Some details on the cause of the Dragon/Falcon 9 launch delay
Bill Harward has some details on the cause of the Dragon/Falcon 9 launch delay.
Essentially, nothing seems critical. They found a few minor issues that they felt needed more testing, and are simply making sure these issues are resolved before launch. All in all I find this report very encouraging. Stay tuned.
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Bill Harward has some details on the cause of the Dragon/Falcon 9 launch delay.
Essentially, nothing seems critical. They found a few minor issues that they felt needed more testing, and are simply making sure these issues are resolved before launch. All in all I find this report very encouraging. Stay tuned.
Readers!
My annual February birthday fund-raising drive for Behind the Black is now over. Thank you to everyone who donated or subscribed. While not a record-setter, the donations were more than sufficient and slightly above average.
As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
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Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Bottonline – they got sloppy and forgot to do some tests, and didn’t find out in time to make the launch.
Oddly their talking about this taking 2 months + or – a couple weeks to wrap up and reschedule a slot in the ISS’ schedule?
And of course thats from SpaceX anouncements, so their might (as in the past) be more.
Intersting the line about
>… a $1.6 billion contract with NASA to provide 12 cargo flights to the station for delivery of more than 44,000 pounds
That’s $133m a flight for a 3,700 pound cargo, or $36,000 a pound to LEO. Pricy!!
I have said this before, so I will restate it one more time. The Fall dry run for the final review for this potential launch went very badly on a number of fronts both SW and HW. The fact that the linked article notes “NASA dispatched a veteran flight director and trajectory analysts to Hawthorne to help SpaceX get to the bottom of the issue” should indicate how serious at least some of the problems are. Exactly when the test flight will now take place (note no new flight date has been set) is an interesting question. But this is not a minor issue.
If the fall dry run went so badly – they should have known a lot sooner then January that February wasn’t going to happen. Assuming the same over optimism that lead them to keep thinking they could make Feb is still there, March/April may well be overly hopefull.
I’m also concerned with their phrasing this as a few things they want to make better, rather then stepping up and saying their were unacceptable issues that needed to be resolved. Given spaceX is runing as much on investor faith in Musk as any real business numbers – if he/SpaceX disappoint them – the bottom could start falling out of that unquestioning investor support.