Wait, I thought they were reusing the capsule?
Wait, I thought they were reusing the capsule?
Wait, I thought they were reusing the capsule?
Because NASA is unsure about the costs associated with re-usability (i.e. will it cost more than planned, like with Shuttle?)
Space News reports that SpaceX has moved to resolve previous concerns about the software development for its Dragon spacecraft, which is set to visit the International Space Station next year:
A generally positive outside review of the two firms under contract to deliver cargo to the international space station (ISS) contained strong concerns about software development procedures at Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) — concerns the company and the head of a NASA safety panel said have since been addressed….
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HOUSTON — Though tentatively targeted for early January, the NASA-sponsored Space Exploration Technologies Inc. (SpaceX) cargo resupply demonstration mission of the Falcon 9 and Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station could slip a little later into the new year.
“I think January is pretty aggressive,” Alan Lindenmoyer, manager of NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, said following presentations on the status of the six-year-old cargo initiative before the American Astronautical Society national conference here Nov. 15. “At the end of this month, we will know better.”
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Plans for a January liftoff from Cape Canaveral AFS are subject to change depending on the software test results and outcome of discussions with Russia, Gerstenmaier said from Moscow, where he was following the Nov. 16 docking of the Soyuz TMA-22 crew with the space station.
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SpaceX’s Dragon demonstration flight to the International Space Station (ISS) is understood to be moving into the February/March timeframe, while approval for the combination of the C2/C3 (D2/D3) missions – which would result in Dragon arriving at the orbital outpost – is still pending official approval from NASA and the ISS partners.
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Does anyone know exactly why Dragon must be docked using the robot arm? It seams a debilitating lack of a capability for Dragon. How will Elon sell seats to the BA-330 if it cant maneuver and dock without a robot arm? Is it that NASA and the international partners are uncomfortable with such an upstart coming so close to ISS? This whole thing kinda bugs me.
Does anyone know exactly why Dragon must be docked using the robot arm? It seams a debilitating lack of a capability for Dragon. How will Elon sell seats to the BA-330 if it cant maneuver and dock without a robot arm? Is it that NASA and the international partners are uncomfortable with such an upstart coming so close to ISS? This whole thing kinda bugs me.
Also, I don't mean to sound hard line but I think Russia has very little credibility if they try to block Dragon from docking. Their are very obvious conflict of interest issues there as well as some unfairness with regard to Russia's own transparency with Soyuz data.
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