I’m doing a piece for Popular Mechanics on the topic. These seem like the key events of the year. Did I miss any? Did Armadillo do anything interesting?
SpaceShipTwo Drop Test
First Flight Of Falcon 9
First Flight Of Dragon
Spaceport Curacao
Bigelow Coming Out
Boeing CST-100
Masten Restart
Rand et al:
SpaceX has posted some new photos and illustrations of the Dragon flight and recovery:
http://www.spacex.com/updates.php
I’m curious as to whether it was the Draco thrusters in the “service module” of the Dragon that fired to initiate reentry, or the attitude control thrusters on the capsule itself. The illustration seems to suggest the latter.
The capsule looks pretty good after its recovery; is that whitish stuff around the capsule’s base some kind of seawater deposit or corrosion, or hypergolic propellant residue, or something else?
The recovery operation seems to be a fairly straightforward affair, accomplished by just one main vessel and a little zodiac-type boat.
Based on everything I’ve seen, Dragon doesn’t have a service module. They have the ‘trunk’, which is in a similar location compared to an Apollo module, but the illustration shown in the update shows the forward-pointing Draco thrusters firing to deorbit.
David, the SM is left on orbit, so at least some maneuvering of the Dragon after separation from the SM would be required. I imagine you’d want to ensure good separation before doing the terminal burn.. but that comes with a cost.
Tom, yes, it has a service module.. that’s where the solar panels go.. the trunk goes behind the SM and can be left attached to the second stage (as it was in this mission), or taken to the ISS.
Armadillo’s rocket racer made a public debut at the Tulsa Air Show in April. They also did a relight of the Mod vehicle at 2000ft in June.
Other NewSpace developments included:
– Spaceport America runway dedication
– Rocketplane declared bankruptcy
– The huge SpaceX contract with Iridium
A general development of interest is NASA’s growing willingness to contract with NewSpace firms. E.g. the contract with Masten/Armadillo for suborbital flights and the lunar rover technical data purchase with 6 firms.
For other signs of progress in 2010, check the highlights in my NewSpace log at http://tinyurl.com/2em7kz8
The trunk in also where the radiators are. I don’t know what other important subsystems are in the Trunk/Service Module, but I suspect that you don’t want to fly the Dragon for long without them.
(Longer post got deleted through user ineptitude)
Trent, I know you’ve looked more at Dragon than I have, and maybe we’re just talking past each other (service module = solar arrays + radiators + empty space in the middle called a trunk), but I’ve not seen a service module mentioned anywhere. Page 2 of the Dragonlab datasheet:
http://www.spacex.com/downloads/dragonlab-datasheet.pdf
shows the trunk connected directly to the capsule, with two “no user space” zones that are 1.2m wide running the length of the trunk space for, I assumed, solar panels. If we’re not talking past each other, do you have images of the service module you’re talking about?
Trent,
“Tom, yes, it has a service module.. that’s where the solar panels go.. the trunk goes behind the SM and can be left attached to the second stage (as it was in this mission), or taken to the ISS.”
That is incorrect. The Dragon spacecraft only has two parts. The capsule, and the trunk. The trunk only contains the solar panels and unpressurized cargo. Nothing else.
ALL propulsion is in the Dragon capsule, in what the call the ‘service *section*’, the ring around the base of the capsule, just above the heat shield. That’s where the Draco thrusters are located, and the main parachute.
What may be causing a confusion is that this Dragon C1 flight did not have a fully functional trunk – It was a temporary solution where the trunk was bolted to the upper stage.
It was indeed 4 out of the 6 forward-facing Draco’s that performed the 6 minute deorbit burn.
(on topic) Depending on your audience, you may want to talk about the HUGE deal that the FAA approval of Dragon’s reentry was. The flight itself “only” overcame engineering and physics. The reentry license overcame bureaucracy.
From the SpaceX website:
“The Dragon spacecraft is comprised of 3 main elements: the Nosecone, which protects the vessel and the docking adaptor during ascent; the Spacecraft, which houses the crew and/or pressurized cargo as well as the service section containing avionics, the RCS system, parachutes, and other support infrastructure; and the Trunk, which provides for the stowage of unpressurized cargo and will support Dragon’s solar arrays and thermal radiators.”
This mentions that the RCS system is located on the spacecraft itself. But there is no mention of maneuvering thrusters or retro rockets (unless these functions are included under RCS). Does someone know whether any thrusters or fuel are located in the “trunk”?
So it looks as if the Dragon flew without its trunk this time– i.e. it was a simple insterstage and left attached to the 2nd stage. The caption to the photo of the separation mentions that the nanosatellites were located on the interstage. Interesting, because when I first saw this footage I assumed it was from a camera located on the dragon itself watching the second stage pull away, not the other way around.
I think Musk mentioned that the next flight (possibly all the way to the ISS) will include solar panels, so presumably the “trunk” will be part of the actual spacecraft.
There are neither thrusters nor fuel in the trunk.
As others have posted, the trunk contains only solar arrays, radiators, and unpressurized cargo. All propulsion capability is in the capsule.
re Dragon, Fair enough.
Rand, I guess you could also mention that Jon Goff has started his own company and already has a good head of steam going.
Rand,
Whatever you do, if PM includes pictures of the Masten in-air restart, make sure they actually get the right vehicle. I mean, it was flattering as heck to make best of what’s new in Pop Sci, but it just cracked me up that they put a picture of Xoie taking a leak during the NGLLC in for Xombie’s in-air relight flight. 🙂
~Jon
I think Dragon flew with the trunk this time. It released some ‘nanosatellites’ (whatever they are). I assume the trunk must have been where the camera that showed the second stage separation was located. For this flight it had batteries, not solar panels, since the flight was so short.
But I do wonder whether there are any future plans to outfit it with a genuine service module which would contain additional rocket engines and fuel. One step at a time, I suppose.
Rand, I guess you could also mention that Jon Goff has started his own company and already has a good head of steam going.
While I’m very optimistic about Altius Space as well, it wouldn’t be fitting to include them. They must perform the sacred “bending of metal” ritual first.
Pretty impressive list of accomplishments for a bunch of “Internet Rocketeers”, hmm?
ALL propulsion is in the Dragon capsule, in what the call the ‘service *section*’, the ring around the base of the capsule, just above the heat shield. That’s where the Draco thrusters are located, and the main parachute.
That’s something I don’t understand. If the parachutes are stowed in the base of the Dragon, how come the risers appeared to be attached to the upper portion of the spacecraft in the photos?
The complete death of the Ares V.
The complete death of the Ares V.
I hope you’re right, but I don’t think we’re out of the woods yet.
The Republicans take control of the House in January, and they just might decide to revive it. They’re not called the Stupid Party for nothing.
I know plenty of conservatives who think, “Oh noes! Obama killed the space program!!!11!!” and they would happily support whatever they think is the opposite of that. Constellation, Ares, HLV, you name it.
The NASA Authorization act funding commercial cargo and crew, albeit comparative scraps to Orion + HLV, is notable for Commercial space 2010. It could have been worse if Constellation was funded fully.
Al says, “The complete death of the Ares V.”
Not really, as the SLS still lingers. Though it would be accurate to say, the complete death of the Ares I.
Armadillo did the first flight of any of the new companies with an aeroshell and the cool extending legs.
But ‘cool’ may not be enough of a criterion.
And maybe they flew with a partial shell last year? I don’t recall.
It released some ‘nanosatellites’ (whatever they are).
Nanosatellites are complete satellites (GNC, communications, power, temperature control, etc) with a mass of 1 kg in the shape of a cube 10cm on a side.
… for a 1 U nanosatellite. Up to a 3 U satellite can fit into the P-Pods that were flown on the F9. A 3 U is effectively 3 stacked 1U units (30x10cm).
They really meant cubesats. All cubesats are nanosats but not all nanosats are cubesats. I believe IOS has something they call a tubesat. At .75 kg it is a nanosat but doesn’t even try to be a cube.