

First SpaceX launch to supply Space Station is next Sunday - anigbrowl
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2012/sep/HQ_M12-194_NASA_SpaceX_CRS-1_Coverage.html

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InclinedPlane
The previous Dragon cargo flight this year was a demonstration flight, this
one is the first operational resupply mission.

Also relevant, the Cygnus spacecraft from Orbital Sciences Corp. is another
ISS commercial resupply vehicle and is set to have its first demonstration
mission soon (in early 2013). However, unlike the Dragon the Cygnus isn't
designed around a manned capsule system and it burns up on reentry.

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sounds
"I would like to die on Mars," Elon Musk says, "Just not on impact." [1]

Many HN readers may already know, but pay attention to SpaceX. There's nobody
even close to what they're doing, and they aren't slowing down.

[1] [http://www.businessweek.com/printer/articles/71446-elon-
musk...](http://www.businessweek.com/printer/articles/71446-elon-musk-
the-21st-century-industrialist)

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MPSimmons
It's about time we get a launch window before midnight on the East coast.

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jlgreco
The entire concept of an instantaneous launch window is pretty wild.

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TeMPOraL
Can anyone tell why they're having instantaneous launch windows? AFAIR when
NASA was flying Shuttles, the window had a significant size.

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danielweber
The Shuttle probably had similar launch windows for docking with the ISS. You
need to match both the speed and position of the ISS to dock with it.

The ISS is moving at 7.7 km every second; if you miss by 10 seconds, you would
need to (roughly) drop your orbit by 10km, wait 3.6 hours, then climb back up
that 10km to make up for it.

Matching position is even harder. The ISS isn't equatorial. It swings north
and south of the equator in a sinusoid.

It's probably _possible_ to have a computer or pilot dynamically respond to
all these things to make up for them. But easier to just deal with it by
waiting a few days.

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eco
Does anyone know if this will be an arm capture again or if it will it get to
dock directly this time?

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neurotech1
Arm capture for this round. A direct docking may be an option for later
flights, and is planned for manned flights.

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tocomment
What are the advantages/disadvantages of each method?

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alexhawdon
Less risk with an arm capture.

With an arm capture they manoeuvre the craft a safe distance from the ISS then
check it can hold position and move slowly toward/away. When they're satisfied
then they edge it close enough to capture with the arm.

If it docks itself then you have to trust there won't be some weird last-
minute f*ckup causing it to crash into the station.

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tocomment
So why not always do an arm capture?

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sounds
One way of answering your question is that the ISS already has automated
resupply missions: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automated_Transfer_Vehicle>

Secondarily, the limited time & manpower on the station makes streamlining a
resupply mission good sense - as long as there aren't huge risks.

