, the spacecraft is I believe fully automated. While there is the ability to pilot the craft manually using onboard controls, my understanding is that is already considered a backup or unusual scenario. As far as the touchscreens themselves, my understanding is there are four touchscreens total, and each can represent / control every aspect of the vehicle. So if a single touchscreen fails, the other 3 provide redundant access to necessary controls. Finally, the dragon capsule does have manual (non-touchscreen) joystick controls for the critical flight controls. So these systems have enough redundancy that a touchscreen failure should absolutely not jeopardize the flight.

heyflyguy 6y ago

Please let this go well.

randomsearch 6y ago
Agreed. I'm so nervous, this seems high risk.
- NikolaeVarius 6y ago
  High risk relative to?
  - AmVess 6y ago
    Not launching your ass into space on a giant rocket?
    - throwaway_pdp09 6y ago
      Thank you for a delightfully clear explanation.
  - TomMarius 6y ago
    Relative to staying on the ground, at the very least
  - albntomat0 6y ago
    It's the first manned launch on the Dragon platform. There have been a number of unmanned launches and tests, but no where near as many as on Soyuz. A quick search through Wikipedia shows 140+ manned Soyuz launches, and around 20 total for the SpaceX Dragon. Note those numbers are for the spacecraft, not the booster (the Soyuz platform has both the spacecraft and booster named Soyuz, SpaceX has the Dragon spacecraft on the Falcon 9 booster).
    - randomsearch 6y ago
      Exactly. The odds are not what I'd like them to be.

ProAm 6y ago

This is just a link to the SpaceX homepage?

xeromal 6y ago
https://youtu.be/rjb9FdVdX5I https://youtu.be/rjb9FdVdX5I

adrow 6y ago

Anyone know of any other tool like this that might give an idea of where in the sky to look based on your location? https://james.darpinian.com/satellites/?special=starlink-latest https://james.darpinian.com/satellites/?special=starlink-lat...

bujak3000 6y ago
https://www.heavens-above.com/PassSummary.aspx?satid=71000&lat=47.3769&lng=8.5417&loc=Z%c3%bcrich&alt=0&tz=CET https://www.heavens-above.com/PassSummary.aspx?satid=71000&l... set your location top right

mrtksn 6y ago

The cold war is back, the fashion is back and out of all the things that are back I am glad that the USA is back in space flights. Wish you the best luck and hope that this will lead to some serious competition. Soyuz is great but we need to do more as species.

dmos62 6y ago
> do more as species Space exploration and exploitation is awesome, but shouldn't the first items on the "do more as species" todo list be about taking care of earth?
- gpm 6y ago
  First, yes (or similar terrestrial activities). Only, definitely not.
- mrtksn 6y ago
  These things don't have to be mutually exclusive. Unless you create an AI to build paperclips, of course.
  - kitsunesoba 6y ago
    In fact, if they are mutually exclusive it’d be indicative of incredible mismanagement. There are enough people for us to be able to do both, and nobody benefits from reallocating rocket scientists to things that aren’t rocket science.
    - gowld 6y ago
      Why not? Rocket scientists can work on fuel efficient cars and airplanes. And rocket science is only one small part of the overal industrial effort of launching rockets.
      - Koshkin 6y ago
        > Rocket scientists can work on fuel efficient cars In all honesty, that's like saying that Jack the Ripper could work as a surgeon.

elteto 6y ago

How long will the approach to the ISS take? Previous unmanned Dragon missions take ~1 day to approach and dock but I can't imagine they will subject the astronauts to the same.

ceejayoz 6y ago
They've got it down to a few hours. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_TMA-08M#Expedited_docking https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_TMA-08M#Expedited_dockin... It used to take days. Not fun in a tiny capsule like Soyuz, I'd imagine. https://www.engadget.com/2013-03-29-soyuz-cuts-travel-time-to-iss.html https://www.engadget.com/2013-03-29-soyuz-cuts-travel-time-t...
martythemaniak 6y ago
Similar - about 18-19hrs before docking. You should be able to watch it live tomorrow morning. It's funny that it takes that long, since they could theoretically make it up there in like half an hour or so. Here's a good overview of what's gonna happen today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr_zfpzGxQQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr_zfpzGxQQ
- elteto 6y ago
  Thanks, that was a really good mission rundown. On a separate note, it's amazing how Tim has built such a brand in such a short time, I remember when he started out a couple of years ago.
  - iso1631 6y ago
    He's been culturing the persona for about 5 years, and youtubing since 2017
- futureproofd 6y ago
  He said exactly what I was thinking: Initiate ludicrous mode on the way to the launch site.
- fanf2 6y ago

manaskarekar 6y ago

Good luck to all involved, this is a remarkable moment.

exdsq 6y ago

As a Brit, I am jealous that I'll not be able to work with NASA or SpaceX. This is a really exciting time, best of luck to the team.

onion2k 6y ago
There are lots of jobs in the space industry here in the UK - https://spacecareers.uk/ https://spacecareers.uk/
TomVDB 6y ago
I’ve been having mild anxiety about this mission ever since it was announced. Working on manned space flight is not for me. The stakes are just too high.

os7borne 6y ago

Honestly, wondering how the touch interface will work in this mission. Always thought it will be tough to make sure the touch works as opposed to physical switches and buttons. eagerly waiting for the launch, though! Wishing luck from India!

dylan604 6y ago
If they have to take their gloves off to get the TouchID to work, then that's kind of a bummer. Don't know how well FaceID works while wearing the helmets either.
- iso1631 6y ago
  They don't

ak-47 6y ago

> Demo-2 is the final major test for SpaceX’s human spaceflight system to be certified by NASA for operational crew missions to and from the International Space Station. The two astronauts along with the Falcon 9 will be docking with the ISS and then returning home. No crew swap is happening, which seems like a waste of energy. I get that SpaceX isn't "operationally certified", but is a crew swap inherently more risky?

Diederich 6y ago
I understand your point, but it's just the way they do things. I believe it gives them more scheduling flexibility. I read somewhere that the first 'operational' SpaceX <-> ISS will be in a couple of months.
_Microft 6y ago
The mission was initially intended to be a short, crewed test flight, lasting only a week and a half but the spacecraft that was planned to be used for this was lost in a test accident. Now they are flying on its successor capsule which is rated for much longer (iirc up to 110 days of) space operations. This allows NASA to extend the mission and lets the astronauts Hurley and Behnken help out on the ISS which are currently short on people iirc. They received training for this extended mission in the last few month.
QuotedForTruth 6y ago
They will stay for 1 to 4 months. Its apparently partially dependent on whether they are prepared to launch the first actual crew mission on Aug 30. A crew swap would require astronauts that are on station to return on the dragon, something they may not have trained for. So to do a swap, you'd probably have to take more than just the two test pilots up since they are likely required to pilot the capsule back down. Taking additional crew on the test flight would certainly be more risky to those additional lives.
mabbo 6y ago
> The two astronauts along with the Falcon 9 will be docking with the ISS and then returning home Just to be clear, the Falcon 9 is the booster that never gets to orbit. It's not going to the ISS- not moving fast enough to achieve orbit. Just the little Dragon spaceship on the nose of the rocket will get to the ISS. > No crew swap is happening, which seems like a waste of energy. I get that SpaceX isn't "operationally certified", but is a crew swap inherently more risky? Believe it or not, they've sent this 7-seat spacecraft to the ISS already (well, the same model) just to verify it could do it. It arrived empty, it went home empty (except for a plushy that stayed behind). The point is that SpaceX is going to be doing this maybe hundreds of times in the future, but the first time, they want to minimize the number of people that could die if something goes wrong. Remember, this whole test would have been done 6 months ago except that the sister to this spaceship unexpected exploded during a simple ground test. This stuff is dangerous.

mabbo 6y ago

For those who aren't giant space nerds (like me) the very best place to get info on SpaceX and SpaceX launches has always been Reddit's /r/SpaceX[0]. The launch today (like all launches) has a dedicated thread[1] with mods keeping all details up to date, all links that matter organized. It's 100% not sponsored or run by SpaceX, but honestly it's probably doing a better job than a corporate PR side could manage. Fantastic amount of details on everything in their wiki and posts, and friendly people who answer questions happily. [0] https://reddit.com/r/spacex https://reddit.com/r/spacex [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/glwz6n/rspacex_cctcap_demonstration_mission_2_general/ https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/glwz6n/rspacex_cctc...

coronadisaster 6y ago
> It's 100% not sponsored or run by SpaceX but it feels like it is sometimes
- skunkworker 6y ago
  There are a lot of fanboys in there for sure, but /r/spacex sometimes gets close to industrial espionage.
majkinetor 6y ago
Many reddit communities are like that. Not sure what they did to collect such folks on single place, but reddit is something else.
- slfnflctd 6y ago
  Well, mostly, they replaced Usenet and a hodge-podge jumble of forum sites running generic interfaces where you have to click to a new page for every 50 comments (or less), which have no comment reply nesting. Reddit brought a more useful/readable interface, allowed anonymous accounts with no email address, and had a very simple & powerful (if flawed) voting system. This attracted content creators of all kinds, which led to a rapidly growing audience, and it snowballed. I don't like one company owning all this stuff, but I do love what users in niche subs have created there. With a massive general audience comes better populated niches, excellence riding the coattails of the mediocre. Also, should Condé Nast ever screw the pooch here, plenty of clones are waiting in the wings.

LoSboccacc 6y ago

all the best, of course, but isn't this a little premature

sgt 6y ago
We're in 2020, this is way overdue.
- LoSboccacc 6y ago
  I didn't mean the go to space part but the boasting about it part

jonathanlydall 6y ago

Really appreciate them also having UTC on their website [1]. [1]: https://www.spacex.com/launches/ https://www.spacex.com/launches/

jcun4128 6y ago

curious those "NACA-duct-looking" things at the bottom of the capsule doesn't seem to have any holes... what are they for? edit: part of controlled airflow maybe when coming down in reverse/re-entry?

Tuna-Fish 6y ago
They are the SuperDraco thrusters, for launch escape. There are no holes because there are covers that get blown away by the thrusters, to protect them during re-entry if they are not used.
- jcun4128 6y ago
  Ahh that's right I think I've seen footage of them firing before. The cover thing makes sense, thanks.

sidcool 6y ago

Are the space suits also designed by SpaceX?

minkzilla 6y ago
Yes they are both designed and made by SpaceX. There was a short segment about them in the official coverage.
- sidcool 6y ago
  Wow. Are these suits comparable to the ones worn by Apollo astronauts?
  - rurban 6y ago
    The NASA Orion suits are super ugly IMHO. Very different. https://youtu.be/yj6LYpZosRU https://youtu.be/yj6LYpZosRU The xEMU suites even more.
nickik 6y ago
They hired the guy who did the marvel super hero customs.

tibbydudeza 6y ago

Last time I was interested in space was the Mars Lander. Going to ISS is easy afaik but when are we ever going to try landing on the moon again (don't even talk about Mars).

Jaruzel 6y ago
NASA's Artemis project has got you covered on that one: https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis/ https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis/
nickik 6y ago
> Going to ISS is easy afaik Given that only 3 nations in history have produce anything that could potentially do it, that statement seems like utter lunacy.

mchusma 6y ago

The production quality of the SpaceX feed is amazing and emotional. Right now (9:40am or so) the bios on the astronauts are great. They have really invested over their launches in making space inspirational, and this feed is clearly something they spent a ton of time on. Very emotionally uplifting, I highly recommend watching the feed now if you like space.

ardy42 6y ago
> The production quality of the SpaceX feed is amazing and emotional. Right now (9:40am or so) the bios on the astronauts are great. They have really invested over their launches in making space inspirational, and this feed is clearly something they spent a ton of time on. Kinda like a Nike ad.

relham 6y ago

I assume the astronauts and everyone involved is tested daily for COVID-19. I am sure that bringing the virus to the IIS would be disastrous. Anyone has any insights on the measures taken to prevent it? This Verge article[0] appears to describe the preventative steps to be less severe than I'd expect. [0] https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/25/21264868/spacex-nasa-launch-pandemic-covid-crew-dragon-astronaut https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/25/21264868/spacex-nasa-laun...

Symmetry 6y ago
Ever since one of the astronauts got sick on one of the Gemini missions the astronauts have undergone quarantines for a period before going up into space.
- relham 6y ago
  And still Ken Mattingly was pulled from Apollo 13 3 days before takeoff because of a potential exposure to measles. In the live video, most of the technicians and even Musk are wearing masks, most of them staying at some distance though. I doubt they were all quarantined for the last 2 weeks.
rurban 6y ago
Why should it be desastrous? I hope you do know the odds. The COVID-19 fatality odd is 0.3%, the Dragon-lost odd probably much higher, maybe at around 5%. The Falcon 9 has over 80 starts now, but this is only the 3nd Dragon 2 start, and one of it failed.
- relham 6y ago
  I think the astronauts health makes them much less likely to die from Corona than 0.3% but exposing the current crew of the IIS does not sound like a good idea either. Fatality rate is one thing, but being in a small space can cause high concentrations of virus and any health complication in space is a big deal. A catastrophic failure is definitely a risk, but not sure how its magnitude should diminish our caution when it comes to bringing the virus to the space station (by your calc, it lowers the risk only by 5%).

sevencolors 6y ago

When did NASA switch back to the "worm" logo? One of my favorites

hadtodoit 6y ago

Godspeed to the men on board. And God bless the SpaceX team for bringing it all back home.

seph-reed 6y ago
It really warms my heart that the landing pad is called "OF COURSE I STILL LOVE YOU DRONE SHIP" In a consumer era where almost all naming is done by marketing and void of any soul, it really, really makes me happy to see a little bit growing through the cracks in the concrete.
- tialaramex 6y ago
  The name is just "Of course I still love you". They're named after vessels from Iain M Banks' "Culture" SF setting. Culture spaceships have AI "minds" and the mind of a large ship-constructing ship will name its offspring. They tend to have an odd sense of humour, there are plenty of sites with lists of Culture ship names, and Banks wrote footnotes excusing the obvious references to 20th century human culture as matters of translation (e.g. there is an Offensive Unit named "I said I have a big stick" which is a reference to Theodore Roosevelt's "Speak softly and carry a big stick"). https://theculture.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_spacecraft_in_the_Culture_series https://theculture.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_spacecraft_in_the...
  - shkkmo 6y ago
    I believe that the ships pick their own name rather than having it picked for them by the ship that built them.
- Reelin 6y ago
  It's actually a drone ship (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_spaceport_drone_ship https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_spaceport_drone_shi...) named "Of Course I Still Love You" after the fictional ship of the same name from Bank's novel "The Player of Games" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Player_of_Games https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Player_of_Games). - Your friendly neighborhood pedant.

gpm 6y ago

> 40% chance of good weather, if you're an optimist (from livestreamer) Heh

grecy 6y ago
An update just now on the radio said the one they were tracking is no longer a concern, and the one over Orlando is expected to be their decision today, and it's getting weaker. Good news!

finger 6y ago

I see they are using touch screens. What would they do if the screens froze?

minkzilla 6y ago
If one freezes then use the other 3. If they all freeze let the autopilot do it's job.
- naggreg 6y ago
  I find it sort of weird to not have buttons in there: with all the vibrations you would think it's rather difficult to touch the exact control that you want. I guess they considered that...
  - NikolaeVarius 6y ago
    The exact same thing applies to buttons, its just harder to screw up. they also have buttons just fine https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/04/03/photos-astronauts-train-to-ride-a-dragon-into-space/ https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/04/03/photos-astronauts-trai...
  - dahfizz 6y ago
    I don't think the astronauts make extensive manual corrections during takeoff. And if you watch the livestream, the UI elements are much larger on the screen than would be possible with physical buttons. So if you are worried about precision, the touch screens would actually be safer.
  - minkzilla 6y ago
    I think the astronauts have very little to actually control. There are a variety of buttons underneath the screens, a big red one being for abort.
mirekrusin 6y ago
ctrl+alt+del

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

qchris 6y ago

I'm so excited, and just hoping the weather holds. The best of luck to the entire team, and hoping everything goes smoothly and safely!

rrmm 6y ago
u/UpperLevelWinds is apparently accepting bribes over on r/SpaceX

dgritsko 6y ago

The interior design of the capsule looks so futuristic and cool - closer to Star Trek than Soyuz.

ardy42 6y ago
> The interior design of the capsule looks so futuristic and cool - closer to Star Trek than Soyuz. Too bad they didn't skin the touchscreen interface to look like LCARS. /s https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LCARS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LCARS
jedberg 6y ago
Those space suits look so cool, don't they?
- q3k 6y ago
  I don't know, they look kitschy to me - as if someone designed them just to look 'cool' and futuristic instead of utilitarian, like a fashion statement.
  - DennisP 6y ago
    An astronaut on TV just said they're designed to be slim and do exactly what's needed in this case: emergency life support in case the capsule loses pressure. They're custom fit, they don't have a lot of doodads hanging off them, I'm guessing you wouldn't use them for a spacewalk, but for a launch they get the job done and don't take up a lot of room.
  - jedberg 6y ago
    I think they're both. It feels like they went for utility, but also kept watching Kubrick's 2001 for inspiration.
- Melting_Harps 6y ago
  > Those space suits look so cool, don't they? That was the aim: https://www.inverse.com/innovation/spacex-crew-dragon-spacesuit https://www.inverse.com/innovation/spacex-crew-dragon-spaces... The Dragon's interior was also built with that in mind, its less NASA and more Hollywood, throw Ripley and Earth Plushy into the mix and this how you do get regular people into Space [1]. 1: http://www.collectspace.com/images/news-030219d-lg.jpg http://www.collectspace.com/images/news-030219d-lg.jpg

holler 6y ago

Elon Musk is the greatest entrepreneur and coolest billionaire in our lifetime, change my mind!

jacquesm 6y ago
Musk doesn't have much in terms of competition today but I have high hopes for the Collison brothers, they are on a similar trajectory (starting with payment systems), are both already billionaires and contrary to Musk are modest and when they say something it tends to be very well thought out. I called Elon Musk many years before he was as important as he is today, let's see where Patrick and John end up in a decade or more.
dvh 6y ago
Bill Gates. Entrepreneur, billionaire, can jump over the chair: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxaCOHT0pmI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxaCOHT0pmI
- holler 6y ago
  aha! So he IS a human afterall :p
bialpio 6y ago
Just want to make sure that s we're talking about the same person here - are you referring to the author of "pedo guy" tweet? I guess he's the best role model we have for now...

localhost 6y ago

FYI the live stream is playing on YouTube right now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aymrnzianf0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aymrnzianf0

inetknght 6y ago
I don't understand. What is the difference between that video and this [0] one? They're both by NASA. Then there's also the one by SpaceX [1] for those interested. I know that SpaceX usually has two webcasts going during launches; one for the public-friendly chatter and another for the go/nogo technical chatter I always look for the SpaceX or NASA official links. Don't search for SpaceX on youtube, you'll drown in unofficial garbage from news companies [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21X5lGlDOfg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21X5lGlDOfg [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjb9FdVdX5I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjb9FdVdX5I
- localhost 6y ago
  I have no idea why you have a different ID for your first link. But you'll see that the link I posted and your link are both on the official NASA channel.
- alixanderwang 6y ago
  Useful for me since I have the youtube app on my TV and can pull it up.
- cbhl 6y ago
  I wouldn't be surprised if streaming to two different channels gives them some redundancy...

kilroy123 6y ago

I hope when they do launch all goes well.

grecy 6y ago

So cool to hear "Dragon copies" over the radio. For the first time, Dragon can talk back!

testplzignore 6y ago
Audio of Dragon comms: https://youtu.be/90X5NJleYJQ?t=152 https://youtu.be/90X5NJleYJQ?t=152

spuz 6y ago

I wonder if they are using an already used Falcon 9 or a brand new one? Is there are statistical difference in the reliability of unused vs reused Falcon 9s?

grecy 6y ago
It's new, as per NASA's requirements. They will attempt a landing on a drone ship to recover it.
nickff 6y ago
This is a brand new one, and I don't think there have been enough launches of similar (current version/block) new and used first stages to find a statistically significant difference.
jccooper 6y ago
Thus far all SpaceX F9 launch failures have been on all-new vehicles. But those were both in the second stage, which are not and cannot be reused. The F9 first stage has basically been perfect on launch, save for two single engine-out incidents (one new, one on the reused fleet leader) which did not impact payload delivery. Thus far the sample size is low, but to the extent you can measure it they're equal.

NiceWayToDoIT 6y ago

Does anyone else feel super excited? I guess this was the feeling my parents had when they watched men landing on the Moon...

S_A_P 6y ago
I'll admit I went and looked at SpaceX open positions...
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- DarmokJalad1701 6y ago
  I do that every other month
- lutorm 6y ago
  There are tons of software openings! If you're excited about space, go check out https://www.spacex.com/careers https://www.spacex.com/careers.
mempko 6y ago
Today is a melancholy feeling. Happy to see SpaceX sending people to space, but sad a decade was lost. EDIT: I spoke about that we had a regression, I meant that NASA lost a capability and just got it back.
- randomsearch 6y ago
  Untrue
- bpodgursky 6y ago
  I understand this sentiment, but if SpaceX pulls this off, it's going to be an order of magnitude cheaper and more sustainable than the incredibly awesome but one-off and flashy Apollo (or even shuttle) missions. Crew Dragon is not visually BIGGER than a Saturn V, but it is in a lot of ways a firmer footstep into space than we've ever taken before. SpaceX's program isn't going to dry up as soon as the cold war is over, and we stop devoting 5% of GDP to beating the Soviets. This is for real.

TrainedMonkey 6y ago

Here is pretty accurate in terms of spacecraft UI docking simulator: https://iss-sim.spacex.com/ https://iss-sim.spacex.com/ Astronauts will be using similar for manual piloting demo before docking.

gpm 6y ago
Note that docking is automatic by default, this is a simulation of the backup system.
_Microft 6y ago
Guess what - there are speedruns already :D https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=iss+sim+speedrun https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=iss+sim+speedru...
NiceWayToDoIT 6y ago
I have tried and barely succeeded, I just hope those are not real controls. Those should be either automated or they should consult someone from gaming industry. Sorry to say UX controls are terrible (saying from gaming position).
- zlsa 6y ago
  The docking is automated by default. The manual controls are only to be used in case the automated docking doesn't work.
  - jacquesm 6y ago
    UI is even more important when there is an anomaly.
    - NikolaeVarius 6y ago
      You assume that whatever you prefer is a better UI.

sidcool 6y ago

Why is this called Demo-2?

khuey 6y ago
It's the second test flight (demo). The first was an uncrewed flight to the International Space Station last year.
jedberg 6y ago
Demo 1 launched last year. It was an identical mission, docking with the ISS, but with no crew (only supplies). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crew_Dragon_Demo-1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crew_Dragon_Demo-1
jccooper 6y ago
Because it's the second demonstration flight before certification for regular rotation. Demo-1 was 13 months ago, flown without a crew.

jedberg 6y ago

I watched the first Space Shuttle launch live, I watched Challenger live. I watched the last shuttle launch live. I was sad then, realizing that America was losing launch capability on that day. I can't tell you how exited I am to watch America's return to launch capability. Edit: Disappointed at the scrub, but I know a lot of these weather rules were put in place because of Challenger, so I understand. Looking forward to Saturday!

98Windows 6y ago
Sorry to hear you guys haven't had lunch for so long
- corrupt_measure 6y ago
  We need to bring down our national BMI.
minxomat 6y ago
> America's return to lunch capability Perfection.
- jedberg 6y ago
  Damnit autocorrect!
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]

james_pm 6y ago

Memories of the first few Space Shuttle launches. I was lucky enough to see STS-3 from Jetty Park when I was 12. Today I'll watch from home on YouTube with my own kids (16 and 17).

_Microft 6y ago

ISS will be visible from Germany at 22:23 today, coming from north-west moving towards south-east and it will be followed by Crew Dragon and the Falcon 9 upper stage about 20 minutes later. It should pass almost straight over you in the south of Germany.

jedberg 6y ago
Do you know where ISS will be when Crew Dragon actually docks?
- _Microft 6y ago
  No idea, ISS is also moving very fast (> 7.5 km/s, that's more than 27000km/h), so even short delays will change the position massively.
- _Microft 6y ago
  Docking is scheduled for 10:29 EDT (14:29 UTC) today (2020-05-31) at which time the ISS is predicted to be 1000km east of the Philippines, approximately 300km west of Guam.
  - jedberg 6y ago
    Thanks! I probably won't be up, but I did get to see them chasing each other across the sky a few hours ago. Thanks for thinking of me!
    - _Microft 6y ago
      You're welcome!

skyfaller 6y ago

I have one question/concern: why is almost nobody wearing a mask? Of course there is no need for people videoconferencing from home to wear masks, but many of the people in the livestream seem to be physically present on site. The only people I saw with masks were the people in the black suits helping the astronauts into the capsule. Masks seem like an inexpensive way to reduce risk, the CDC and WHO recommend them. Sure, there are other measures that can reduce transmission, but the lack of masks makes me concerned that other measures are not being taken, perhaps because both Elon Musk and Trump have been downplaying the risk of covid-19 and they are both present today.

blhack 6y ago

Man, seeing the guys cruising out there in the Teslas... Just think about how cool this scene is. Something that is in line with the vision of the future people used to have. Very inspiring.

synaesthesisx 6y ago

This is easily the most exciting moment of 2020. I can't overstate the emotions running through my body right now - godspeed to the crew & cheers to a new era for human space exploration.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

akeck 6y ago

Having seen the first shuttle launch and the Challenger and Columbia failures, I'm both excited and terrified.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

jacquesm 6y ago

It looks like the launch will be scrubbed due to the weather, lightning risk during propellant loading is too high. edit: yep, launch scrubbed. Too bad! But better safe than sorry, especially today with a crewed vehicle. Does anybody know if the crew dragon comes with different weather restrictions for LOX loading?

elliekelly 6y ago
Can someone ELI5 why they sometimes need to have an “instantaneous launch window” that can’t be pushed even by a few minutes?
- lutorm 6y ago
  It depends on the target orbit. For launches to the ISS, you have to launch at the correct instant because even a few minutes later means the ISS is so far ahead it will take much longer, and use more propellant, to rendezvous. I think they could probably delay a few seconds without too much trouble, but I guess the extra complication of recalculating the rendezvous isn't worth it because most of the time a few seconds won't matter anyway.
  - dmurray 6y ago
    Can you delay the launch window 90 minutes until the next ISS orbit? Maybe you then run into the next on the long list of reasons.
    - NikolaeVarius 6y ago
      The orbit moves because the earth is moving, so it will not be in the same trajectory as planned. This requires a change in fuel requirements as well as programming
    - skykooler 6y ago
      No, because in 90 minutes the cryogenic liquid oxygen would have warmed up too much. The Falcon doesn't have an onboard refrigeration unit; it relies on loading the propellant shortly before launch. However, "shortly" is also relative, and 90 minutes is not long enough to purge all the fuel from the rocket and refuel it with cold oxygen (it took close to an hour today to de-fuel the rocket), so it can't be cycled in that window.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

tosh 6y ago

launch aborted :(

NiceWayToDoIT 6y ago

launch abort ... pffffffffff

jgotti92 6y ago

canceled?

rvz 6y ago
Not really. Postponed for Saturday due to concerns about bad weather.
- jgotti92 6y ago
  Its a pitty, I just started watching live and see that the astronauts already have boarded. Yeah, its a pitty, but at least can watch the whole procedure again on Saturday.
camjohnson26 6y ago
Temporarily for weather, not for technical issues.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

camjohnson26 6y ago

Rescheduled for 3:22pm ET on Saturday https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1265739654810091520?s=20 https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1265739654810091520?s=20

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

itsspring 6y ago

They finally announced it publicly: https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1265739654810091520 https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1265739654810091520

code4tee 6y ago

Good old Florida weather. Will try again Saturday.