SpaceX planning next launch for November - going to dock with ISS

In article om,
says...

Jeff Findley wrote:

It is extremely unlikely that both the Soyuz and ISS would be completely
disabled by space debris.

I am not sure NASA or any space agency can plan this way.

Consider a compromised PMA1 and Zarya. The crew on either side would not
be able to access the Soyuz docked to Zarya.

For smallish holes, caused by micrometeorites big enough to penetrate
the pressure vessel, ISS won't depressurize completely for a long time.
Plenty of time to close hatches (to keep the remaining modules
pressurized) and get to Soyuz.

For large holes, where depressurization happens rapidly, the damage is
going to be so bad that having a few extra Soyuz "lifeboats" won't help
much. I'm envisioning shock waves and shrapnel killing the crew before
lack of oxygen.

Jeff
--
" Ares 1 is a prime example of the fact that NASA just can't get it
up anymore... and when they can, it doesn't stay up long. "
- tinker

On 8/18/2011 5:51 PM, JF Mezei wrote:
Alan Erskine wrote:
http://www.spacex.com/updates.php


OK, I am impressed with their progress.

Out of curiosity. how uch is NASA paying for such launches ? We know
that a shuttle launch was roughly $400 million. Would be interestin to
know how much for a falcon 9 launch. (and how much would NASA be paying
for a Progress launch ?)

SpaceX's current launch prices are low enough that it is irritating the
hell out of the traditional players. They also publish their prices,
rather than hiding in secret negotiations. And they are making money.

On Sep 23, 6:42*am, Trey wrote:
On 8/18/2011 5:51 PM, JF Mezei wrote:

Alan Erskine wrote:
http://www.spacex.com/updates.php

OK, I am impressed with their progress.

Out of curiosity. how uch is NASA paying for such launches ? We know
that a shuttle launch was roughly $400 million. Would be interestin to
know how much for a falcon 9 launch. (and how much would NASA be paying
for a Progress launch ?)

SpaceX's current launch prices are low enough that it is irritating the
hell out of the traditional players. *They also publish their prices,
rather than hiding in secret negotiations. *And they are making money.

each shuttle launch cost about 1.5 BILLION.

Total lifetime cost of program divided by number of flights

On 24/09/2011 3:09 AM, JF Mezei wrote:
bob haller wrote:

each shuttle launch cost about 1.5 BILLION.

Total lifetime cost of program divided by number of flights


Had the shuttle been in continous development and upgrades, the cost
might have been lower because of improvements made with each new shuttle
being built, and a program that would have lasted longer because old
shuttles would get retired and replaced by newer builds.

So the initial R&D would be spread over a much longer period and thus
mor flights.

When you do that, there's also the R&D that goes into the modifications
and developments.