Space Stuff and Launch Info

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An interesting case study on how to report news, or how not to.

The Register: SpaceX tries to wash away Texas pollution allegations
The Verge: SpaceX faces accusations it violated the Clean Water Act
Popular Science: SpaceX accused of dumping polluted Starship wastewater in Texas for years (original title: SpaceX accused of dumping mercury into Texas waters for years)
Jalopnik: SpaceX Has Been Polluting Texas Water for Years
and so on.

They are all based on this CNBC article: SpaceX repeatedly polluted waters in Texas this year, regulators found. It claims that there were excessive mercury levels in the water. Where would mercury come from in a system that doesn't use it? No one knows. Actually, we do. The article doesn't cite its source but it is this government document (large PDF). It has the actual measurements on page 177. Mercury: "<0.133μg/l" - below the detection limit. The maximum for drinking water is 2 μg/l, the water SpaceX has is at least an order of magnitude below what you could sell as bottled water. On page 79, the measurements are summarized again, but this time the entry for mercury is given as 133 μg/l. Another measurement had an equivalent error. What is obviously a typo converted a negligible concentration to a problematic one. CNBC didn't care, they found an ecologist who is worried about that "mercury concentration".
SpaceX pointed this out and CNBC updated its article.
Problem solved, right? That would be too easy. Here is the current version. It still quotes the ecologist being worried about mercury, and instead of discussing the actual lab measurement it exclusively quotes the copy of it that has the typo:

SpaceX said in its response on X that there were “no detectable levels of mercury” found in its samples. But SpaceX wrote in its July permit application — under the header Specific Testing Requirements - Table 2 for Outfall: 001 — that its mercury concentration at one outfall location was 113 micrograms per liter.

Is there anything else useful in the article?
* Some people complained about something. Well, shocking.
* A claim that SpaceX operated its water deluge system without authorization. It's not exactly secret when they use it. Certainly a government agency would have told them to stop if that were the case.

 

[Astronuc]

Ongoing saga of not-stranded, just-delayed astronaut crew of the Starliner craft.

NASA delays Boeing Starliner return flight again amid 'major discussion' about astronaut safety​

https://news.yahoo.com/news/nasa-delays-boeing-starliner-return-174851220.html

 

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NASA acknowledges it cannot quantify risk of Starliner propulsion issues

If NASA decides to bring Wilmore and Williams home on Starliner, Bowersox said the agency will have to accept more risk than officials originally expected. NASA officials were unable to quantify how much additional risk the thruster problem might pose to the astronauts if they rode back to Earth inside the spacecraft.

This looks increasingly like an uncrewed return. That is not without risk, but it's a smaller and well-understood risk. Between Starliner undocking and Crew-9 arriving, something like a day to a few days, the emergency escape plan for the Starliner crew would be to hop into the Crew-8 Dragon, with only improvised seats and no pressure suit.
NASA seems to prefer the option where Crew-9 only launches with two astronauts in that case. Not sure who that would be. Flying the commander (Zena Cardman) and the pilot (Nick Hague) would be a logical choice, but then NASA has to kick out the Russian cosmonaut (Aleksandr Gorbunov) because Starliner has a problem. Maybe they fly with the commander and Gorbunov.

If Hague gets removed from the crew, it will be the second time he doesn't get to the ISS. He launched on Soyuz MS-10 which had to abort and didn't reach orbit (he made a successful trip later).

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Boeing, Lockheed Martin in talks to sell rocket-launch firm ULA to Sierra Space

A deal could value ULA at around $2 billion to $3 billion, the sources said.

This is almost for free. Rocket Lab has a higher market cap despite only launching Electron and building some satellite components at the moment. Someone is very pessimistic about the future of ULA if that number is right.

 

[Astronuc]

WSJ - NASA's Plan B: Why SpaceX Could Finish Boeing’s Starliner Mission
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/video/nasas-plan-b-why-spacex-110000526.html

NYTimes - Stranded in Space? NASA Doesn’t See the Starliner Astronauts That Way.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/stranded-space-nasa-doesn-t-142109496.html

Not stranded, just delayed. Meanwhile, they have nice views.

 

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German rocket blows up British soil for first time since 1945! Source[/size]

Rocket Factory Augsburg performed a static fire test with the first stage of their new rocket at their launch site in northern Scotland, but something went wrong and the stage got destroyed in a big fire and explosions. Statement by the company
BBC has a video.
This rocket was supposed to make its first flight within 2 months or so, now they have to find out what went wrong and build a new first stage.

--

If Crew-9 launches with just two astronauts, it's going to be Cardman and Gorbunov - keeping the commander and the seat swap agreement. It would mean Nick Hague misses a ride to the ISS for the second time, but at least without excessive g-forces from an abort here.

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Polaris Dawn is still planned for August 26, just a week away.
Mission briefing
Short summary

 

[Astronuc]

NASA says decision on Boeing Starliner crew's path home coming Saturday​

https://www.reuters.com/technology/...r-crews-path-home-coming-saturday-2024-08-22/

 

[Vanadium 50]

At this point I think the folks at Boeing are actively going out of their way to make this even more of a fiasco

It's the McDonnell-Douglas way. "So, you want your boys back on the ground? We can do that....but the price just went up."

 

[Filip Larsen]

https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/...tarliner-heres-what-we-know-and-what-we-dont/

On the eve of this fateful decision, the most consequential human spaceflight safety determination NASA has had to make in more than two decades, Ars has put together a summary of what we know, what we believe to be true, and what remains yet unknown.

 

[nsaspook]

 

[mfb]

Eric Berger:

I'm now hearing from multiple people that Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will come back to Earth on Crew Dragon. It's not official, and won't be until NASA says so. Still, it is shocking to think about. I mean, Dragon is named after Puff the Magic Dragon. This industry is wild.

The commercial crew contracts in 2014 wouldn't have happened without Boeing. Only they were trusted enough to make NASA take that risk, with SpaceX seen as wildcard who might or might not deliver. By 2017-2019 that looked like an even race. SpaceX was the first to make an uncrewed flight in March 2019 but then had that capsule explode on the ground in a test the following month. By late 2019, both seemed on track for a crewed mission in mid 2020.

- SpaceX did that, reaching the ISS in May 2020 and starting routine crew missions after that.
- Boeing screwed up its uncrewed flight test in December 2019, needed until May 2022 to make another one, and only flew crew in July 2024. Now they can't even return that crew safely and their direct competitor has to help.

Will be interesting to see what happens to the Starliner program next. Would NASA request another uncrewed flight (delivering cargo, it won't be useless)? Will Boeing keep spending money on it, or cut its losses?


Phil McAlister, chief of the Commercial Space Division, has been replaced. This division includes the Commercial Crew program. No official reason given, but it's easy to make guesses.

 

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NASA press conference (ongoing)
They confirmed that Starliner will return without crew.
Dragon Crew-9 will fly with two astronauts and the Starliner crew will transfer to Crew-9, returning in early 2025. The 8 day mission will last 8 months.

Many references to the two Space Shuttle accidents, explaining why NASA is more cautious now.
No decision on how to proceed afterwards yet, they'll return the vehicle and do more tests on the ground and then decide what to do.

A lot of political damage control as well, calling it a test mission frequently.

 

[Astronuc]

NASA decision against using a Boeing capsule to bring astronauts back adds to company's problems
https://apnews.com/article/boeing-s...usiness-nasa-8e5f6414629efcc0a78d43fb9c778333

NASA’s announcement Saturday that it won’t use a troubled Boeing capsule to return two stranded astronauts to Earth is a yet another setback for the struggling company, although the financial damage is likely to be less than the reputational harm.

Once a symbol of American engineering and technological prowess, Boeing has seen its reputation battered since two 737 Max airliners crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people. The safety of its products came under renewed scrutiny after a panel blew out of a Max during a flight this January.

And now NASA has decided that it is safer to keep the astronauts in space until February rather than risk using the Boeing Starliner capsule that delivered them to the international space station. The capsule has been plagued by problems with its propulsion system.

https://apnews.com/article/boeing-spacex-nasa-astronauts-starliner-e4e81e5a6c23dee2f8f72260ddea011c

 

[mfb]

Polaris Dawn has been shifted by 1 day because the launch pad has a helium leak.

The new target is now 3:38 a.m. EDT (07:38 GMT) on Wednesday, in 1 day and 6 hours.

 

[Astronuc]

A different Dawn - A spaceplane breaks barriers, reaching incredible heights and speeds
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/oth...ing-incredible-heights-and-speeds/ar-AA1pvkxu

Dawn Aerospace, based in Christchurch, New Zealand, is making waves in the aerospace industry with its groundbreaking approach to creating a reusable spaceplane. But why should this matter to you? Imagine a future where space travel is as routine and affordable as flying across the country. This is the vision Dawn Aerospace is working towards, and its recent achievements bring us one step closer to that reality.

Dawn Aerospace's latest test flight, conducted as part of its Campaign 2-2 development program, saw its uncrewed Mk-II rocket-powered aircraft reach transonic speeds of Mach 0.92 and an altitude of 50,000 feet (15.24 km).

This achievement represents a substantial enhancement in performance, with improvements of three to five times compared to previous metrics. The company is now ready to begin Campaign 2-3 in September, where it hopes to achieve supersonic flight for the first time. The overarching goal is to create a spaceplane that combines the performance of a first-stage rocket with the predictability and rapid turnaround of a conventional aircraft.

 

[Tom.G]

Eric Berger:I'm now hearing from multiple people that Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will come back to Earth on Crew Dragon. It's not official, and won't be until NASA says so. Still, it is shocking to think about. I mean, Dragon is named after Puff the Magic Dragon. This industry is wild.

I'm assuming that the "Puff the Magic Dragon" reference is to the song by that name.

That song is about the helicopter gunships used in the Vietnam war. I did a small amount of work in the development of that minigun. Most of my project job was for the Daddy of that minigun, the Vulcan anticraft gun. That's a Gatling-gun-style gun developed at the General Electric Missile and Armament division which fired explosive rounds, at several thousand rounds a minute. The minigun on the helicopters were several times faster!

Somehow, I fail to see the connection between the Starliner spacecraft and some rather extraordinary military armament.

Oh well.

 

[mfb]

That song is about the helicopter gunships used in the Vietnam war.

The song is about growing up and getting older and has nothing to do with Vietnam, American troops used the existing song after it became popular.

A different Dawn - A spaceplane breaks barriers, reaching incredible heights and speeds
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/oth...ing-incredible-heights-and-speeds/ar-AA1pvkxu

Having a flying vehicle after spending just $10 million is incredible.

Meanwhile NASA will spend $2.7 billion on scaffolding on wheels, i.e. the mobile launch tower for SLS Block 1B.
For comparison, the whole Starship HLS contract is $2.9 billion for developing a new rocket, launching it repeatedly and landing it on the Moon twice, with and without crew.

SpaceX Starlink will provide emergency services access for mobile phones for people in distress for free.

This applies worldwide, subject to approval by country governments.

Tweet
This will close all gaps in emergency cell phone coverage, as long as you have a view of the sky (and government approval).

 

[Tom.G]

I'm assuming that the "Puff the Magic Dragon" reference is to the song by that name.

That song is about the helicopter gunships used in the Vietnam war.

The song is about growing up and getting older and has nothing to do with Vietnam, American troops used the existing song after it became popular.

Thanks for the clarification @mfb.

I first heard the song a few years after the minigun developement. The lyrics so well described the gunships and their usage that I was surprised the song was even written!

Guess I'll just chalk it up to parallel evolution. (or something)

 

[Astronuc]

The song is about growing up and getting older and has nothing to do with Vietnam, American troops used the existing song after it became popular.

Thanks for the clarification @mfb.

Indeed. The song was written by Peter Yarrow (in or before 1962) from a poem by Leonard Lipton (Lipton wrote a poem about a dragon in 1959) and sung by the trio Peter, Paul and Mary. It was recorded in 1962 and released January 1963. I remember the song since my parents were big fans of Peter, Paul and Mary, and I probably heard it in 1963.
Lipton cited in the article linked by mfb.

The AC-47 (modified C-47) aircraft started production in 1963 with first flight in 1964 and was deployed at the end of 1964. "Puff" was the call sign of one of the aircraft.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_AC-47_Spooky

 

[mfb]

The helium leak has been fixed but bad weather in a possible recovery area shifts the launch of Polaris Dawn by at least two more days.

 

[Filip Larsen]

That song is about the helicopter gunships used in the Vietnam war.

As I understand from Wikipedia the gunship was nicknamed after the song, not the other way around. Understandably, people who are familiar with the gunship may have unpleasant associations with that song title, but I doubt Musk who originally named the capsule "Magic Dragon" includes himself in that group. Rather he seem to have gone for the songs (speculative) association with drug use.

Strangely when I replied to Tom's post (just after browsing to the thread) there was no other replies until I pressed post, then several hours old showed up. Not sure what happened there.

 

[Borg]

And here I figured it was about smoking pot.

 

[Astronuc]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/nasa-more-disappointing-news-stranded-183029020.html
Time magazines expose on the delay in returning 2 astronauts from ISS to earth.

NASA astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, won’t be coming home [from the ISS] anytime soon. During a press conference at the Kennedy Space Center on Saturday, Aug. 24, NASA administrator Bill Nelson announced that the space agency was giving up on the idea of bringing Wilmore and Williams home aboard their balky Boeing Starliner spacecraft—which has been experiencing thruster problems since its launch on June 5. Instead, the Starliner will be flown home uncrewed, and Wilmore and Williams will hitch a ride back to Earth aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, which will launch to the ISS in September for a five-month station stay, returning in February. This extends what was supposed to be an eight-day ISS rotation for Wilmore and Williams to a whopping eight months.

“NASA has worked very hard with Boeing to reach this decision,” Nelson said. “The decision is a result of a commitment to safety.”

The ruling rested on what NASA calls a flight readiness review (FRR). As agency brass explained at an Aug. 14 news conference, FRR’s are typically held before launch, when officials gather for a final go or no-go on the planned mission.

“We bring in representatives from all of the related centers, the technical authorities, the NASA engineering, and safety center flight operations,” explained Ken Bowersox, a former astronaut and an associate administrator for NASA’s space operations mission directorate. “We listen to the status of the mission, go through some special topics, and then we poll everybody at the end on whether or not they think we're ready to undertake the mission.”

NASA administrator describes call with Boeing CEO regarding stranded astronauts
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/video/nasa-administrator-describes-call-boeing-180915676.html

 

[mfb]

A Falcon 9 booster tipped over when landing on a drone ship. The first landing failure after 267 successes in a row. In some sense it was the opposite to last month where the landing was successful but the main mission was not. This launch delivered the payload to the right orbit but the landing failed.

This was the 23rd flight of the booster, a new record. It previously launched Inspiration4 and also the first Axiom mission to the ISS.

Here at 14:15 stream time

News

This will likely delay Falcon 9 launches, although the delay might just be days, or even non-existent for important missions. They can always fly without landing hardware if needed.

 

[berkeman]

A Falcon 9 booster tipped over when landing on a drone ship.

So far the FAA is calling it a crash landing that led to the tipover:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/spacex-falcon-9-grounded-faa-crash-landing/

The Federal Aviation Administration has grounded SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets pending an investigation to determine what caused a first-stage booster to crash onto a landing barge early Wednesday after helping launch another batch of Starlink internet satellites.

 

[.Scott]

One statement by the FAA is published in this FAA incident list.
It states:

The FAA is aware an anomaly occurred during the SpaceX Starlink Group 8-6 mission that launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Aug. 28.

The incident involved the failure of the Falcon 9 booster rocket while landing on a droneship at sea. No public injuries or public property damage have been reported. The FAA is requiring an investigation.

This was the 23rd landing of booster B1062 and the mode of landing requires that the landing legs absorb significant momentum (unlike the Starship plans). So, of course, the first thought is the landing gear failed out of simple fatigue.

But the FAA is very widely quoted as stating that they wanted to "identify corrective actions to avoid it from happening again". It is certainly important to know for sure what caused the failure and how it did it. At a minimum, it would indicate how other landing legs should be inspected and/or replaced. In the most valuable case, it might show that the root cause was in an entirely different system - one that could fail earlier in the mission.

But in this case, presuming that the FAA has an interest in "avoiding it from happening again" is premature. If the failure is limited to the landing leg, SpaceX may, for reasons of economy, want to prevent it from reoccurring, but the FAA should be satisfied that it is a contained failure.

 

[nsaspook]

 

[.Scott]

On the subject of the Starliner crew: I have to wonder if NASA had a bit of tunnel vision on this safety matter. The worse-case-scenario was not the loss of one or two crew members adrift in orbit. It is the failure of Starliner to properly distance itself from the ISS - and ultimately collide with it. The current plan is for Boeing to reprogram Starliner systems to perform this separation autonomously - presumably with procedural contingencies coded up to adapt to likely RCS thruster failures.

If I was the software engineer expected to put this package together, I would want to know what my starting point was. Are there already software simulators that can be readily modified to simulate different RCS thruster failure combinations? If not, this would be safety-critical software that needs to be put in place before the Starliner "fix" can be released. And, under appropriate software safety rules, this sort of project is generally months-long.

Will Boeing show the same dedication to safety-critical software development that they have demonstrated on their 737 MAX MCAS system development ?

 

[Tom.G]

Will Boeing show the same dedication to safety-critical software development that they have demonstrated on their 737 MAX MCAS system development ?

If you want to know where sombody is going, check the direction of their tracks in the snow.

 

[mfb]

Took just one day: The FAA approved the return to flight for Falcon 9. No surprise here. The FAA is concerned about a risk to the public, a risk to the drone ship is up to SpaceX.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 vehicle may return to flight operations while the overall investigation of the anomaly during the Starlink Group 8-6 mission remains open, provided all other license requirements are met. SpaceX made the return to flight request on Aug. 29 and the FAA gave approval on Aug. 30.

The weather is still bad, no new date for Polaris Dawn yet.

Edit: Two Starlink launches have flown now.

NASA has selected Nick Hague to fly on Crew-9 (with Aleksandr Gorbunov). Gorbunov had to stay on the crew to satisfy the seat swap agreement with Russia, but who would stay from NASA wasn't so clear. Zena Cardman as commander would have been the natural choice, but then neither crew member would have previous spaceflight experience. That works - Inspiration4 had an all-rookie crew with less training - but it's not ideal.
Cardman and Wilson might be flying on Crew-11 next summer.

 

[jrmichler]

Boeing executives reaction to the decision to bring back the Starliner empty, and have SpaceX bring back the astronauts, was to descend into yelling: https://nypost.com/2024/08/30/us-ne...ome-stranded-astronauts-in-starliner-sources/. A quote from that article:

Days after NASA announced that two astronauts had been stranded on the International Space Station, the space agency had a series of contentious meetings with Boeing to determine how to bring them back to Earth, sources at both Boeing and NASA told The Post.

The meetings — attended by senior-level employees on both sides — were tense, and often descended into yelling and arguments, sources said.

“Boeing was convinced that the Starliner was in good enough condition to bring the astronauts home, and NASA disagreed. Strongly disagreed.

“The thinking around here was that Boeing was being wildly irresponsible.”

The Boeing track record on the Starliner program is consistent with a big company that has fallen into complacency. Complacency caused General Motors to file bankruptcy in 2009, General Electric to dramatically shrink, IBM to lay off 60,000 people in 1993, Chrysler to file bankruptcy in 2009, and forced me to find a new job in 2000. Complacency starts with the head person in charge, infects the entire organization, and takes years to cure.

 

[mfb]

The Starliner spacecraft has started to emit strange noises
Is it haunted?
Here is the sound
It's scheduled to undock September 6.

The second flight of Vulcan is scheduled for September 16. It was supposed to fly Dream Chaser but that spacecraft needs more time. ULA has decided to fly an empty rocket (some dummy mass) - it needs a second flight to get certified for national security launches as soon as possible or ULA will lose more launches to SpaceX.

 

[berkeman]

Here is the sound

Sounds like there's a stowaway in the craft banging with a wrench to get help...

 

[Vanadium 50]

descend into yelling:

You've got to love the Post. (Best headline ever: Headless body in topless bar)

There is no way to make Starliner's track record look good.

I find the noises very disturbing.

 

[Tom.G]

Here is an update from:
https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/...an-emitting-strange-sonar-noises-on-saturday/

Sept. 2 Update: NASA issued the following explanation on Monday for the strange noises: "A pulsing sound from a speaker in Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft heard by NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore aboard the International Space Station has stopped. The feedback from the speaker was the result of an audio configuration between the space station and Starliner. The space station audio system is complex, allowing multiple spacecraft and modules to be interconnected, and it is common to experience noise and feedback."

Cheers,
Tom

 

[gleem]

The Polaris Dawn launch is now scheduled for this Friday, Sept. 6, in a four-hour window starting at 3:33 a.m. EDT.

 

[mfb]

1 day and 2 hours until Polaris Dawn
Edit: Delayed again to Monday

The last original Vega rocket flew a few hours ago. It started with 14 successful launches and was a great example that you can design rockets that don't need to fail before becoming reliable - but the failures of the 15th and 17th launch ruined that. It retires with a 20/22 track record. Its upgrade Vega-C will stay flying (1 success, 1 failure so far).

Blue Origin is in a race against the clock. The first flight of New Glenn is planned to launch EscaPADE, two smaller satellites, to Mars. The nominal launch date is October 13. The window extends a bit beyond that - they can probably launch a week earlier, and maybe even towards the end of October - but there isn't much room for delays.
Most rockets take months from integration to their first launch. SLS had its first wet dress rehearsal attempt 9 months before launch. ULA had Vulcan hardware on the launch pad 10 months before launch. Ariane 6 performed a static fire test 8 months before launch. Starship performed static fire tests and wet dress rehearsals for months before the first flight. Falcon Heavy flew 6 weeks after arriving at launch pad - but its components were well-known from Falcon 9.
Blue Origin is still stacking the hardware for the first rocket. Launching that in 5 weeks would be an unprecedented pace for a new rocket. Tweets like this aren't exactly helping. The time until the launch is sufficient to install engines?

 

[mfb]

Watch Starliner undock (starting in 2 hours):



Some earlier coverage here:



It's planned to land in southern New Mexico, coming from Mexico, visibility from the US will likely be minimal to non-existent.

 

[mfb]

Starliner undocking in 10 minutes.

NASA Stands Down from October Launch for ESCAPADE to Mars
The spacecraft would need to be fueled now for an October launch, but removing that fuel again if the launch is delayed would be awkward. NASA looked at the chance of New Glenn making it for October and concluded that it's too unlikely to happen. Not surprising.
Another possible launch window opens in early 2025, with a different (slower) path to Mars.

 

[.Scott]

At 18:10, the Starliner separated 6 minutes ago and the first ten of the twelve sets of thruster burns has been uneventful. Starliner is more than 150 meters away from the station.
A minute later, all break out burns were completed successfully and had exited the 200M keep out sphere.
At 18:13, it was reported that Starliner was in an orbit that would take its closest approach to the station further and further on each orbit. So it has accomplished its departure objective.

 

[berkeman]

What is this view showing?

 

[.Scott]

It shows the Starliner outside the 200M keep-out sphere. I believe the gray arrow is showing its velocity relative to the station. The yellow arrow is likely to be the direction of orbital motion.
On top-right is the Starliner elevation trajectory relative to the space station.

 

[mfb]

The sphere should be the keep-out sphere with a radius of 200 meters. Every spacecraft orbit needs to stay outside that sphere unless the spacecraft is moving very slow compared to the ISS and it has been verified that everything is working properly.

Edit: Yes, the foreground image is Starliner, looking into the service module.

 

[berkeman]

Ah, now the view makes more sense as Starliner has rotated so I can see it in the image. And I guess the sphere is the keep-out sphere...

 

[.Scott]

They just announced that Starliner has exited the exit approach ellipsoid and is basically on its own. It can maneuver without coordination with NASA.

 

[mfb]

Landed without issues on the way down.

 

[mfb]

2 hours 20 minutes until the launch of Polaris Dawn. The crew is in the capsule. Watch live.

 

[mfb]

Delayed due to bad launch weather, another possible attempt in 2 hours 15 minutes from now but again with a bad weather forecast. A large chance that they have to try again tomorrow.

Edit: T-10 minutes, weather looks good, rocket is being fueled.

Edit: Liftoff!

Edit: Successful launch. The crew should be close to apogee now, 45 minutes after launch.

https://www.spacex.com/follow-dragon

 

[mfb]

There are 19 people in orbit for the first time. The previous record was 17.

12 are on the ISS:
* 3 from Soyuz MS-26 (launched yesterday, new ISS crew members)
* 3 who will leave on Soyuz MS-25 (departing ISS crew members)
* 4 from Dragon Crew-8 (ISS crew)
* 2 from Starliner (unplanned ISS crew)

3 on Tiangong
4 on Polaris Dawn

In some sense, Boeing made this record possible.

Oleg Kononenko has become the first astronaut to spend over 1000 days, and over 3 years, in space. He'll leave later this month.

Polaris Dawn is on track for the EVA
Live coverage: https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1OyJAZnwZqLxb

 

[mfb]

Suits are pressurized, awaiting venting of the cabin air in 10 minutes.
https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1OyJAZnwZqLxb

 

[mfb]

Isaacman outside in space. Camera placement could be improved, we always see him from the back. It's mounted on the nose cone, and the rails are going away from the cone.

Edit: Gillis was out as well, tested the suit and went in again, they repressurize the capsule now.

Edit2: EVA done. Everything was successful.