Updates SpaceX Falcon 9 F2 updates

[Wishbone]

I assume these two pairs will fly in formation. Very neat.

 

[silent_protagonist]

The Dragon's unpressurised Trunk Section remained attached to the Falcon upper stage. It held P-POD CubeSat dispensers with six satellites that were released soon after the Dragon spacecraft separated:

Hmm, I thought it looked like only the reentry capsule separated in the live feed.

I wonder to what extent, then, can this really be called a flight of a complete Dragon? I suppose if all the trunk section really provides is solar panels, storage space and maybe larger fuel and consumables stores--and the reentry capsule has batteries and other resources to function independently for a few orbits--then it does qualify. It would be very cool if they've actually managed to pull off a spacecraft with that degree of re-usability.

 

[Jamo]

The Dragon spacecraft is comprised of 3 main elements: the Nosecone, which protects the vessel and the docking adaptor during ascent; the Spacecraft, which houses the crew and/or pressurized cargo as well as the service section containing avionics, the RCS system, parachutes, and other support infrastructure; and the Trunk, which provides for the stowage of unpressurized cargo and will support Dragon’s solar arrays and thermal radiators.

I'd say leaving the trunk attached to the 2nd stage is still a full flight, as all the main systems are housed in the spacecraft. I wonder how long it can run on batteries and how much it needs the radiators?

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Two new postflight images from SpaceX! :thumbup:

 

[jinglesassy]

Those are some awesome pictures Orbinaut pete. Question does this have the same problem as the apollo command module did with radio blackout or is it like the modern soyuz and space shuttle that are able to stay in communications through a satelite.

 

[garyw]

Apollo had problems because there was no TDRS system in place when those missions flew. Dragon might or might not have blackout. It depends if they have booked time on TDRS and installed the right kit.

 

[orb]

Dragon might or might not have blackout. It depends if they have booked time on TDRS and installed the right kit.

This Dragon capsule has had the equipment and booked time - [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COTS_Demo_Flight_1"]COTS Demo Flight 1 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]:

The launch was ultimately scheduled for December 8, 2010, with launch windows available from 9:00 to 9:06 a.m., 10:38 to 10:43 a.m., and 12:16 to 12:24 p.m. EST based on the availability of the NASA Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) network used to track and communicate with the spacecraft.

 

[orb]

Space News: SpaceX Acknowledges Falcon 9 Engine Anomaly:

UPDATED Sept. 12, 12:45 p.m.

WASHINGTON — Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) Corp. acknowledged that its Falcon 9 rocket experienced an engine anomaly during its December launch of the company’s reusable Dragon space capsule.

“I’d call it an oxidizer-rich shutdown,” former NASA astronaut Ken Bowersox, SpaceX’s vice president of astronaut safety and mission assurance, told Space News in a Sept. 9 interview. “So because of that, when you get that mixture change happening, the temperatures can go up higher than you want inside the gas generator.”

Bowersox added that “those temperatures could have damaged the turbines in the turbopump.” That presents an obstacle for SpaceX, which eventually intends to reuse the nine Merlin engines that power the Falcon 9.

It does not, however, present an obstacle for cargo delivery missions to the international space station, SpaceX said.

An oxygen-rich shutdown is “not a catastrophic event for the Merlin engine,” Bowersox said. “We’ve been through this on the test stand and we know what it looks like for our engines, so we know that this was not a risk to the mission.”

{...}