SpaceX Dragon Capsule at Seattle Museum of Flight

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boatgeek

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SpaceX brought the first Dragon capsule to the ISS through town as a backdrop to their announcement of a new satellite design office in the Seattle area (500-1000+ engineers?!). They were kind enough to drop it off at the Museum of Flight for the weekend. The family went down, and here are a couple of pictures. After seeing the various NASA capsules at the Smithsonian, it's different to see a white-painted capsule post-re-entry. Those things get pretty beat up. The capsule was covered in some kind of white foam, but a lot of it had been removed by re-entry, splashdown, and/or recovery from the water.

It was hard to get a full view of the capsule, since there was a big crowd. This was the best I could get. The square at lower right with the groove leading up from it is one of the drogue canisters. There is another one on the other side. The main chute is midway between them. The grooves are where the recovery harnesses live. At launch, the covering goes over the harnesses, with a somewhat convex shape. The harnesses tear through the foam on deployment. Drogues are stored in what look like 1-gallon black plastic flowerpots, and the main chute has a bigger box.

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One thing I really like about SpaceX is their sense of humor. For example, this sign.

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MOF also had a quote from SpaceX's lead propulsion engineer, "There are a thousand things that can happen when you go to light a rocket engine, and only one of them is good."

For those going to NARCON in February, I found MOF's space gallery much better than it was even a year ago. The layout was better, there was more stuff, and it looked like it was better interpreted. I think the most surprising thing was that someone had discovered bacteria that will happily turn urine into hydrazine. While it nominally could be useful for interplanetary propulsion, the quantities aren't large enough to be useful.
 
That's cool. Is it going to be on display for awhile, or is it there only temporarily? I'm going to the Seattle area in February, and I may be able to squeeze in a visit to MOF, but it will probably be very tight --- just a short visit.
 
That's not fair!!! Dragons are my favorite fantasy/pre-historic creater!!
I have one tattooed on each of my upper arms which are of my own design.
One is Evil Wicked Mean and Nasty, the other is the morning after with droopy eye lids and hangover bubbles and all. And flaming Farts.
 
Dragon was there for 3 days, packed up and left on the 19th. That said, MOF is worth a visit if you haven't been there before. You can probably see the space wing and the parked airplanes nearby in an hour or three depending on how OCD you are about reading every sign.

One part of SpaceX's genius is their branding. Look at the websites and industrial design for the Dragon v2 and Boeing CST-100. There's just no comparison. The dragon logo and branding on the capsule wasn't that expensive, but it captures the imagination. Everything from teh windows to the little legs looks cool and different. Boeing's, while I'm sure 100% functional, looks like a return to the Apollo program rather than a look forward.
 
Dragon was there for 3 days, packed up and left on the 19th. That said, MOF is worth a visit if you haven't been there before. You can probably see the space wing and the parked airplanes nearby in an hour or three depending on how OCD you are about reading every sign.

+1 on the Museum of Flight. Got to visit during a business trip a few years back. I snagged and awesome t-shirt while I was there. Come to think of it I need to find that shirt....
 
Didn't get a pic but was recently at KSC and they have an Orion capsule mockup. You don't realize how much bigger than an Apollo capsule it is until you're standing next to it!

Glenn
 
My wife and I went up to the MoF to see the Dragon on Sunday. Definitely worth the trip. And yes, the Space Gallery is now finally becoming what I think they have intended, though clearly still a work in progress. I'm looking forward to the hobby rocketry exhibit's continued growth and refinement, too.

(I loved that "don't pet the Dragon" sign and so have a similar picture now....)

We were there during the NFC championship game and though I'm not really into football I was glad I poked my nose into the gift shop just as Seattle went ahead in that crazy game.
 
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