SpaceX sticks the landing perfectly!

[Uwe]

"Time to let the American broomstick fly, and hear the sounds of freedom. LD is go for launch."

LOL! Somewhere someone posted the Russian "Let them fly broomsticks!" remark last week when Russia announced they weren't gonna sell us any more of their throw-away rocket engines. I posted this in response:

"No problem; we've got some pretty cool broomsticks!"

-Uwe-

 

[vreihen]

LOL! Somewhere someone posted the Russian "Let them fly broomsticks!" remark last week when Russia announced they weren't gonna sell us any more of their throw-away rocket engines.

Right after the Russian dude made the broomstick remark last week, Musk tweeted a picture live from a Falcon 9 launch pointing at the American broomstick lifting off.

He's no stranger to poking the not-so-great Russian Bear. Remember when we grounded the Space Shuttle fleet, and the Russians told us to build a trampoline to get to the ISS? Musk took great pride in calling the human-rated Falcon/Dragon "the American trampoline" during the first launches.....

 

[Uwe]

He's no stranger to poking the not-so-great Russian Bear.

The Russian Bear shouldn't take it personally; Elon will poke pretty much anyone. I mean he called the SEC the "Shortseller Enrichment Commission". And more recently he refused to ban Russian media outlets from Starlink's services, so it seems to me that he's not taking sides in that mess.

-Uwe-

 

[vreihen]

From the news:

"The head of the Russian Space Agency posted a video on social media threatening to abandon U.S. astronaut Mark Vande Hei at the International Space Station."

Countdown clock until Elon Musk offers him a return ride on America's trampoline has started.....

 

[Uwe]

Countdown clock until Elon Musk offers him a return ride on America's trampoline has started.....

Well, the Crew Dragon Endurance is currently docked at the ISS. Since Mark Vande Hei has already set a record for length of stay in space, on of the people scheduled to return on Crew-3 could give up his seat and stay behind on the ISS for a bit when it returns in April.

In addition, Crew Dragon Endeavor is scheduled to take a roster of four private passengers to the ISS on March 31 on the Axiom 1 mission. And Crew-4 is scheduled to fly on April 15th. Either of these could go up with one empty seat and bring back whoever is "stuck" on the ISS.

Problem solved.

-Uwe-

 

[vreihen]

I am not sure if the Dragon seats are personalized for each occupant before launch, or if the SpaceX pressure suit needs to be custom-fit on the ground for each astronaut. It might not be that easy!

If he went up on a Soyuz in a Russian pressure suit, I have my doubts that the Soyuz fittings will connect to the trampoline's sockets...assuming that Ivan actually lets him keep "their" space suit as a souvenir of his ISS vacation......

 

[Uwe]

It might not be that easy!

I'm confident that Mark's dimensions are known by NASA. Sounds like Elon should send up an appropriately sized suit on the next launch.

As for the seats, I have hard time picturing them being customized to the individual, or that being essential if they are. My understanding is there are always enough "ships" docked at the ISS for everyone on the ISS to get back to earth should it be necessary to abandon it in an emergency. It seems to me that this implies that people can return in seats that were not customized for them...?

-Uwe-

 

[vreihen]

In unofficial news, SpaceX has said that they are ceasing production of Crew Dragon capsules after completing four and some spare parts. The company wants to focus on Starship and the lunar lander projects.....

 

[Uwe]

SpaceX has said that they are ceasing production of Crew Dragon capsules after completing four

They appear to be fairly reusable. Not sure how much refurbishment they need each trip up, but the only really obvious wear item is the heat shield, no?

-Uwe-

 

[vreihen]

They appear to be fairly reusable. Not sure how much refurbishment they need each trip up, but the only really obvious wear item is the heat shield, no?

Staying for 6+ months on orbit at the ISS, there are many items that go stale or pass their useful flight service life...batteries for one. Following the Russian practices with Soyuz capsules, they are rotated out after ~6 months like stale milk at the ISS. Remember, the Space Shuttles did not spend more than 14-17 days in space at a time. The Crew Dragon is the first long-duration reusable capsule ever built, so SpaceX is writing the proverbial textbook on refurbing after 6+ months of continuous exposure.

IIRC, NASA's manned contract with SpaceX was only for 4 launches, and subsequently raised to 6 launches because Boeing because Starliner. NASA essentially paid to build the four Crew Dragon capsules, and Musk is now reusing them for short duration non-NASA tourist flights and stuff.....

 

[vreihen]

.

 

[Uwe]

Axiom Space’s Ax-1 mission to the International Space Station is scheduled for launch at 11:17 AM EDT today.

This is a private crew flying atop a booster that has been flight-proven four times, in a Crew Dragon capsule that has been flight proven twice.

Webcast here.



-Uwe-

 

[Uwe]

That launch was picture perfect.

So here are some pics from ~75 miles north of the Cape:

ISS missions have always been very visible from here due to the northerly launch track. The ISS is in a fairly high inclination orbit for compatibility with launches from the high latitudes of the Russian cosmodromes.

-Uwe-

 

[Uwe]

Very picturesque sunrise launch this morning, with solid footage from the Stage 1 all the way down to landing:

That's three Starlink launches in six days!

Oh, and did I mention that SpaceX finally provided a Starlink setup for our cabin? We had DSL there, but it was very slow. I signed up for it in Feb of 2021, and they shipped it (a Gen 2 system) last month.

-Uwe-

 

[vreihen]

The Starlink launch earlier this week used a brand new booster, which was odd for SpaceX.


Interesting to see that they have finally worked the kinks out of the barge video links, now that there's enough Starlink birds available to get a steady stream with a small dish.....

 

[Uwe]

Coupla cool picks shamelessly stolen from recent videos.

1) Crew Dragon approaching the ISS a few days ago, with the moon in the background:

2) Booster after landing last night. I like the lighting, and the fact that you can see the 'contrail' from the launch in the background.

Here's what that contrail looked like from the a different perspective, about 75 miles north of the Cape:

A goodly number of people came out to watch this launch too, I suppose because it was shortly after sunset, which is a great time to watch them:

-Uwe-

 

[Uwe]

Falcon Heavy this morning. Booster cameras were iced over for a good part of the flight, but the landing views are spectacular!

-Uwe-

 

[Uwe]

A new record set this evening: This booster has now flown and successfully landed FIFTEEN times.

-Uwe-

 

[Uwe]

Spectacular views of Florida's Space Coast during this morning's launch and landing:

-Uwe-

 

[Uwe]

I am very disappointed in tonight's double-booster landing. I mean look at how far off the bulls-eye the booster on the left set down!

OK, Just kidding. That launch was awesome. Not long after sunset, which is always a fantastic time, and the skies were completely clear. I've got a bunch of pics of my own, but it will take a bit to pull and post the best ones.

-Uwe-