SpaceX Unveils New Dragon Capsule

SpaceX Unveils New Dragon Capsule That Could Carry Astronauts To The ISS

Space X has revealed the Dragon V2 Capsule. The V2 is anticipated to carry up to seven crew and 3-4 tonnes of cargo to and from the International Space Station (ISS) per trip, ending NASA's dependency on Russia and hopefully saving substantially on the current $60 million a head price tag.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk said the new capsule would get astronauts to the ISS and back for $20 million per person, and this might fall to seven figures if SpaceX was given enough work. Construction of the V2 has already cost close to half a billion dollars, and Musk says, “It'll probably be that amount more to get to first flight”. Consequently the cost per flight will be highly dependent on the number of flights over which these upfront costs can be distributed.

With typical Musk optimism he said, “From a SpaceX standpoint we expect to be ready to transport crew by 2016,” a year ahead of NASA's deadline for a commercial space shuttle

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Man I just love that company. (Words I thought I would never say) He is a real dreamer with the money to make his dreams reality. I live in Florida and have watched one launch that was a test run for them. It took me by surprise because it was launched from a different location than I am used to seeing them go up. Check out the link for some of the footage of those tests.

The ability for it to land is what I remember seeing in sci-fi shows as a kid.

It seems like maybe the companies future plans may actually happen to me based on their progress so far.

NASA has been supporting Space X and its competitors in the race to be able to transport astronauts primarily for cost reasons, but the urgency has increased with Russian threats to end space cooperation over geopolitical conflicts, notably Ukraine.

Musk, however, has much bigger plans. “We want to get to the point where we have thousands of space flights per year, and ultimately where we have a base on the moon and we have [bases] for other civilizations, that’s where things need to go in the long term,” Musk told the audience at the launch. “Eventually we will be able to go beyond our solar system.”

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I wonder what the russian imbecile (some generic propagandist minister) who said "USA will have to use a trampoline from now on" is thinking now.
But now that i think about it, USA did take quite a while to have this shuttle ready,i guess they weren't expecting the whole Ukraine crisis to splash like this.

In an age where the majority of people residing on Earth are struggling day to day all because of money or should I say lack of.....

Where are they getting all of the money to pay for all of this and others alike.

How are they allowed to do it?

I meam yeah, crack on with the search etc but not st the expense that could see so mamy people's lives changed for the better.

a reply to: jazz10

SpaceX is a business, not a government entity. They're free to spend as many billions of their own money, not yours, as they wish. I'm so sick of this 'things suck for people on earth, so we shouldn't explore space' attitude people display. That's the mindset that has held humanity back in the space exploration field since Apollo. It's incredibly short sighted and completely ignores the opportunities for our species in space. I'm taking long term survival of the human species - there will come a day when Earth is no longer habitable. Then what?

originally posted by: Monger
a reply to: jazz10

SpaceX is a business, not a government entity. They're free to spend as many billions of their own money, not yours, as they wish. I'm so sick of this 'things suck for people on earth, so we shouldn't explore space' attitude people display. That's the mindset that has held humanity back in the space exploration field since Apollo. It's incredibly short sighted and completely ignores the opportunities for our species in space. I'm taking long term survival of the human species - there will come a day when Earth is no longer habitable. Then what?

I agree , i also believe that we need a Space program , i always am amazed by the fact that the astronauts are different nationalities and religions , yet they can put this aside and work together on a project.

Because in space there isnt much room to follow your personal ambitions , it is a teamgame.

A project that potentially gives us a change to work together and stop killing each other even though it is a multi billion industry for me personally is defenalty worth the money.

TheGreazel.

originally posted by: TheGreazel

originally posted by: Monger
a reply to: jazz10

SpaceX is a business, not a government entity. They're free to spend as many billions of their own money, not yours, as they wish. I'm so sick of this 'things suck for people on earth, so we shouldn't explore space' attitude people display. That's the mindset that has held humanity back in the space exploration field since Apollo. It's incredibly short sighted and completely ignores the opportunities for our species in space. I'm taking long term survival of the human species - there will come a day when Earth is no longer habitable. Then what?

I agree , i also believe that we need a Space program , i always am amazed by the fact that the astronauts are different nationalities and religions , yet they can put this aside and work together on a project.

Because in space there isnt much room to follow your personal ambitions , it is a teamgame.

A project that potentially gives us a change to work together and stop killing each other even though it is a multi billion industry for me personally is defenalty worth the money.

TheGreazel.

Its because they are not political hacks that rely on bs to give them power or money.

a reply to: jazz10

Guess what, it's not up to spacex to take care of most people on earth. Nasa itself gets only a fraction of a percent of the federal budget. Don't tell me we can't afford it. We can't afford not to pursue it. It drives innovation and inspires people like me to pursue high paying careers in science and engineering, rather than languishing while waiting for government handouts. SpaceX is making advancements that will make space flight cheaper, not more expensive. This capsule is a huge leap forward in making spaceflight affordable.