5 ms·
are they going to send a 'test run' HLS first? like, completely computer controlled, to stick the landing?
by abledon 3y ago
are they going to send a 'test run' HLS first? like, completely computer controlled, to stick the landing?
- bryanlarsen 3y agoYes, that is a condition in NASA's contract with SpaceX. It is currently scheduled for 2025.
- adonovan 3y agoAstronauts must be nervous stepping onto the first manned flight of a new craft that has a 100% success rate in the sole previous flight, but might have only a 50% success rate by the end of their mission...
- eagerpace 3y agoI don't think nervous is the right word. It's kind of the whole thing test pilots live for.
- fragmede 3y agothe word for nervous and happy is excited
- amethyst 3y agoImagine being on STS-1, piloting a shuttle that had literally never been to space before in any form. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-1
- seer 3y agoWell at least they would have no one else to blame but themselves. As far as I remember it was the pilots that insisted on the shuttle to be not be 100% automated, so they had to do it this way. The soviets just made the whole shuttle automated so it could be tested without risk to crew.
- dotnet00 3y agoOr similarly with Orion, which has never been to space with a fully functioning life support system, and will not be until it carries a crew.
- BHSPitMonkey 3y agoApart from STS-1, we also have the even more recent/relevant SpaceX example of this happening: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crew_Dragon_Demo-2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crew_Dragon_Demo-2 With both Crew Dragon and Starship, there will have been _many_ successful missions involving un-crewed variants of the spacecraft (Falcon 9 and Cargo Dragon were both well-proven systems before crew was a possibility).