Kennedy Space Center...

Henning

Henning

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Gone West
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iHenning
So after a very good and productive couple of days with the folks and a nice visit with a friend in Apopka last night I was on my way home and decided to avoid the tolls and just shoot over to 95. Well, that took me through Titusville and now I have a 2 day pass including lunch with an astronaut. Should be pretty cool.
 
i guess the astronauts don't have anything better to do these days :) have fun.
 
I'm going to be playing on the runway at KSC at the end of the summer for testing a sensor on an autonomous hazard avoidance and landing system. They're building a hazard field (1-3 meter rocks and craters) off the end of the runway, with a vertical rocket testbed flying from one end of the runway to the other trying to land in the safe spots in the hazard field.

Next week I'm off to Johnson in Houston to integrate the sensor on the rocket. Maybe I'll take a few laps in the pool. *grin*

--Carlos V.
 
Henning; I did the 1-day activity pass with bus tour out to the VAB and the launch pads. Well worth the price.

We've all seen the VAB in the media, but you have no real clue how jaw dropping amazing that building is until you're actually inside it.
 
Glad you escaped Apopka safely.... I lived there before I moved to Jackson Hole....
 
yea for them it will probably be more of a future cost, like psychologically, and how do you put a value on that? :)
 
It must be really weird at the Cape now.

Last week we spent a day in Houston, at the Johnson Space Center. Just two years ago it still felt very much like an active space agency -- now it feels very much like a museum. :sad:

Mission Control was...empty.
 
Jay Honeck said:
It must be really weird at the Cape now.

Last week we spent a day in Houston, at the Johnson Space Center. Just two years ago it still felt very much like an active space agency -- now it feels very much like a museum. :sad:

Mission Control was...empty.
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I was down at KSC HQ a couple of weeks ago. The atmosphere was very ... restrained.
 
N801BH said:
Glad you escaped Apopka safely.... I lived there before I moved to Jackson Hole....
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My friend lived in one house for 11 years then moved in across the street to the last for the last 7. :nonod::nonod:
 
Datadriver said:
China and Russia own space now
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SpaceX is scheduled to launch tomorrow morning destination the Space Station.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/may/17/spacex-launch-first-commercial-flight-space-station

Mission Highlights
During the mission, Dragon must perform a series of complex tasks, each presenting significant technical challenges (timeline could
change):
 Day 1/Launch Day: SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launches a Dragon spacecraft into orbit from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
 Day 2: Dragon orbits Earth as it travels toward the International Space Station.
 Day 3: Dragon’s sensors and flight systems are subject to a series of complicated tests to determine if the vehicle is ready to
berth with the space station; these tests include maneuvers and systems checks that see the vehicle come within 1.5 miles of
the station.
 Day 4: NASA decides if Dragon is allowed to attempt to berth with the station. If so, Dragon approaches; it is captured by
station’s robotic arm and attached to the station. This requires extreme precision even as both Dragon and station orbit the
Earth every 90 minutes.
 Day 5 - TBD: Astronauts open Dragon’s hatch, unload supplies and fill Dragon with return cargo.
 TBD: After approximately two weeks, Dragon is detached from the station and returns to Earth, landing in the Pacific, hundreds
of miles west of Southern California.
 
Gmaper said:
SpaceX is scheduled to launch tomorrow morning destination the Space Station.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/may/17/spacex-launch-first-commercial-flight-space-station

Mission Highlights
During the mission, Dragon must perform a series of complex tasks, each presenting significant technical challenges (timeline could
change):
 Day 1/Launch Day: SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launches a Dragon spacecraft into orbit from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
 Day 2: Dragon orbits Earth as it travels toward the International Space Station.
 Day 3: Dragon’s sensors and flight systems are subject to a series of complicated tests to determine if the vehicle is ready to
berth with the space station; these tests include maneuvers and systems checks that see the vehicle come within 1.5 miles of
the station.
 Day 4: NASA decides if Dragon is allowed to attempt to berth with the station. If so, Dragon approaches; it is captured by
station’s robotic arm and attached to the station. This requires extreme precision even as both Dragon and station orbit the
Earth every 90 minutes.
 Day 5 - TBD: Astronauts open Dragon’s hatch, unload supplies and fill Dragon with return cargo.
 TBD: After approximately two weeks, Dragon is detached from the station and returns to Earth, landing in the Pacific, hundreds
of miles west of Southern California.
Click to expand...

Yippee. :rolleyes:

I'm sincerely glad that we're approaching private unmanned launch capability. It means that someday soon we will be able to stop borrowing money from China to pay the Russians so that we can visit our own space station.

Let us know when they do something that hasn't been done for 35 years.
 
Jay Honeck said:
Yippee. :rolleyes:

I'm sincerely glad that we're approaching private unmanned launch capability. It means that someday soon we will be able to stop borrowing money from China to pay the Russians so that we can visit our own space station.

Let us know when they do something that hasn't been done for 35 years.
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They have, from day 1. They built their own rocket, in house, with extremely limited outsourcing of manufacturing. They build literally the whole thing, themselves.

I don't know why everyone is so negative nancy about SpaceX. It's a good company that is doing something cutting edge. But hey, lets all be ****ed because they are taking away government jobs.
 
Jay Honeck said:
Just two years ago it still felt very much like an active space agency -- now it feels very much like a museum. :sad:
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I thought it was pretty antiquated and museum-like 7 years ago.
 
Yeah, I won't be here to get a pic. The really good pic I couldn't get access to, but there is a great angle there with the building and all with the 400mm lens is an excellent location to film from.
 
KSCessnaDriver said:
They have, from day 1. They built their own rocket, in house, with extremely limited outsourcing of manufacturing. They build literally the whole thing, themselves.

I don't know why everyone is so negative nancy about SpaceX. It's a good company that is doing something cutting edge. But hey, lets all be ****ed because they are taking away government jobs.
Click to expand...

+1
I'll drink to that: Just the fact that a private company will put a piece of metal in orbit will be a GIANT FIRST, and it was done by AMERICAN ENTREPRENEURS. (Although I suppose that many of the last names involved probably sound a little strange).
 
JOhnH said:
+1
I'll drink to that: Just the fact that a private company will put a piece of metal in orbit will be a GIANT FIRST, and it was done by AMERICAN ENTREPRENEURS. (Although I suppose that many of the last names involved probably sound a little strange).
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They've been to orbit, with 2 different launch vehicles already. What they've done and do is nothing short of amazing.
 
JOhnH said:
I'll drink to that: Just the fact that a private company will put a piece of metal in orbit will be a GIANT FIRST, and it was done by AMERICAN ENTREPRENEURS.
Click to expand...
Orbital were the first private company with Pegasus, if we use your definition of "putting a piece of metal in orbit". SpaceX is revolutionary, but they are not "the first", let alone a giant one.
 
AggieMike88 said:
Didn't Kubrik allude to that in his novel "2011"?
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I think you mean 2010 and Arthur C. Clarke. Kubrick didn't even direct the movie. Peter Hyams directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Clarke.
 
Gmaper said:
Well, Tuesday is not that many hours away and and at least it didn't go boom. :wink2:
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"A first-of-its-kind commercial supply ship rocketed toward the International Space Station following a successful liftoff early Tuesday, opening a new era of dollar-driven spaceflight.

The SpaceX company made history as its Falcon 9 rocket rose from its seaside launch pad and pierced the pre-dawn sky, aiming for a rendezvous in a few days with the space station. The rocket carried into orbit a capsule named Dragon that is packed with 1,000 pounds of space station provisions.

It is the first time a private company has launched a vessel to the space station. That's something only major governments have done — until Tuesday."

http://www.npr.org/2012/05/22/153255316/private-rocket-blasts-off-for-space-station?ft=1&f=1001
 
How 'private' a company are you if 1/3 of your seed money came from the goverment ?

One thing that does make me hopeful is that they handled their initial launch issues the way a private company would:

- valve is broken --> valve gets replaced --> rocket is launched

as opposed to the goverment way:

- valve is broken --> appoint committee on valves.
 
weilke said:
How 'private' a company are you if 1/3 of your seed money came from the goverment ?
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No different than Boeing. They've got a bunch of orders for Falcon 9 launches. Something like 60% of the lot is non-government work.

Except they are different than Boeing. They don't contract out the work, they build it all themselves.
 
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