News Here be Dragons: SpaceX reveals manned Dragon design

[mojoey]

And one of the reasons a spaceship cockpit has lots of buttons and switches is so that when you're in a hurry to switch something and scared out of your wits you don't waste time scrolling through menus on a touch screen.

Anyone who's tried to fiddle with a GPS in traffic can vouch for that.

 

[Hlynkacg]

I think they know this all much better than you do. They know that their work is already risky enough by nature, no need to make this artificially more risky.

No one's making anything "artificially more risky" causality doesn't work like that. The test flights determine the failure rate, the failure rate informs the turnaround requirements.

Loosing a test vehicle or 3 (along with crew), even in this day and age, is hardly unprecedented.

Do you think this here is Kerbal Space Program?

No i don't. I'm pointing out that putting a functionally infinite value on human life is only slightly less psychotic and irrational than claiming that it is worthless.

I think that space is a frontier, just like any other, and that expecting spaceflight in it's current iteration to be safer than say early trans-oceanic expeditions or aviation circa 1925 is just plain silly.

If you'd have your way Charles Lindbergh would have been required to wait until 747s were available to fly across the Atlantic .

Or do you think that Spaceflight is some kind of romantic adventure, that has to be sanctified with the blood of astronauts from time to time?

No. What I think is that space-colonization and making humanity a multi-planet species is a worthy goal and that we routinely kill ourselves and other over far more trivial things.

No one thinks twice about sending Marines into combat, or fire-fighters into a burning building, but once space is involved everybody's suddenly walking on egg-shells.

It's Absurd.

 

[Unstung]

Uh, the LAS is built in, right? Then I would guess they have grid fins like the Soyuz?

Also, they not only have unmanned orbital tests but also an LAS test scheduled, right? So that will all happen at some point in 18 months+

The fins on the trunk look like stabilizing fins during an abort to me. They will be useful in the first few minutes of the flight only. A LAS burn would just last a few seconds at full thrust of the Super Draco engines. In case of a LAS-engine failure the fins would help stabilizing the vessel, so it will not tumble.

The fins on the trunk do not look like grid fins. They are aerodynamic, like they are used for control in the thermosphere as GOCE. If Dragon aborts, it will use the thrusters on the capsule and probably leave the trunk behind. The Soyuz capsule still has the fins attached during an abort for stability.

GOCE:

Dragon V2:

 

[Donamy]

The solar panels would need some sort of cover, no ?

 

[ISProgram]

The solar panels would need some sort of cover, no ?

Perhaps such a cover is transparent, so light can still power the cells? Seems likely given the CGI...

Speaking of, if anyone doesn't mind, I'm gonna photodump a bunch of Dragon V2 CGI screenshots here.
Does anyone have a problem with this?

 

[Unstung]

The solar panels would need some sort of cover, no ?

I assume the new trunk and capsule have the same diameter as the old ones so they fit perfectly atop a Falcon 9. While the current Dragon uses two protective shrouds covering the protruding wings on either side of the trunk during launch, V2 must then need a cover for all the cells on the trunk and the fins unless they can handle the launch.

 

[PhantomCruiser]

I'm sure we'll learn more during the next cycle of CGI moves.

Remember what the Dragon trunk was "supposed" to look like 4 years ago? Doesn't look that now, close yes, but there are some pretty drastic diffences when you take in to account all the testing that needs doing and tweakes to be made.

 

[Donamy]

I'm sure we'll learn more during the next cycle of CGI moves.

Remember what the Dragon trunk was "supposed" to look like 4 years ago? Doesn't look that now, close yes, but there are some pretty drastic diffences when you take in to account all the testing that needs doing and tweakes to be made.

Frustrating, when you are trying to build an accurate model. :facepalm:

 

[Urwumpe]

Frustrating, when you are trying to build an accurate model. :facepalm:

Well... but a coarse mock-up model is still more than zero models at all.

 

[Pipcard]

I wish we could have functional interfaces like this as a virtual cockpit in Orbiter

 

[Urwumpe]

I wish we could have functional interfaces like this as a virtual cockpit in Orbiter

No deal. We could not do it by MFDs, since the usual resolution is too low, but an extension for Panel 2D or VCs would be possible.

It is just a lot of effort to program, despite the research for this already has been done by NASA for the CAU project for the Space Shuttle and later for the CEV.

 

[PhantomCruiser]

Now that I think on it, that console needs a few mods. Either switch guards, or have them recessed to avoid elbows, helmets and drifting checklists. That control stick might need a cage around it as well.

As far as a VC in Orbiter goes, it's pretty hard to beat the G-200. And if Moach hasn't disappeared, a generic VC is something he'd mentioned wanting to implement (but I think he wanted to finish writing his own programming language first IIRC).

 

[Urwumpe]

Now that I think on it, that console needs a few mods. Either switch guards, or have them recessed to avoid elbows, helmets and drifting checklists. That control stick might need a cage around it as well.

Or at least a better separation between arming buttons and executing buttons, like by having a separating wall between them. It seems to be using some Soyuz user-interface style.

Also, disabling the control stick by button should be good enough.

As far as a VC in Orbiter goes, it's pretty hard to beat the G-200. And if Moach hasn't disappeared, a generic VC is something he'd mentioned wanting to implement (but I think he wanted to finish writing his own programming language first IIRC).

I am not sure a generic VC is really possible... but a framework for programming VCs would be easily possible.

Also, it would be no problem to have a family of different spacecraft that use the same VC.

 

[ISProgram]

Photodump

 

[John_L]

Also, your smartphone has more processing power - it would would be badly suited for controlling a spacecraft, since it is not really real-time capable. But combine your smartphone with some Arduino magic for about $1000, and you could have a guidance system that you could use for nuking the tyrant in the country next door - at least in 8 of 10 launches.

What type of smartphone do you have, mine does all sorts of things in real time. The AGC itself is easily simulated on a PC, I bet my iPhone 5 could run dozens of that simulation with plenty of power left, although the aurdino might be useful for interfacing (unless the computer on board is bluetooth capable!)

 

[Urwumpe]

What type of smartphone do you have, mine does all sorts of things in real time. The AGC itself is easily simulated on a PC, I bet my iPhone 5 could run dozens of that simulation with plenty of power left, although the aurdino might be useful for interfacing (unless the computer on board is bluetooth capable!)

Can you schedule a thread in your smartphone with microsecond accuracy? The last time I looked, the only way this works on a Android phone is to have the functions in the kernel and block all other threads for them. No chance to simply let it do multiple tasks at once as demanded and with the accuracy of a real-time operating system.

The problem is not emulating the software - it is communicating with the hardware.

 

[Hlynkacg]

I wish we could have functional interfaces like this as a virtual cockpit in Orbiter

You can, you just have to code them as such

 

[orbitingpluto]

I watched a video of the Dragon V2 unveil, and now I have idea why Dragon V2 is so darned different. Dragon V2 is more capable, more reusable, and just better than V1, at least in SpaceX's eyes. I personally wanted to see a more modest upgrade, a Dragon V1.5 if you will, without V2's pinpoint landing capability, but definitely sporting the V2's abort capability and ability to land on dry land. I guess I must be rather old fashioned in thinking that aiming for a particular 20 or so square miles is a reasonable way to land a 21st century spacecraft.

 

[kamaz]

I wish we could have functional interfaces like this as a virtual cockpit in Orbiter

If you're OK with an external window/display, this could be built on Orb::Connect::Web.

Then get the web browser to render to VC surface

 

[ISProgram]

Just to be redundant

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf_-g3UWQ04"]SpaceX Dragon V2 | Flight Animation - YouTube[/ame]