Post by swamprat on Feb 27, 2017 13:14:39 GMT -6
Elon Musk Says SpaceX Will Make an Announcement Today!
By Tariq Malik, Space.com Managing Editor
February 27, 2017
Billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk says his private spaceflight company SpaceX will make an announcement Monday (Feb. 27), but exactly what will be announced is a mystery.
In a Twitter post last night, Musk offered a tantalizing hint of something new coming from SpaceX: "SpaceX announcement tomorrow at 1 p.m. PST," Musk wrote on Twitter. That pegs the reveal for 4 p.m. EST (2100 GMT) if, like Space.com here, you're in an Eastern time zone.
An inquiry to SpaceX representatives last night yielded little more than a tantalizing "stay tuned" response. So we're on pins and needles waiting to hear what the private spaceflight company will be unveiling today. Here are some possibilities that come to mind:
First Crew Dragon test flight date (unpiloted): Earlier this month, ahead of SpaceX's first Dragon launch from NASA's Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Floriday, company president Gwynne Shotwell hinted that the company was aiming for the first uncrewed launched of its Crew Dragon spacecraft near the end of the year. Could the date be set?
Dragon spacesuits: NASA has tapped SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft to fly American astronauts to and from the International Space Station, but SpaceX has not yet unveiled its spacesuit design for the seven-person space capsule. Boeing, which will also fly astronauts for NASA, unveiled its Boeing Blue spacesuit last month. During her talk with reporters at Launch Pad 39A this month, Shotwell hinted that SpaceX spacesuits would be pretty cool to see.
Dragon final interior design: We do know that NASA astronauts have been practicing with SpaceX's Dragon flight controls setup because NASA has posted a series of photos of the session.
Falcon Heavy test flight date: The Falcon Heavy, SpaceX's new heavy-lift rocket, which looks like three Falcon 9 boosters strapped together, is scheduled for a debut test flight sometime this year. Could it be ready to announce a target date.
Reusable rocket announcement: SpaceX has pioneered commercial reusable rocket technology and is expected to launch the first reused Falcon 9 rocket booster in March during a commercial satellite launch. Could something else be in the works?
New launch site: SpaceX currently has two launch sites in Florida (NASA's Launch Pad 39A and a pad under repair at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station); as well as a pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. But the company has also been hard at work building its own launch site in Brownsville, Texas. Is it time for an update on that new private spaceport?
Satellite fleet: SpaceX is planning to build a constellation of 4,000 broadband satellites in a factory in Seattle. Could that be what today's about?
And finally...
Something about Mars: SpaceX and Mars go together like peanut butter and jelly. Musk has often said that he wants to make a colony on Mars possible to make humanity a two-planet species. Last year, he unveiled SpaceX's concept for an Interplanetary Transport System that would use a fleet of giant reusable spacecraft to ferry colonists to Mars hundreds at a time. In the near term, SpaceX is also drawing up plans to send an uncrewed Dragon capsule to Mars in the next few years. Could a new Red Planet reveal come today?
Those are just some of the possibilities that Elon Musk and SpaceX could unveil today.
www.space.com/35844-elon-musk-spacex-announcement-today.html
By Tariq Malik, Space.com Managing Editor
February 27, 2017
Billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk says his private spaceflight company SpaceX will make an announcement Monday (Feb. 27), but exactly what will be announced is a mystery.
In a Twitter post last night, Musk offered a tantalizing hint of something new coming from SpaceX: "SpaceX announcement tomorrow at 1 p.m. PST," Musk wrote on Twitter. That pegs the reveal for 4 p.m. EST (2100 GMT) if, like Space.com here, you're in an Eastern time zone.
An inquiry to SpaceX representatives last night yielded little more than a tantalizing "stay tuned" response. So we're on pins and needles waiting to hear what the private spaceflight company will be unveiling today. Here are some possibilities that come to mind:
First Crew Dragon test flight date (unpiloted): Earlier this month, ahead of SpaceX's first Dragon launch from NASA's Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Floriday, company president Gwynne Shotwell hinted that the company was aiming for the first uncrewed launched of its Crew Dragon spacecraft near the end of the year. Could the date be set?
Dragon spacesuits: NASA has tapped SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft to fly American astronauts to and from the International Space Station, but SpaceX has not yet unveiled its spacesuit design for the seven-person space capsule. Boeing, which will also fly astronauts for NASA, unveiled its Boeing Blue spacesuit last month. During her talk with reporters at Launch Pad 39A this month, Shotwell hinted that SpaceX spacesuits would be pretty cool to see.
Dragon final interior design: We do know that NASA astronauts have been practicing with SpaceX's Dragon flight controls setup because NASA has posted a series of photos of the session.
Falcon Heavy test flight date: The Falcon Heavy, SpaceX's new heavy-lift rocket, which looks like three Falcon 9 boosters strapped together, is scheduled for a debut test flight sometime this year. Could it be ready to announce a target date.
Reusable rocket announcement: SpaceX has pioneered commercial reusable rocket technology and is expected to launch the first reused Falcon 9 rocket booster in March during a commercial satellite launch. Could something else be in the works?
New launch site: SpaceX currently has two launch sites in Florida (NASA's Launch Pad 39A and a pad under repair at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station); as well as a pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. But the company has also been hard at work building its own launch site in Brownsville, Texas. Is it time for an update on that new private spaceport?
Satellite fleet: SpaceX is planning to build a constellation of 4,000 broadband satellites in a factory in Seattle. Could that be what today's about?
And finally...
Something about Mars: SpaceX and Mars go together like peanut butter and jelly. Musk has often said that he wants to make a colony on Mars possible to make humanity a two-planet species. Last year, he unveiled SpaceX's concept for an Interplanetary Transport System that would use a fleet of giant reusable spacecraft to ferry colonists to Mars hundreds at a time. In the near term, SpaceX is also drawing up plans to send an uncrewed Dragon capsule to Mars in the next few years. Could a new Red Planet reveal come today?
Those are just some of the possibilities that Elon Musk and SpaceX could unveil today.
www.space.com/35844-elon-musk-spacex-announcement-today.html