sndrtj Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 From Ars TechnicaFollowing the June anomaly, SpaceX reported that the Dragon cargo vehicle survived the incident and even received telemetry from the craft until it crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. If the cargo Dragon had been equipped with the same software as the crewed version, the chutes could have been deployed and the vehicle and its over 4000 pounds of cargo would have been recovered. During today’s teleconference, Musk said that all versions of Dragon will be equipped with this software in the futureSo the triangular shape we all saw was in fact Dragon. If they manage to recover cargo even in the case of RUD - because the likelihood of at least one more RUD occurring in the future existence of SpaceX is probably over 100% - that would be great news for customers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cydonian Monk Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 If they manage to recover cargo even in the case of RUD - because the likelihood of at least one more RUD occurring in the future existence of SpaceX is probably over 100% - that would be great news for customers.Great news if they're using a Dragon capsule. The customer count for that is exactly 1. Wouldn't help commercial clients that are launching a normal payload. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nothalogh Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 So the triangular shape we all saw was in fact DragonSomething tells me that those who were rageposting that such a thing was unpossible, aren't gonna show up and eat their serving of crow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kryten Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 Now we have ourselves a real neck-and-neck race between SLS and F9H.Maybe so-SLS still has a good bit of schedule margin and FH is already three years behind schedule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sojourner Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 Something tells me that those who were rageposting that such a thing was unpossible, aren't gonna show up and eat their serving of crow.Say it ain't so!:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatastrophicFailure Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 Great news if they're using a Dragon capsule. The customer count for that is exactly 1. Wouldn't help commercial clients that are launching a normal payload.at the moment, yes, but if it can be improved with a simple software update, that's worthwhile, don't you think? I'm thinking of maybe like student-funded cubesats that hitch a ride inside... and are probably much more difficult to replace than the other cargo. At first I thought that was a typo....on second thought though I am not so sure..Was my thought exactly lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motokid600 Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 (edited) Something tells me that those who were rageposting that such a thing was unpossible, aren't gonna show up and eat their serving of crow.I only heard that Dragon did survive the breakup, but was it specifically stated that the shadow was actually the capsule? I was very sceptical of it at first and honestly still am on the fence as to whether or not that shadow was Dragon. It might have been, but the chances of it having been something else are just as great. I thought at first maybe a solar panel cover. Because heres the thing that just defies me of this capsule having survived. It wouldve had to rip through the rocket, yes? Theres no way the capsule popped like a cork with that airspeed. And go figure it makes sence now that i think about it. The stage upon which the capsule was fixed too was breaking apart. Its structure failed and that capsule fell backwards through it and ripped out the side before the first stage. No way it was intact... Edited July 20, 2015 by Motokid600 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
softweir Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 It was intact enough to be sending telemetry back. Also, it was probably the single most durable part of the entire assembly, given that it was designed to survive re-entry and a potentially hard landing, so if any part could remain recognisably intact, the capsule was it. OK, the heatshield would have been scraped off and other external damage - enough that the capsule would be written off - but if the cargo had survived then that would have been a fillip for its chances of becoming man-rated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrandedonEarth Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 And to think, if they had the right software onboard, they could have recovered not only the Dragon but possibly even the booster!No, really, the booster was still ok. Kill thrust, decouple the second stage, try to get clear, and look for the LZ.Of course, it's stupidly hard to plan for all contingencies. Does anyone ever expect a second-stage structural failure due to faulty materials, that leaves the rest of the vehicle more-or-less intact? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave99 Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 From Ars TechnicaSo the triangular shape we all saw was in fact Dragon. If they manage to recover cargo even in the case of RUD - because the likelihood of at least one more RUD occurring in the future existence of SpaceX is probably over 100% - that would be great news for customers.Sure it would be nice for troubleshooting and image, but I'm not sure that is matters all that much. You have a RUD like this, you aren't ever sending that dragon or likely any of it's contents back up. Don't get me wrong, there is value in being able to show a intact capsule safely landing, just not $$ value. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngelLestat Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 So.. no more spacex activity until september? No even dragonv2 tests? The real bad news is that we will need to wait until april of 2016 for falcon heavy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frybert Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 No, really, the booster was still ok. Kill thrust, decouple the second stage, try to get clear, and look for the LZ. Jeb could have done it. Unfortunately real life doesn't really work that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nothalogh Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 I only heard that Dragon did survive the breakup, but was it specifically stated that the shadow was actually the capsule? I was very sceptical of it at first and honestly still am on the fence as to whether or not that shadow was Dragon. It might have been, but the chances of it having been something else are just as great. I thought at first maybe a solar panel cover. Because heres the thing that just defies me of this capsule having survived. It wouldve had to rip through the rocket, yes? Theres no way the capsule popped like a cork with that airspeed. And go figure it makes sence now that i think about it. The stage upon which the capsule was fixed too was breaking apart. Its structure failed and that capsule fell backwards through it and ripped out the side before the first stage. No way it was intact...Well, the man said it was intact and transmitting after vehicle breakup, he specifically said what killed Dragon was surface impact Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armchair Rocket Scientist Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Well, the man said it was intact and transmitting after vehicle breakup, he specifically said what killed Dragon was surface impactTo play Devil's Advocate, that doesn't mean that it didn't lose cabin pressure due to having a hole poked in it, or was damaged in such away that parachute deployment was impossible or the capsule couldn't float if it made it to the water at a safe speed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingman703 Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Elon stated that Dragon would have survived if the software had been programmed to deploy 'chutes, and that this software would be present in Dragon V1 next time it flew. Honestly though, we are starting to run this Dragon survival thing into the ground. Sure, would have been nice to see it survive and bring everything back down safely, but it didn't, and I doubt the sub they are sending down to search for wreckage is going to find much. As Elon said, its deep, dark, and a large area to search, not to mention having happened almost a month ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiberion Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Something tells me that those who were rageposting that such a thing was unpossible, aren't gonna show up and eat their serving of crow.If you're talking about me, I'll pass on the crow since I never said any such thing. What i said was that there was -zero- evidence that that shadow was Dragon while there was plenty of evidence that the entire vessel was eviscerated in the explosions. Mostly because everyone was going on and on about a miracle dragon rescue.So today's announcement is the 1st information about dragon surviving we've seen beyond a bunch of fervent wishing by fanboys and a bunch of others who no actual knowledge (myself including) vastly over-analyzing the video.Yes Dragon survived. That shadow was still a piece of literal garbage anyway/ And this is exactly why I quit arguing about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nothalogh Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 I'll pass on the crowEven if it comes beer battered and with honey mustard dipping sauce? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sojourner Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 What i said was that there was -zero- evidence that that shadow was Dragon while there was plenty of evidence that the entire vessel was eviscerated in the explosions. Except you never did provide evidence that it wasn't Dragon or any actual evidence that Dragon was "eviscerated". Which would be impossible to do since we now know for certain that it wasn't.Your entire argument was "look at that explosion! nothing could survive that!" Despite visual evidence that something had indeed survived. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiberion Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Except you never did provide evidence that it wasn't Dragon or any actual evidence that Dragon was "eviscerated". Which would be impossible to do since we now know for certain that it wasn't.Your entire argument was "look at that explosion! nothing could survive that!" Despite visual evidence that something had indeed survived.Well none of what you said there is true. I guess we're done here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuBisCO Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Lets just leave the Dragon survival as "Hindsight is 20/20": Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Rocket Scientist Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Something tells me that those who were rageposting that such a thing was unpossible, aren't gonna show up and eat their serving of crow.I didn't ragepost about it, but I thought it seemed to unlikely that the capsule would just "Pop off," like when a joint fails on KSP. Maybe only some of it survived? Or it was heavily damaged, but not completely destroyed. *Eats crow* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatastrophicFailure Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 It's worth noting that even in the challenger failure, the crew cabin survived (relatively) intact... Until it hit the water. Some of y'all don't realize how strong these parts are. High crash tolerances, yo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 (edited) There was no evidence at all that the capsule was "eviscerated." The shadow was shaped exactly like the dragon, and in other, similar events, the pressure vessel remained intact. Challenger, for example. It was clear the morning it happened that most of the orbiter forward of the cargo bay was tumbling intact. Dragon, designed for reentry, like any other capsule, can take far more than the event that occurred. Edited July 21, 2015 by tater Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyMt Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 So here it is - preliminary investigation update:http://www.spacex.com/news/2015/07/20/crs-7-investigation-updateBasically it says: a strut failed... Oh my... and since I play KSP all I know: "you have to add more struts!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.Random Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 And now everyone will probably blame the supplier because "OMG PART BROKE AT 20% CERTIFIED LOAD". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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