OFMM V3 Mission Statement

[mojoey]

Hi folks. As you may have seen in the chatbox recently, garyw has handed over control of OFMM to myself. So this thread is a general introduction to OFMM, as this incarnation is going to be vastly different.

What is this?
A joint cooperative mission to Mars between various members of O-F, similar to OFSS.

What is it not?
An art exhibition. I'm sure you can make excellent patches and repaints, but this only complicates things, and over complication can be detrimental to the goal. So please, refrain from doing this.

What's required

Orbiter 2010P1 (kinda a given...dontcha think?)

UMMU/UCGO (christmas pre-release)

Arrow Freighter (christmas pre-release)

DG-IV (christmas pre-release)

Loru's Surface Science Kit

How many flights

There will be two at least 5 pilot openings, as well as those who 'volunteer*' to stay behind and conduct surface experiments.



If you have any questions, feel free to post down below. If you'd like to participate, or help with mission planning, speak up, and I'll add you to the roster.


Participants
mojoey
MaverickSawyer
Dgatsoulis
Bloodworth
Pipcard





*return to Earth not guaranteed. You have been warned.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

If someone can coach me through the TransX or IMFD setup for the run, I think I can manage the run between Earth and Mars. Otherwise, I'm game for anything else.

EDIT: what's the Arrow Freighter for, transfer of the Dragons? And is it the latest beta from dnasteph, or the UCGO2.0 version?

Double Edit: :facepalm: READ THE POST, MAV!!!

 

[mojoey]

I'll need to brush up on my IMFD skills, and I'll pass along any helpful tutorials to you. As well as posting them here.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Cool. Count me in!

 

[dgatsoulis]

If someone can coach me through the TransX or IMFD setup for the run, I think I can manage the run between Earth and Mars.

Sure Mav, I can help you with that.

If you'd like to participate, or help with mission planning, speak up, and I'll add you to the roster.

Won't be able to fly, but I can definitely help with mission planning. Any idea what the timeframe will be?

 

[mojoey]

Sure Mav, I can help you with that.



Won't be able to fly, but I can definitely help with mission planning. Any idea what the timeframe will be?

I'll be messing with the Cosmic Train site tonight, and post a general timeframe.

 

[Pipcard]

What is it not?
An art exhibition. I'm sure you can make excellent patches and repaints, but this only complicates things, and over complication can be detrimental to the goal. So please, refrain from doing this.

Yeah, I was obsessed with mission patches last year.

 

[mojoey]

Yeah, I was obsessed with mission patches last year.

Don't think it was directed at you, it was just a general 'don't do this' thing.

 

[dgatsoulis]

IIRC, there is a handy EVME free return comming up next October. It might be useful for the manned Dragon to have an abort → back to Earth option.

If you want, I can create a preliminary TransX plan and check the reentry velocity to see if the capsule can handle it.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Does anyone know if Glider's Dragons will survive a Martian EDL cycle? I'm not able to fly this week, so I can't check.

---------- Post added at 17:02 ---------- Previous post was at 17:00 ----------

IIRC, there is a handy EVME free return comming up next October. It might be useful for the manned Dragon to have an abort → back to Earth option.

If you want, I can create a preliminary TransX plan and check the reentry velocity to see if the capsule can handle it.

Go for the 2-year orbital cycle. It's a 180 day outbound leg, and you can still divert as little as 5 days before entry.

As for the heat shield, you can always do an aerocapture, then send up another capsule to rescue the crew. No need to go for a full-on direct entry.

 

[garyw]

I doubt the parachutes will be big enough for Mars thin atmosphere.

 

[Pipcard]

Will the two Dragons dock with the Arrow Freighter in LEO? If so, only two Falcon 9s (not Heavies) are needed.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

I'm concerned if they'll even DEPLOY. :shrug: :shifty:

 

[mojoey]

Does anyone know if Glider's Dragons will survive a Martian EDL cycle? I'm not able to fly this week, so I can't check.

---------- Post added at 17:02 ---------- Previous post was at 17:00 ----------



Go for the 2-year orbital cycle. It's a 180 day outbound leg, and you can still divert as little as 5 days before entry.

As for the heat shield, you can always do an aerocapture, then send up another capsule to rescue the crew. No need to go for a full-on direct entry.

I was thinking about using the Arrow for a transport to Mars. Then undock the Dragons and de-orbit them.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Ok, so we'll be using Docks 2 and 3 on the exterior. I'll get cracking on my docking practice next week.
Quick thought: can Dragon be refuelled through the docking mechanism? If not right now, is it a consideration?

---------- Post added at 17:15 ---------- Previous post was at 17:06 ----------

Rebooted the Surface Science Goals thread.

 

[mojoey]

Ok, so we'll be using Docks 2 and 3 on the exterior. I'll get cracking on my docking practice next week.
Quick thought: can Dragon be refuelled through the docking mechanism? If not right now, is it a consideration?

That's why I wanted to use the FH as an LV. So we could use the second stage all the way up to docking. Then jettison the second stage.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

OK, cool. otherwise, we'd have to cross-deck fuel from the Arrow to perform the propulsuive EDL we'll likely have to use... :shifty:

 

[Pipcard]

[deleted]

(at first, I thought the Dragon's fuel was sufficient to rendezvous with the Arrow in LEO, but then I realized that fuel was needed for landing on Mars)

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Hrm. How long do you think the FH upper stage could be stored on orbit? If we used the upper stage to perform the early part of the deorbit and descent, and REALLY shed some velocity with that... We might stand a chance. It all depends on the parachutes... If they don't open, we're sunk.

 

[mojoey]

IIRC, there is a handy EVME free return comming up next October. It might be useful for the manned Dragon to have an abort → back to Earth option.

If you want, I can create a preliminary TransX plan and check the reentry velocity to see if the capsule can handle it.

If you want, can you test the Dragon's EDL capabilities from a 200km orbit.

---------- Post added at 05:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:23 PM ----------

Hrm. How long do you think the FH upper stage could be stored on orbit? If we used the upper stage to perform the early part of the deorbit and descent, and REALLY shed some velocity with that... We might stand a chance. It all depends on the parachutes... If they don't open, we're sunk.

I think the upper stage was meant for more than one ignition but I could be wrong.