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e-FTW
New electron smell
My favorite part of the pre-launch action was seeing these fine folks in the SpaceX firing room totally not using their chairs, and bobbing around from one foot to the other. Probably some of the most stressful but also memorable moments of their careers.
To many more of those, you guys rule!
To many more of those, you guys rule!
I don't think they ever disclosed whether or not they survived the initial "break up" but most people believe they did and probably talked on the way down (probably from the recordings), NASA will likely never release this info.
destructure00
Active Member
Recovered from the water and on a boat in Port Canaveral last I saw.
It looks in great shape.
Surprisingly, SpaceX managed to recover the trunk. It looks aerodynamic....
e-FTW
New electron smell
Did a shark have ago at it? Or a bear?It looks in great shape.
A water bear... (I’ll see myself out)
e-FTW
New electron smell
Scott’s feed has been fantastic as a single source of great content on this abort. So many folks were recording this event that you could be excused for missing plenty of coolness. I know I did!
Like this shot of the second stage making a shockwave on its way down:
David Hash on Twitter
If you Twitter, and don’t follow Scott Manley, well uhh, “hullo”?
Like this shot of the second stage making a shockwave on its way down:
David Hash on Twitter
If you Twitter, and don’t follow Scott Manley, well uhh, “hullo”?
e-FTW
New electron smell
Care to speculate as to the possibility that this Dragon could be refurbished and used for a future crew mission? Seems a shame to waste it.
It looks in great shape.
From the press conference:
NASA has not approved reuse of crew capsules.
Elon said aborts should be a very rare event and he wouldn't want to reuse an capsule that had gone through an abort.
I would say that's a no for this one.
Thanks for posting that Scott Manley video link. As usual, Scott provides an insightful analysis. So let me see if I understood it. Here is what he says happened:
- command given to shut down booster engines (to simulate an emergency)
- that triggers the capsule software to start the emergency abort sequence which ignites the Super Dracos (green flame visible)
- with Super Dracos operational, the capsule separates from the 2nd stage (are interstate “pushers” involved or does the thrust force of the Super Dracos cause the separation?)
- 2nd stage LOX venting visible (on purpose? Accidental?)
- Booster/2nd stage starts to rotate (yaw? Pitch? Can’t tell) increasing aerodynamic force on the vehicle and at an angle it is not designed for
- 2nd stage breaks away from booster (Scott seems to think it is possible that the separation occurred at the top of LOX tank dome such that the dome was still attached to the 2nd stage?)
- Booster explodes almost immediately after the 2nd stage breaks away (but no indication that ATS was used)
- 2nd stage starts to descend, “head” first, hits ocean and explodes (since it was fully fueled)
- All the while the trunk/capsule carries on and does exactly what it was supposed to do.
- command given to shut down booster engines (to simulate an emergency)
- that triggers the capsule software to start the emergency abort sequence which ignites the Super Dracos (green flame visible)
- with Super Dracos operational, the capsule separates from the 2nd stage (are interstate “pushers” involved or does the thrust force of the Super Dracos cause the separation?)
- 2nd stage LOX venting visible (on purpose? Accidental?)
- Booster/2nd stage starts to rotate (yaw? Pitch? Can’t tell) increasing aerodynamic force on the vehicle and at an angle it is not designed for
- 2nd stage breaks away from booster (Scott seems to think it is possible that the separation occurred at the top of LOX tank dome such that the dome was still attached to the 2nd stage?)
- Booster explodes almost immediately after the 2nd stage breaks away (but no indication that ATS was used)
- 2nd stage starts to descend, “head” first, hits ocean and explodes (since it was fully fueled)
- All the while the trunk/capsule carries on and does exactly what it was supposed to do.
If NASA approves (more testing). The capsule is designed for reuse, even has a bilge pump.
Catching them in a ship net would go along way toward this also.
There was also talk of converting them to Cargo, but that was too much effort.
Check out the NASA feed of the Q&A.
From the same talk, it sounded like the abort was triggered by the rocket itself by setting a critical threshold lower (velocity or altitude?)
In the press conference, Elon said that the first action in the abort sequence is to shut down the booster engines. Then the Super Dracos fire. So the engine shutdown was caused by the abort, and was not itself the trigger.
He also said that the abort was triggered by setting tighter Flight envelope limits. So I infer that they triggered via a deliberately mis-set some flight envelope limit, such as speed or trajectory, and exceeding that limit started the abort.
Actually no. This was an early plan but Mongo is correct that there are cargo Dragon 2s made specifically for cargo launches. The extra "stuff" put in the crew dragon makes it too costly to be converted versus just building a purpose made cargo version. I expect the used Crew Dragons will be held for future crewed uses beyond this Commercial Crew contract. Maybe for NASA but definitely for orbital tourism launches if Elon's response (or pointed lack of response) in the post launch conference is any indication.
Send it to me.
I will pay shipping.
