First flight of NASA astronauts from U.S. soil in nearly nine years
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According to NASA’s list of launch commit criteria for the SpaceX crew launch, the flight will not proceed if downrange weather shows a high probability of violating limits at splashdown in the event of a Dragon launch escape maneuver.
I suspect a tropical storm off the Carolinas violates limits.
But this from CBS 3 hours ago
"I would say it's looking OK," said Daniel Forrestel, launch integration manager for NASA's Commercial Crew Program. "I think our biggest risk right now is the weather on the pad. ... But it's never completely risk free downrange."
Launch managers will make a final assessment about 45 minutes before launch when the astronauts would normally arm the abort system a few minutes before fueling begins. If the weather is not favorable, launch will be called off at that point and the team will recycle for a second launch try Saturday at 3:21 p.m.
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Live now:
Link to videoIt's amazing how uncluttered the interior looks, compared with the 1970s tech of the Shuttle.
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I've been watching...very cool all around. From having their suit checks in the same room where the last Shuttle crew got ready, to the drive to the pad via Teslas (not the silver van/bus), to the interior (like @George-K said) which is ridiculously streamlined. Mostly because nearly everything is within the touchscreen. The abort handle is below their middle screen, btw.
Oh and the weather latest...the storm risking today's launch is "eroding" which is good news for a launch decision.
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What’s with all the touch screens? The Navy just dumped them in favor of more manual keyboards and controls... Less chance of error and fewer points of failure if I remember correctly...
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@LuFins-Dad said in First flight of NASA astronauts from U.S. soil in nearly nine years:
What’s with all the touch screens? The Navy just dumped them in favor of more manual keyboards and controls... Less chance of error and fewer points of failure if I remember correctly...
They're cool, don'cha know?
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Me/rry/Christmas
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@LuFins-Dad said in First flight of NASA astronauts from U.S. soil in nearly nine years:
What’s with all the touch screens? The Navy just dumped them in favor of more manual keyboards and controls... Less chance of error and fewer points of failure if I remember correctly...
I don't think the astronauts get much chance to make an error. The flight is all programmed before they get in the capsule. I believe that they only get involved if something out of the ordinary happens.
This capsule model has flown to the Station without crew. The crew isn't needed. But if I remember correctly there was a flight a few months ago that was unsuccessful and they said if a person was on-board they could have fixed the problem. It had to do with the timing of the problem, they did not have the communication they needed to fix it from the ground, but a person could have fixed it on-board.
