Was it me, or did the Dragon V2 have 4 Model S touchscreens for the control panel?
Best moment: "For that we will need a comically fast set of stairs!"
Best moment: "For that we will need a comically fast set of stairs!"
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Very impressive (now available to review). You can start to see where Elon is going. 7 person capacity! In 10 years, that'll seem quaintly small. Propulsive landing anywhere. Hmmm, anyone up for New York to Tokyo in 1 hour? Fully reusable rockets put it within reach.
Mario Kadastik
Active Member
Heh, it sounds like a neat idea, but I think the cost of launch crew + rocket prep is still going to be too high and too long pre-flight, but if they'd start to make them every hour or so, then maybe they can bring it down. Then again, the fuel does cost 200k$, even minimizing the rest to per-launch same region it'd still be 50k$ per flight or more. Of course being able to do a joyride of that for 50k$ would have loads of takers 
Heh, they recorded the late start in their video - you have to fast forward 35 minutes in before anything happens.
rolosrevenge
Dr. EVS
That is an additional $500 upcharge.
I wonder if there will be a Performance version?
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Cups?? In zero-g?? :biggrin:
"Houston - we have finally left the Sixties".
That capsule interior is going to have a lot of traditionalists spluttering into their breakfast cereal.
Can't wait for the first, first-stage F9R landing.
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ToddRLockwood
Active Member
So true. That control surface is looking much more Starship Enterprise than B-52. Imagine the number of square-feet of controls in the Space Shuttle or in any commercial aircraft for that matter.
tonybelding
Active Member
I did not know they were going with propulsive landing for the capsule. That's impressive. I'm still a big fan of Dream Chaser, though. Let's look at how they stack up!
The lifting body design will subject its crew to less G-forces during reentry, and it will allow greater cross-range landing capability. That means it can "bank" its glide slope in the atmosphere and divert further left or right from its reentry track, and do so without having to burn a lot of fuel. It does have to land on a runway. Elon Musk several times mentioned Dragon's ability to land anywhere on earth, almost anywhere a helicopter could land, but it can't do so on short notice. You'll have to wait for the orbital path to bring you quite near your destination.
The Dragon has high-pressure liquid fueled engines, while Dream Chaser has a pair of hybrid-fueled (solid and liquid) engines which are arguably simpler and safer. Both systems can be used for launch abort -- if a booster fails, either ship should be able to separate, fire its engines and fly away from the booster to land safely nearby. However... Dream Chaser's engine should also provide a lot of capability for on-orbit maneuvers. Dragon will have to conserve its fuel for landing.
Dragon has the advantage of expedience. It's closer to flying, and we really need a spaceship immediately if not sooner.
Of course I'd love to see both of these ships get built, and I think there's a good chance we will. I suspect SpaceX has the lead in the NASA Commercial Crew competition. However, even if SNC get cut from it, they've already put a lot of development into Dream Chaser, and they've partnered with ESA and the German space agency. If there's a real loser in this race, it would appear to be Boeing. SNC have a lifting body, SpaceX has propulsive landing, and Boeing has... interior decorating!
The lifting body design will subject its crew to less G-forces during reentry, and it will allow greater cross-range landing capability. That means it can "bank" its glide slope in the atmosphere and divert further left or right from its reentry track, and do so without having to burn a lot of fuel. It does have to land on a runway. Elon Musk several times mentioned Dragon's ability to land anywhere on earth, almost anywhere a helicopter could land, but it can't do so on short notice. You'll have to wait for the orbital path to bring you quite near your destination.
The Dragon has high-pressure liquid fueled engines, while Dream Chaser has a pair of hybrid-fueled (solid and liquid) engines which are arguably simpler and safer. Both systems can be used for launch abort -- if a booster fails, either ship should be able to separate, fire its engines and fly away from the booster to land safely nearby. However... Dream Chaser's engine should also provide a lot of capability for on-orbit maneuvers. Dragon will have to conserve its fuel for landing.
Dragon has the advantage of expedience. It's closer to flying, and we really need a spaceship immediately if not sooner.
Of course I'd love to see both of these ships get built, and I think there's a good chance we will. I suspect SpaceX has the lead in the NASA Commercial Crew competition. However, even if SNC get cut from it, they've already put a lot of development into Dream Chaser, and they've partnered with ESA and the German space agency. If there's a real loser in this race, it would appear to be Boeing. SNC have a lifting body, SpaceX has propulsive landing, and Boeing has... interior decorating!
That will be an OTS - Over the Space - update! :tongue:
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That's what I was thinking too. The inside reminds me of the spacecraft Jodie Foster used in "Contact", combined with touch interface from the Enterprise. Hell, with that 3D printer that was supposedly demoed making a pizza, they can even equip this thing with a "replicator". Tea, earl gray, hot, anyone?
Not sure how the touch screen is going to work with the astronauts gloves on. The gloves are huge and the buttons are small. I am pretty sure you have to leave the gloves on for re-entry since it is so hot, what happens if there is an emergency during re-entry?
Need to ask my friend when I see him.
Need to ask my friend when I see him.
They can sew some metal fibers into their suits so they work with capacitive touch.
Space Suit Development Test Engineer | SpaceX
chickensevil
Active Member
NASA Space Shuttle Replica Spacesuit at The Space Store
What kind of suit do you think they are going to wear? This isn't the EVA suits that go outside the capsule it is just what they wear inside and it isn't nearly that bad... Yes, they have gloves on, but the buttons aren't that small. The buttons on the screens looked about the same size as the manual buttons, and a lot of that was just pure display for gauges and such.
I am sure they thought of these things when they designed it. This is why he even immediately tried to hedge off the first question that everyone would have immediately jumped to "what happens if the screens go out" - Hence why he said all the major controls are still physical.
For reference, here is what we were dealing with back in the Apollo days.
Is there a REASON why we need to have something so... outdated...? Technology has come a long way since the 60s... why do people keep trying to enforce that everything should STAY that way when it comes to space?
Edit: I was a bit harsh in my response, and I am sorry, I just want us to move forward with this, and the design is very forward thinking.
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Sorry if this is in the thread somewhere, but is there an estimated date of the first manned flight of the mk2?
The quote was "...a comically vast set of stairs" and it made me laugh out loud!
The touchscreens looked different than the Model S but some of the button design had a similar look.
The critical flight controls and emergency controls are physical buttons in the center panel.
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