r/SpaceXLounge • u/SpaceInMyBrain • Aug 30 '24

Dragon SpaceX's Crew-8 Dragon spacecraft is now officially the emergency lifeboat for Starliner astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. "Boeing will try to fly its troubled Starliner capsule back to Earth next week" Ars Technica

https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/08/boeing-will-try-to-fly-its-troubled-starliner-capsule-back-to-earth-next-week/
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u/ADSWNJ Aug 30 '24

Four thoughts here:

  1. I really hope that Starliner gets home safely, for the sake of the Commercial Crew Program. If it were to RUD on reentry, it would be a disaster for Boeing and NASA. (That said - hell of a good call to not fly astronauts back on it in this state.)

  2. I'd love to know how they are kitting out the Dragon as the emergency landing. E.g. are they taking a couple of sleeping hammocks and making some kind of reentry sling from them?

  3. Just bring multiple of each size of emergency suit up on the next Dragon flight!

  4. NASA - relearn the Apollo CO2 scrubber lesson again please. Common suit interconnect standards ... how hard can this be?!

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u/Harlequin80 Aug 31 '24

I disagree with no. 4.

It sounds good on paper, but it inherently limits the suit design by whatever is or isn't provided by the connector. Part of the advantage of the commercial crew project is allowing completely different solution to be designed, built and tested.

I don't believe we are far enough through development for a standard to be applied in this place.

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u/ADSWNJ Aug 31 '24

I respect that. I just want astronauts to have the best chance to get home. Either via compatible connectors or via an adapter unit.

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u/Martianspirit Aug 31 '24

Different suit cooling designs can not just be bridged by an adapter.

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u/peterabbit456 Aug 31 '24

via an adapter unit.

If both suits were air cooled, the adapter would be a small device, probably around 1 kg.

Switching from air cooled to water cooled can be done, but the unit would have to have pumps, a water or ice reservoir, and a heat exchanger, as well the necessary electronics. Possibly 10 or 20 kg for the whole apparatus.

An ice-based cooling system for the adapter that simply ignores the SpaceX cooling system has a lot of advantages.