11 thoughts on “The Crew Dragon Mission”

  1. To be honest, I find this a bit (though just a bit) troubling.

    The big question in my mind is, why didn’t they see this same thing with Demo-1?

    What I’m concerned with is a possible process problem (like Boeing, but vastly less in magnitude); was Demo-1 different in some way regarding the heat shield? If so, it’s worrying to me that “test as you fly” wasn’t followed closely.

    As a guess; the cause could be DM-2 being heavier on reentry than DM-1, due to additional mass (such as the NASA-mandated parachute system redesign).

  2. But it sounds like it’s not a big deal.

    The size of the deal will depend upon the quality of the data and the results observed. This is a new system and will require continuous study, observation, data collection, and possible modification going forward. In fact even for old systems this is not a bad process to follow. Every recovery is an opportunity for improvement.

  3. “We saw some flow phenomenon that we really didn’t expect, and we saw erosion to be deeper than we anticipated,”

    Well, I wish they’d say where the erosion occurred so we could consider the possible things that might affect that area. Was it on the base, or perhaps somewhere around one of the Super Draco ports, or somewhere downstream of them, or along a line that might have marked a secondary shockwave path, or what?

    How is the Internet supposed to solve SpaceX’s hypersonic re-entry problems if they won’t give us enough details? ^_^

      1. That was informative. 🙂

        I see Wayne Hale is in the the thread, too.

        If they’d instead attach the capsule to the trunk with big electromagnets instead of thru holes, the aerodynamic, thermal, and mechanical guys could point the finger at the electrical guys as the ones with the obvious potential failure mode.

        I am feeling just so helpful today. ^_^

        1. And WiFi connections to the trunk! You left out the WiFi George! So you see, it’s really a computer/comms failure not electrical. Which inevitably leads to it being a software problem, which was the failure of the design scrum, so in effect it’s an Agile problem!

          I *always* knew Agile is the root of all evil.

      2. It is amazing how many niche nerds we have in our society. It doesn’t matter what the hobby, industry, or field is, we have niche nerds who know way more than the general public, politicians, or even literal geniuses who are in MENSA.

        Our modern life allows these people to associate across space and time while cross pollinating with other niche nerds.

        It is the living example of how government is incapable of knowing enough about everything to plan and control the future in a beneficial way.

  5. It is a term of affection. I’m a bit of a nerd myself and the best thing about the time we live in is being able to seek out the niche nerds of whatever grabs my interest.

    In entrepreneurship, they call it setting up your personal board of directors.

    Even though I am severely curious about many things, my personal preferences lead me away from a lot of areas and some stuff I’m interested in, I can’t get to because there just isn’t enough time in the day. We all have the same 24 hours to spend every day and if I can’t even nerd out on all the things I want to, I assume politicians wont be able to either.

    There are counter arguments but it still comes down to people in control being fundamentaly incapable of having enough knowledge to command everything, especially as our society continues to diversify and specialize our interests.

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