Moar SpaceX Goodness
Holy crap, I still use this thing? We'll see if any o' you lot still bother reading it. :D My last entry, several months ago, was about SpaceX and their new Falcon 9 rocket system, and the Dragon capsule that rides atop it. Things have continued to progress with their research and development over the months, and they're doing quite well for themselves. As I already mentioned, late last year they successfully tested a full launch of the rocket and capsule, letting the Dragon spin around the Earth a few times, before coming in for a successful water landing.
Now things have really heated up, and they're engineering a new system for the Dragon. Rather than using a tractor tower launch escape vehicle like what was on the Apollo spacecraft, and the Orion vehicle, SpaceX is developing a system which is built right into the walls of Dragon.
This will allow them to save on weight, and not have to bother with ejecting a heavy and potentially dangerous tower shortly after launch. The escape system will serve double duty, acting as landing jets when the craft comes in for a landing, be that here or on some other planet. They can also use them while in orbit as additional boost and whatnot. The beauty part of keeping them around after a successful launch, is this will allow the Dragon to land on the ground, in a very specific area, rather than in the middle of the ocean. This will likely be a great cost savings, as you can aim for a spaceport, not somewhere a thousand kilometers from land.
SpaceX plans to start doing even more testing, including manned test flights before long. If all goes according to plan, they'll start ferrying astronauts into space in 3 years or less. And at a fraction of the cost compared to firing everyone up on Soyuz rockets.
Read up more on the situation here: http://www.spacex.com/press.php?page=20110419
This all comes with them winning the contract to become the replacement to the space shuttle.
Now things have really heated up, and they're engineering a new system for the Dragon. Rather than using a tractor tower launch escape vehicle like what was on the Apollo spacecraft, and the Orion vehicle, SpaceX is developing a system which is built right into the walls of Dragon.
This will allow them to save on weight, and not have to bother with ejecting a heavy and potentially dangerous tower shortly after launch. The escape system will serve double duty, acting as landing jets when the craft comes in for a landing, be that here or on some other planet. They can also use them while in orbit as additional boost and whatnot. The beauty part of keeping them around after a successful launch, is this will allow the Dragon to land on the ground, in a very specific area, rather than in the middle of the ocean. This will likely be a great cost savings, as you can aim for a spaceport, not somewhere a thousand kilometers from land.
SpaceX plans to start doing even more testing, including manned test flights before long. If all goes according to plan, they'll start ferrying astronauts into space in 3 years or less. And at a fraction of the cost compared to firing everyone up on Soyuz rockets.
Read up more on the situation here: http://www.spacex.com/press.php?page=20110419
This all comes with them winning the contract to become the replacement to the space shuttle.