Ok what is up with NASA? Now they ask for a space taxi? Where have they been? I'm firmly convinced that no one is at the helm at NASA. Talk about being behind the times. Ever heard of COTS-D? Spacex is just about done man rating the Falcon 9 booster and Dragon is set to launch next year which will also be man rated. Now they ask for ideas on a space taxi? It's like they are out of touch with there own agenda and reality. Spacex will have a running man rated dragon in a year and NASA will still be looking for ideas about space taxi concepts on paper. The folks at NASA just don't get it. Private industry is about to pass them up in a few years when it comes to human rated space flight and they still think they are leading the pack. I suggest they get with the program. :lol:
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Uhhh, let's get real here. Falcon 9 hasn't even had one launch yet. So they are a looooong way from man rating 
Well, the Falcon 9 is designed using the human rating requirements, so it essentially is human rated. However, the Dragon is not human rated, as it does not have a full ECLSS (environmental control and life support system) in place and no human interface, since it is designed to only perform cargo missions at this point.
"..at this point." You know what SpaceX has designed? I think they plan farther ahead than the next mission.
"Dragon is set to launch next year which will also be man rated."
"Spacex will have a running man rated dragon in a year"
I was correcting these statements. SpaceX may very well be designing the Dragon to be man rated eventually, but all the missions on the manifest on their website are cargo missions and thus will not be man rated. NASA hasn't even allocated money yet for a COTS D contract, so until that happens, I wouldn't think any company would put a lot of effort into fully human-rating any spacecraft.
"Spacex will have a running man rated dragon in a year"
I was correcting these statements. SpaceX may very well be designing the Dragon to be man rated eventually, but all the missions on the manifest on their website are cargo missions and thus will not be man rated. NASA hasn't even allocated money yet for a COTS D contract, so until that happens, I wouldn't think any company would put a lot of effort into fully human-rating any spacecraft.
Bigelow needs the exact same services but doesn't have the deep pockets NASA does.dangineer":tw78rl7w said:
I sense plans within plans, and no I'm not even a Spacing Guild navigator
Sundancer is slated to go up in 2011 and it's designed to be crewed. There is no reason to doubt that date save for it being on Falcon 9, so a problem with it could cause a slip. Otherwise it's flight hardware is either being delivered or built now, so it looks to be ready. How to get a crew up there without paying through the nose for Russian flights?
Dragon is a perfect solution, and there is a contemporaneous DragonLab flight 2 places down the manifest. Could it be a crewed flight or lifeboat for later crews? One would presume a crewed flight would need an LAS, but would it really?
NASA says they need an LAS for ISS flights, so no un-LAS'ed flights to there. That said it's been reported time and again that survivability in those spacecraft that had an LAS was far from certain or even likely, Russian experience not withstanding, so are they really a necessity or just a pacifier like the slide rope for the Shuttle?
Then there is Bigelow's deal with LockMart for launches - but launching what? BA-300 modules being too large for Falcon 9 is a probability. But OTOH is LockMart building an Dragon-like capsule or Dream Chaser for use on Atlas V? I'd think we would have heard about either cutting metal, but then again....maybe SpaceX is doing that for them. Denials aside, in this environment cash on the barrel head is cash in ones pocket.
What to think.....other than there could be a lot more going on behind the scenes than we, or a lot of the industry, are privy to.
Sundancer is slated to go up in 2011 and it's designed to be crewed. There is no reason to doubt that date save for it being on Falcon 9, so a problem with it could cause a slip. Otherwise it's flight hardware is either being delivered or built now, so it looks to be ready. How to get a crew up there without paying through the nose for Russian flights?
Dragon is a perfect solution, and there is a contemporaneous DragonLab flight 2 places down the manifest. Could it be a crewed flight or lifeboat for later crews? One would presume a crewed flight would need an LAS, but would it really?
NASA says they need an LAS for ISS flights, so no un-LAS'ed flights to there. That said it's been reported time and again that survivability in those spacecraft that had an LAS was far from certain or even likely, Russian experience not withstanding, so are they really a necessity or just a pacifier like the slide rope for the Shuttle?
Then there is Bigelow's deal with LockMart for launches - but launching what? BA-300 modules being too large for Falcon 9 is a probability. But OTOH is LockMart building an Dragon-like capsule or Dream Chaser for use on Atlas V? I'd think we would have heard about either cutting metal, but then again....maybe SpaceX is doing that for them. Denials aside, in this environment cash on the barrel head is cash in ones pocket.
What to think.....other than there could be a lot more going on behind the scenes than we, or a lot of the industry, are privy to.
When all is said and done in 5 years here's what we are looking at. Spacex will be providing service to Sundancer and the ISS. Virgin Galactic will be launching everyday citizens into suborbital space and will be working on a version to achieve LEO. Nasa......well they will still be trying to figure out what launch vehicle they want to use.
mr_mark":1mluulpe said:
oh, NASA has decided what launch vehicle they want to use, but stupid people keep complaining and making them start over.
and as for spaceX, they won't be flying people in the dragon capsule for at least 5 years, probably more. By then ares 1 and orion will be ready.
Stupid stupid people, always making things hard for the smart people. Who was it that said a perfect government would be made up of intellectuals?
I just realized - if con is the opposite of pro, then congress must be the opposite of progress. Everything makes a whole lot more sense now... :roll:
I just realized - if con is the opposite of pro, then congress must be the opposite of progress. Everything makes a whole lot more sense now... :roll:
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