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> we could've hypothetically saved the payload. As I understand it, the primary payload (the new international docking adaptor for the ISS) wasn't in the Drago
by Osmium 11y ago
> we could've hypothetically saved the payload.
As I understand it, the primary payload (the new international docking adaptor for the ISS) wasn't in the Dragon capsule itself, so it wouldn't have been saved even if the Dragon was recovered (sadly).
- grecy 11y agoIf it wasn't in dragon, how was it going to get to the ISS?
- Osmium 11y agoSorry, I wasn't very clear–it is in the Dragon, but it's not in the pressurised 'nose' part (which I believe is the part that's jettisoned in an emergency, but I'm not actually sure about that? perhaps I'm wrong). Instead, it was in the unpressurised 'trunk'. See this image: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Z83.jpg http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Z8... "Dragon also will use its unpressurized trunk to deliver the first International Docking Adapter to enable future commercial crew vehicles to dock to the station." https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/spacex_crs7_mission_overview.pdf https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/spacex_... They've previously used the trunk for a payload on CRS-2, CRS-3 and CRS-5. You can see a video of how it works in CRS-5 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXfOOIYWGF8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXfOOIYWGF8 (Really cool video by the way!)
- 0xffff2 11y agoThe trunk does come with the capsule during launch abort for Dragon 2. It has fins on it to provide aerodynamic stabilization during the abort. However, the trunk is later jettisoned, so only the capsule is recovered in the end. http://www.spacex.com/sites/spacex/files/padabortinfographic.jpg http://www.spacex.com/sites/spacex/files/padabortinfographic...