
SpaceX NASA returning human spaceflight to United States today (canceled) - danbr
https://www.spacex.com/
======
jacquesm
It looks like the launch will be scrubbed due to the weather, lightning risk
during propellant loading is too high.

edit: yep, launch scrubbed. Too bad! But better safe than sorry, especially
today with a crewed vehicle. Does anybody know if the crew dragon comes with
different weather restrictions for LOX loading?

~~~
elliekelly
Can someone ELI5 why they sometimes need to have an “instantaneous launch
window” that can’t be pushed even by a few minutes?

~~~
lutorm
It depends on the target orbit. For launches to the ISS, you have to launch at
the correct instant because even a few minutes later means the ISS is so far
ahead it will take much longer, and use more propellant, to rendezvous.

I think they could probably delay a few seconds without too much trouble, but
I guess the extra complication of recalculating the rendezvous isn't worth it
because most of the time a few seconds won't matter anyway.

~~~
dmurray
Can you delay the launch window 90 minutes until the next ISS orbit? Maybe you
then run into the next on the long list of reasons.

~~~
skykooler
No, because in 90 minutes the cryogenic liquid oxygen would have warmed up too
much. The Falcon doesn't have an onboard refrigeration unit; it relies on
loading the propellant shortly before launch.

However, "shortly" is also relative, and 90 minutes is not long enough to
purge all the fuel from the rocket and refuel it with cold oxygen (it took
close to an hour today to de-fuel the rocket), so it can't be cycled in that
window.

------
tosh
launch aborted :(

------
mabbo
For those who aren't giant space nerds (like me) the very best place to get
info on SpaceX and SpaceX launches has always been Reddit's /r/SpaceX[0]. The
launch today (like all launches) has a dedicated thread[1] with mods keeping
all details up to date, all links that matter organized.

It's 100% not sponsored or run by SpaceX, but honestly it's probably doing a
better job than a corporate PR side could manage. Fantastic amount of details
on everything in their wiki and posts, and friendly people who answer
questions happily.

[0] [https://reddit.com/r/spacex](https://reddit.com/r/spacex)

[1]
[https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/glwz6n/rspacex_cctc...](https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/glwz6n/rspacex_cctcap_demonstration_mission_2_general/)

~~~
majkinetor
Many reddit communities are like that. Not sure what they did to collect such
folks on single place, but reddit is something else.

~~~
slfnflctd
Well, mostly, they replaced Usenet and a hodge-podge jumble of forum sites
running generic interfaces where you have to click to a new page for every 50
comments (or less), which have no comment reply nesting.

Reddit brought a more useful/readable interface, allowed anonymous accounts
with no email address, and had a very simple & powerful (if flawed) voting
system. This attracted content creators of all kinds, which led to a rapidly
growing audience, and it snowballed.

I don't like one company owning all this stuff, but I do love what users in
niche subs have created there. With a massive general audience comes better
populated niches, excellence riding the coattails of the mediocre. Also,
should Condé Nast ever screw the pooch here, plenty of clones are waiting in
the wings.

~~~
aaron_m04
> Also, should Condé Nast ever screw the pooch here, plenty of clones are
> waiting in the wings.

I'm really hoping they don't, because I don't think a replacement coulg gain
traction as long as reddit is functioning.

------
jedberg
I watched the first Space Shuttle launch live, I watched Challenger live. I
watched the last shuttle launch live. I was sad then, realizing that America
was losing launch capability on that day.

I can't tell you how exited I am to watch America's return to launch
capability.

Edit: Disappointed at the scrub, but I know a lot of these weather rules were
put in place because of Challenger, so I understand. Looking forward to
Saturday!

~~~
minxomat
> America's return to lunch capability

Perfection.

~~~
jedberg
Damnit autocorrect!

------
mrtksn
The cold war is back, the fashion is back and out of all the things that are
back I am glad that the USA is back in space flights.

Wish you the best luck and hope that this will lead to some serious
competition. Soyuz is great but we need to do more as species.

~~~
dmos62
> do more as species

Space exploration and exploitation is awesome, but shouldn't the first items
on the "do more as species" todo list be about taking care of earth?

~~~
galacticaactual
Why is this question never raised whenever the latest web company raises X
million dollars that could’ve funded green tech?

~~~
deegles
It's clear that the people writing the checks thought they would make more
money with the web company. Either they're looking at the green projects and
thinking "meh" or they're not seeing them at all.

~~~
bcrosby95
Or they're investing in both web and green tech.

------
NiceWayToDoIT
Does anyone else feel super excited? I guess this was the feeling my parents
had when they watched men landing on the Moon...

~~~
mempko
Today is a melancholy feeling. Happy to see SpaceX sending people to space,
but sad a decade was lost.

EDIT: I spoke about that we had a regression, I meant that NASA lost a
capability and just got it back.

~~~
jccooper
This is actually a brand new capability for NASA: human spaceflight that isn't
ruinously expensive.

~~~
mempko
Federal government has no limits to spending.

This isn't about cost, it's about privatizing space the same way the internet
was privatized. Take technology developed in the public sector and allow the
private sector to take it.

With the privatization of space, you will get both the same upsides and
downsides of privatization.

The only difference between the past, where NASA paid private contractors to
build Apollo and the Shuttle is now they are paying a private contractor
(SpaceX) but SpaceX gets to sell the tech for others to use besides the
government.

------
imshashank
Love the new "Space" suits and the touch screen panel inside the capsule. This
is going to be amazing. My prayers with the brave astronauts.

~~~
mariushn
Is the touch screen usable during lift-off / landing? I'm thinking gravity
(4+g?) and trepidations is making it hard to touch a specific spot.

Or, maybe there isn't much to do manually during this phase, and for the
little things there are some classic controls.

~~~
orbital-decay
It's both. They have a handle below the screen precisely for this reason. [1]
You can grab it and press the buttons below/tap the lower part of the screen
above with your thumb. This seems much more reasonable and pragmatic than the
sci-fi looking mockup they originally presented. [2] Although my understanding
is that it's probably not a huge problem, because Soyuz introduced the stick
to push the buttons only in its later variants.

Also, judging from the photos, they seem to have their button covers supported
by the frame. In 2003, there was an incident when a cosmonaut inadvertently
fired RCS thrusters on the Soyuz attached to the station, simultaneously
pushing several buttons with his foot while loading the spacecraft with cargo
to be returned to Earth, crushing the protective caps that were pressing
against the (relatively flimsy) case. The thrusters fired for quite some time
until a ground operator noticed it and turned them off remotely. After that,
the covers in Soyuz were redesigned to press against the frame. Seems like
that incident has been learned from in Crew Dragon as well.

[1] [https://imgur.com/KyAaQS0](https://imgur.com/KyAaQS0)

[2] [https://imgur.com/pTYfAew](https://imgur.com/pTYfAew)

~~~
bhhaskin
I would imagine they would have control lockouts as well. Not something super
complicated/time consuming to disengage, but something to prefect that exact
scenario from happening.

~~~
orbital-decay
Yes, the lockouts were in place during that incident too, but for several good
reasons they are non-modal - you have to hold two buttons at the same time to
trigger some critical operations like manual RCS controls. Which is exactly
what happened, so the confirmation procedure had to be changed as well.

------
localhost
FYI the live stream is playing on YouTube right now.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aymrnzianf0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aymrnzianf0)

~~~
inetknght
I don't understand. What is the difference between that video and this [0]
one? They're both by NASA.

Then there's also the one by SpaceX [1] for those interested. I know that
SpaceX usually has two webcasts going during launches; one for the public-
friendly chatter and another for the go/nogo technical chatter

I always look for the SpaceX or NASA official links. Don't search for SpaceX
on youtube, you'll drown in unofficial garbage from news companies

[0]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21X5lGlDOfg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21X5lGlDOfg)

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjb9FdVdX5I](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjb9FdVdX5I)

~~~
localhost
I have no idea why you have a different ID for your first link. But you'll see
that the link I posted and your link are both on the official NASA channel.

------
qchris
I'm so excited, and just hoping the weather holds. The best of luck to the
entire team, and hoping everything goes smoothly and safely!

~~~
rrmm
u/UpperLevelWinds is apparently accepting bribes over on r/SpaceX

------
TrainedMonkey
Here is pretty accurate in terms of spacecraft UI docking simulator:
[https://iss-sim.spacex.com/](https://iss-sim.spacex.com/)

Astronauts will be using similar for manual piloting demo before docking.

~~~
NiceWayToDoIT
I have tried and barely succeeded, I just hope those are not real controls.
Those should be either automated or they should consult someone from gaming
industry. Sorry to say UX controls are terrible (saying from gaming position).

~~~
zlsa
The docking is automated by default. The manual controls are only to be used
in case the automated docking doesn't work.

~~~
jacquesm
UI is even more important when there is an anomaly.

~~~
NikolaeVarius
You assume that whatever you prefer is a better UI.

~~~
NiceWayToDoIT
:) well not necessarily just years of gaming practice.

------
dgritsko
The interior design of the capsule looks so futuristic and cool - closer to
Star Trek than Soyuz.

~~~
jedberg
Those space suits look so cool, don't they?

~~~
q3k
I don't know, they look kitschy to me - as if someone designed them just to
look 'cool' and futuristic instead of utilitarian, like a fashion statement.

~~~
DennisP
An astronaut on TV just said they're designed to be slim and do exactly what's
needed in this case: emergency life support in case the capsule loses
pressure. They're custom fit, they don't have a lot of doodads hanging off
them, I'm guessing you wouldn't use them for a spacewalk, but for a launch
they get the job done and don't take up a lot of room.

------
exdsq
As a Brit, I am jealous that I'll not be able to work with NASA or SpaceX.
This is a really exciting time, best of luck to the team.

~~~
TomVDB
I’ve been having mild anxiety about this mission ever since it was announced.

Working on manned space flight is not for me. The stakes are just too high.

------
ak-47
> Demo-2 is the final major test for SpaceX’s human spaceflight system to be
> certified by NASA for operational crew missions to and from the
> International Space Station.

The two astronauts along with the Falcon 9 will be docking with the ISS and
then returning home. No crew swap is happening, which seems like a waste of
energy. I get that SpaceX isn't "operationally certified", but is a crew swap
inherently more risky?

~~~
mabbo
> The two astronauts along with the Falcon 9 will be docking with the ISS and
> then returning home

Just to be clear, the Falcon 9 is the booster that never gets to orbit. It's
not going to the ISS- not moving fast enough to achieve orbit. Just the little
Dragon spaceship on the nose of the rocket will get to the ISS.

> No crew swap is happening, which seems like a waste of energy. I get that
> SpaceX isn't "operationally certified", but is a crew swap inherently more
> risky?

Believe it or not, they've sent this 7-seat spacecraft to the ISS already
(well, the same model) just to verify it could do it. It arrived empty, it
went home empty (except for a plushy that stayed behind). The point is that
SpaceX is going to be doing this maybe hundreds of times in the future, but
the first time, they want to minimize the number of people that could die if
something goes wrong.

Remember, this whole test would have been done 6 months ago except that the
sister to this spaceship unexpected exploded during a simple ground test. This
stuff is dangerous.

~~~
ak-47
Thanks!

------
os7borne
Honestly, wondering how the touch interface will work in this mission. Always
thought it will be tough to make sure the touch works as opposed to physical
switches and buttons.

eagerly waiting for the launch, though! Wishing luck from India!

~~~
dylan604
If they have to take their gloves off to get the TouchID to work, then that's
kind of a bummer. Don't know how well FaceID works while wearing the helmets
either.

~~~
iso1631
They don't

------
heyflyguy
Please let this go well.

~~~
randomsearch
Agreed. I'm so nervous, this seems high risk.

~~~
NikolaeVarius
High risk relative to?

~~~
albntomat0
It's the first manned launch on the Dragon platform. There have been a number
of unmanned launches and tests, but no where near as many as on Soyuz.

A quick search through Wikipedia shows 140+ manned Soyuz launches, and around
20 total for the SpaceX Dragon.

Note those numbers are for the spacecraft, not the booster (the Soyuz platform
has both the spacecraft and booster named Soyuz, SpaceX has the Dragon
spacecraft on the Falcon 9 booster).

~~~
randomsearch
Exactly. The odds are not what I'd like them to be.

~~~
nickik
So, never flying on new vehicle or flying a vehicle uncrewed for 40 years is
the only option you consider save?

That seems like incredible pessimism to me.

~~~
randomsearch
Maybe somewhere between those two extremes.

------
hadtodoit
Godspeed to the men on board. And God bless the SpaceX team for bringing it
all back home.

~~~
seph-reed
It really warms my heart that the landing pad is called "OF COURSE I STILL
LOVE YOU DRONE SHIP"

In a consumer era where almost all naming is done by marketing and void of any
soul, it really, really makes me happy to see a little bit growing through the
cracks in the concrete.

~~~
tialaramex
The name is just "Of course I still love you". They're named after vessels
from Iain M Banks' "Culture" SF setting.

Culture spaceships have AI "minds" and the mind of a large ship-constructing
ship will name its offspring. They tend to have an odd sense of humour, there
are plenty of sites with lists of Culture ship names, and Banks wrote
footnotes excusing the obvious references to 20th century human culture as
matters of translation (e.g. there is an Offensive Unit named "I said I have a
big stick" which is a reference to Theodore Roosevelt's "Speak softly and
carry a big stick").

[https://theculture.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_spacecraft_in_the...](https://theculture.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_spacecraft_in_the_Culture_series)

~~~
shkkmo
I believe that the ships pick their own name rather than having it picked for
them by the ship that built them.

------
james_pm
Memories of the first few Space Shuttle launches. I was lucky enough to see
STS-3 from Jetty Park when I was 12. Today I'll watch from home on YouTube
with my own kids (16 and 17).

------
relham
I assume the astronauts and everyone involved is tested daily for COVID-19. I
am sure that bringing the virus to the IIS would be disastrous. Anyone has any
insights on the measures taken to prevent it? This Verge article[0] appears to
describe the preventative steps to be less severe than I'd expect. [0]
[https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/25/21264868/spacex-nasa-
laun...](https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/25/21264868/spacex-nasa-launch-
pandemic-covid-crew-dragon-astronaut)

~~~
Symmetry
Ever since one of the astronauts got sick on one of the Gemini missions the
astronauts have undergone quarantines for a period before going up into space.

~~~
relham
And still Ken Mattingly was pulled from Apollo 13 3 days before takeoff
because of a potential exposure to measles. In the live video, most of the
technicians and even Musk are wearing masks, most of them staying at some
distance though. I doubt they were all quarantined for the last 2 weeks.

------
manaskarekar
Good luck to all involved, this is a remarkable moment.

------
gpm
> 40% chance of good weather, if you're an optimist (from livestreamer)

Heh

~~~
grecy
An update just now on the radio said the one they were tracking is no longer a
concern, and the one over Orlando is expected to be their decision today, and
it's getting weaker.

Good news!

------
blhack
Man, seeing the guys cruising out there in the Teslas... Just think about how
cool this scene is. Something that is in line with the vision of the future
people used to have.

Very inspiring.

------
finger
I see they are using touch screens. What would they do if the screens froze?

~~~
ag56
And what happens during launch when — I assume — everything starts vibrating
wildly? They better be enormous virtual buttons.

~~~
m4rtink
Actually I remember reading an article mentioning that they use vibration data
from accelerometters to slightly shift content on thescreen, thus preventing
the screen from appearing blurry to the crew during the launch. Pretty clever.
:)

But indeed, the launch is automated and for any the few important manual thing
(basically just manual launch abort trigger) they have separate physical
controls.

------
_Microft
ISS will be visible from Germany at 22:23 today, coming from north-west moving
towards south-east and it will be followed by Crew Dragon and the Falcon 9
upper stage about 20 minutes later. It should pass almost straight over you in
the south of Germany.

~~~
jedberg
Do you know where ISS will be when Crew Dragon actually docks?

~~~
_Microft
Docking is scheduled for 10:29 EDT (14:29 UTC) today (2020-05-31) at which
time the ISS is predicted to be 1000km east of the Philippines, approximately
300km west of Guam.

~~~
jedberg
Thanks! I probably won't be up, but I did get to see them chasing each other
across the sky a few hours ago.

Thanks for thinking of me!

~~~
_Microft
You're welcome!

------
grecy
So cool to hear "Dragon copies" over the radio.

For the first time, Dragon can talk back!

~~~
testplzignore
Audio of Dragon comms:
[https://youtu.be/90X5NJleYJQ?t=152](https://youtu.be/90X5NJleYJQ?t=152)

------
camjohnson26
Rescheduled for 3:22pm ET on Saturday

[https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1265739654810091520?s=20](https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1265739654810091520?s=20)

------
synaesthesisx
This is easily the most exciting moment of 2020. I can't overstate the
emotions running through my body right now - godspeed to the crew & cheers to
a new era for human space exploration.

------
jonathanlydall
Really appreciate them also having UTC on their website [1].

[1]: [https://www.spacex.com/launches/](https://www.spacex.com/launches/)

------
NikolaeVarius
*Pending weather

~~~
S_A_P
I get that you dont want to fly a giant rocket full of liquid oxygen and other
explosives into a thunderstorm or hurricane, but what are some practical
reasons for postponing a launch due to weather. As I (hardly) understand once
you get high up in the atmosphere there is high wind even on a clear day, does
rain matter that much?

~~~
danbr
I would think by far it’s for crew safety.

Recovery due to an in-flight abort would be difficult in rough seas and
weather if they had to be plucked out of the Atlantic.

The aerostructure of the falcon 9 can only withstand so much side loading due
to aerodynamic forces and wind before exceeding the operational limits of the
rocket (body to keep it all from breaking apart, and the engines working hard
to keep them on the correct trajectory).

~~~
S_A_P
Thank you for the answer. To those who downvoted- I normally don't comment on
that, but damn it was an honest question and I admitted to having little
knowledge on this and its not like I gave a hot take. Just wanting to learn
something...

------
mchusma
The production quality of the SpaceX feed is amazing and emotional. Right now
(9:40am or so) the bios on the astronauts are great. They have really invested
over their launches in making space inspirational, and this feed is clearly
something they spent a ton of time on.

Very emotionally uplifting, I highly recommend watching the feed now if you
like space.

~~~
ardy42
> The production quality of the SpaceX feed is amazing and emotional. Right
> now (9:40am or so) the bios on the astronauts are great. They have really
> invested over their launches in making space inspirational, and this feed is
> clearly something they spent a ton of time on.

Kinda like a Nike ad.

------
adrow
Anyone know of any other tool like this that might give an idea of where in
the sky to look based on your location?

[https://james.darpinian.com/satellites/?special=starlink-
lat...](https://james.darpinian.com/satellites/?special=starlink-latest)

~~~
bujak3000
[https://www.heavens-
above.com/PassSummary.aspx?satid=71000&l...](https://www.heavens-
above.com/PassSummary.aspx?satid=71000&lat=47.3769&lng=8.5417&loc=Z%c3%bcrich&alt=0&tz=CET)
set your location top right

------
itsspring
They finally announced it publicly:
[https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1265739654810091520](https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1265739654810091520)

------
jcun4128
curious those "NACA-duct-looking" things at the bottom of the capsule doesn't
seem to have any holes... what are they for?

edit: part of controlled airflow maybe when coming down in reverse/re-entry?

~~~
Tuna-Fish
They are the SuperDraco thrusters, for launch escape. There are no holes
because there are covers that get blown away by the thrusters, to protect them
during re-entry if they are not used.

~~~
jcun4128
Ahh that's right I think I've seen footage of them firing before. The cover
thing makes sense, thanks.

------
elteto
How long will the approach to the ISS take?

Previous unmanned Dragon missions take ~1 day to approach and dock but I can't
imagine they will subject the astronauts to the same.

~~~
martythemaniak
Similar - about 18-19hrs before docking. You should be able to watch it live
tomorrow morning.

It's funny that it takes that long, since they _could_ theoretically make it
up there in like half an hour or so. Here's a good overview of what's gonna
happen today:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr_zfpzGxQQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr_zfpzGxQQ)

~~~
elteto
Thanks, that was a really good mission rundown.

On a separate note, it's amazing how Tim has built such a brand in such a
short time, I remember when he started out a couple of years ago.

~~~
iso1631
He's been culturing the persona for about 5 years, and youtubing since 2017

------
tibbydudeza
Last time I was interested in space was the Mars Lander.

Going to ISS is easy afaik but when are we ever going to try landing on the
moon again (don't even talk about Mars).

~~~
Jaruzel
NASA's Artemis project has got you covered on that one:

[https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis/](https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis/)

------
spuz
I wonder if they are using an already used Falcon 9 or a brand new one? Is
there are statistical difference in the reliability of unused vs reused Falcon
9s?

~~~
nickff
This is a brand new one, and I don't think there have been enough launches of
similar (current version/block) new and used first stages to find a
statistically significant difference.

------
code4tee
Good old Florida weather. Will try again Saturday.

------
akeck
Having seen the first shuttle launch and the Challenger and Columbia failures,
I'm both excited and terrified.

------
kilroy123
I hope when they do launch all goes well.

------
sevencolors
When did NASA switch back to the "worm" logo? One of my favorites

------
LoSboccacc
all the best, of course, but isn't this a little premature

~~~
sgt
We're in 2020, this is way overdue.

~~~
LoSboccacc
I didn't mean the go to space part but the boasting about it part

------
sidcool
Are the space suits also designed by SpaceX?

~~~
minkzilla
Yes they are both designed and made by SpaceX. There was a short segment about
them in the official coverage.

~~~
sidcool
Wow. Are these suits comparable to the ones worn by Apollo astronauts?

~~~
rurban
The NASA Orion suits are super ugly IMHO. Very different.
[https://youtu.be/yj6LYpZosRU](https://youtu.be/yj6LYpZosRU)

The xEMU suites even more.

------
ProAm
This is just a link to the SpaceX homepage?

~~~
xeromal
[https://youtu.be/rjb9FdVdX5I](https://youtu.be/rjb9FdVdX5I)

------
sidcool
Why is this called Demo-2?

~~~
jedberg
Demo 1 launched last year. It was an identical mission, docking with the ISS,
but with no crew (only supplies).

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crew_Dragon_Demo-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crew_Dragon_Demo-1)

------
NiceWayToDoIT
launch abort ... pffffffffff

------
holler
Elon Musk is the greatest entrepreneur and coolest billionaire in our
lifetime, change my mind!

~~~
dvh
Bill Gates. Entrepreneur, billionaire, can jump over the chair:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxaCOHT0pmI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxaCOHT0pmI)

~~~
holler
aha! So he IS a human afterall :p

------
jgotti92
canceled?

~~~
rvz
Not really. Postponed for Saturday due to concerns about bad weather.

~~~
jgotti92
Its a pitty, I just started watching live and see that the astronauts already
have boarded. Yeah, its a pitty, but at least can watch the whole procedure
again on Saturday.

------
skyfaller
I have one question/concern: why is almost nobody wearing a mask? Of course
there is no need for people videoconferencing from home to wear masks, but
many of the people in the livestream seem to be physically present on site.
The only people I saw with masks were the people in the black suits helping
the astronauts into the capsule.

Masks seem like an inexpensive way to reduce risk, the CDC and WHO recommend
them. Sure, there are other measures that can reduce transmission, but the
lack of masks makes me concerned that other measures are not being taken,
perhaps because both Elon Musk and Trump have been downplaying the risk of
covid-19 and they are both present today.

