Tweet
This becomes even more important given NASA has certified that SpaceX has met its contractural timetables.
System:
External:
Cargo & Manned:
The Dragon spacecraft is a pressurized capsule used for Earth to LEO transport of either pressurized cargo or a crew of up to 7. Initiated internally by SpaceX in 2005, Dragon will be utilized to fulfill our NASA COTS contract for demonstration of cargo re-supply of the ISS.
The Dragon capsule is comprised of 3 main elements: the Nosecone, which protects the vessel and the docking adaptor during ascent; the Pressure Section, which houses the crew and/or pressurized cargo; and the Service Section, which contains avionics, the RCS system, and other support infrasturcture.
In addition a Trunk Section is included, which provides for the stowage of unpressurized cargo and will support the solar panels providing power to Dragon. The Dragon design is based on a traditional re-entry capsule with an ablative heatshield, an offset center-of-mass and a lift-to-drag ratio of ~0.3 during re-entry.
Dragon Highlights:
* Fully Autonomous with Manual Over-ride capability in crewed configuration
* Pressurized Cargo/Crew capacity of 3100 kg to ISS orbit
* Supports 7 passengers in Crew configuration
* Down-cargo capability (equal to up-cargo)
* Integral CBM, with LIDS or APAS support if required
* Designed for Water Landing under Parachute (Ocean Recovery)
* Lifting re-entry for landing precision & low-g’s
To ensure a rapid transition from cargo to crew capability, the cargo and crew configurations of Dragon are almost identical, with the exception of the crew escape system, the life support system and onboard controls that allow the crew to take over control from the flight computer when needed. This focus on commonality minimizes the design effort and simplifies the qualification process, allowing systems critical to Dragon crew safety to be fully tested on unmanned demonstration flights, and for systems critical to ISS safety to be tested on crewed demonstration flights where the crew can override autonomous systems if needed. Dragon is designed to be fully autonomous in both cargo and crewed configurations, with manual over-rides for crew control of critical functions.
For cargo launches the inside of the capsule is outfitted with a modular cargo rack system designed to accommodate pressurized cargo in standard sizes and form factors based on the Space Shuttle Mid-deck Locker Equivalent specifications. For crewed launches, the interior is outfitted with crew couches, controls with manual over-ride capability and upgraded life-support.
The Dragon capsule is comprised of 3 main elements: the Nosecone, which protects the vessel and the docking adaptor during ascent; the Pressure Section, which houses the crew and/or pressurized cargo; and the Service Section, which contains avionics, the RCS system, and other support infrasturcture.
In addition a Trunk Section is included, which provides for the stowage of unpressurized cargo and will support the solar panels providing power to Dragon. The Dragon design is based on a traditional re-entry capsule with an ablative heatshield, an offset center-of-mass and a lift-to-drag ratio of ~0.3 during re-entry.
Dragon Highlights:
* Fully Autonomous with Manual Over-ride capability in crewed configuration
* Pressurized Cargo/Crew capacity of 3100 kg to ISS orbit
* Supports 7 passengers in Crew configuration
* Down-cargo capability (equal to up-cargo)
* Integral CBM, with LIDS or APAS support if required
* Designed for Water Landing under Parachute (Ocean Recovery)
* Lifting re-entry for landing precision & low-g’s
To ensure a rapid transition from cargo to crew capability, the cargo and crew configurations of Dragon are almost identical, with the exception of the crew escape system, the life support system and onboard controls that allow the crew to take over control from the flight computer when needed. This focus on commonality minimizes the design effort and simplifies the qualification process, allowing systems critical to Dragon crew safety to be fully tested on unmanned demonstration flights, and for systems critical to ISS safety to be tested on crewed demonstration flights where the crew can override autonomous systems if needed. Dragon is designed to be fully autonomous in both cargo and crewed configurations, with manual over-rides for crew control of critical functions.
For cargo launches the inside of the capsule is outfitted with a modular cargo rack system designed to accommodate pressurized cargo in standard sizes and form factors based on the Space Shuttle Mid-deck Locker Equivalent specifications. For crewed launches, the interior is outfitted with crew couches, controls with manual over-ride capability and upgraded life-support.
External:
Cargo & Manned:
(Soyuz typically doesn't descend in ballistic fashion, only when control systems fail...and it's supposedly quite a rough ride then 
Comment