Quote:
Originally Posted by DaFace
Original OP:
SpaceX expects manned flight to ISS in 2016-2017
I've always casually paid attention to what SpaceX is up to, but I had no idea they were this far along. I'll post a few articles and videos, but here are the high points:
- It's a three-stage system, and their goal is that ALL THREE will be 100% reusable, dramatically reducing the cost of space flight.
- The crazy thing about that is that the three stages will all land themselves on land (no splashdowns, no parachutes) right back at the launch site.
- The passenger module can handle up to seven crew at a time (compared to 3 for the Soyuz), again increasing the ability to move people back and forth easily.
- As you might imagine, the technology in this thing is way beyond the Shuttle or Soyuz, so in theory, it'll be considerably safer since it can handle more situations automatically.
Here's the announcement page from SpaceX to get you started.
http://www.spacex.com/news/2014/05/3...ned-spacecraft
And here's a general CNN article from CNN with some videos. I'll try and post the good ones.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/29/us/spacex-new-spacecraft/
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Here's an animation of the capsule re-entry and landing:
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OMG?!?!?! You mean we'll actually reach earth orbit again in 2016 because of our incredible effort under Obama to return to space!