SpaceX CEO Elon Musk answered questions following the Dragon V2 spacecraft public reveal in Hawthorne California May 29th 2014.
Dragon V2 in the crew configuration it can take 7 passengers and I think something around, if you really cram stuff in, around a ton of pressurized cargo and 2-3 tons of unpressurized cargo.
The Tesla S can take 7 passenger as well.
Spacex is aiming for 10 flights without any significant refurbishment for the Dragon v2. The thing that will have to be refurbished is the main heat shield. Further improved heat shield [later versions of PICA-X] would mean Spacex could aim for 100 reusable flights.
Heat Shield Material started with NASA PICA and Spacex has improved it Three Times
PICA-X v3 is capable of about a kilowatt per square cm, with is a crazy amount, and sustain that for quite a while, in fact is really [limited?] not by the recession rate, but by the conduction of the heat to the back the tile and then potentially damaging the heat shield support structure.
PICA-X v3 can take 5000 degrees F and double the kinetic energy of mach 25 re-entry.
@ 12:20 "Think of the heat shield like a brake pad. The better that material technology is the more uses it can go through. Just like a brake pad on a car eventually it has to be replaced"
There is a full transcript here
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Dragon V2 in the crew configuration it can take 7 passengers and I think something around, if you really cram stuff in, around a ton of pressurized cargo and 2-3 tons of unpressurized cargo.
The Tesla S can take 7 passenger as well.
Spacex is aiming for 10 flights without any significant refurbishment for the Dragon v2. The thing that will have to be refurbished is the main heat shield. Further improved heat shield [later versions of PICA-X] would mean Spacex could aim for 100 reusable flights.
Heat Shield Material started with NASA PICA and Spacex has improved it Three Times
PICA-X v3 is capable of about a kilowatt per square cm, with is a crazy amount, and sustain that for quite a while, in fact is really [limited?] not by the recession rate, but by the conduction of the heat to the back the tile and then potentially damaging the heat shield support structure.
PICA-X v3 can take 5000 degrees F and double the kinetic energy of mach 25 re-entry.
@ 12:20 "Think of the heat shield like a brake pad. The better that material technology is the more uses it can go through. Just like a brake pad on a car eventually it has to be replaced"
There is a full transcript here
Read more »
