Skip to main content

Questions tagged [human-rating]

Human-rated or man-rated are terms used to describe the certification of a spacecraft or launch vehicle as worthy of transporting humans.

Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
5 votes
0 answers
132 views

What materials are used for human spacecraft pressure vessels and why?

I'm looking for what specific aluminum alloys are used for human-rated spacecraft pressure vessels (habitable module) and why. I've been able to find the material for Orion is Al-2219 but nothing for ...
Retsied's user avatar
  • 151
7 votes
1 answer
305 views

How can SLS be ready to carry humans after just a single test flight?

Artemis I is the maiden flight of the SLS, and the very next SLS mission, Artemis II, is planned to already carry a human crew. I don't understand how this is possible. How can a hyper-complex rocket, ...
user49833's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
209 views

Has Falcon 9 block 5's design stopped evolving?

Spacex famously iteratively improves the design when developing rockets, with each unit being slightly (or not-so-slightly) better than the previous. These days Spacex seems to be focusing most of ...
Speedphoenix's user avatar
  • 5,505
23 votes
2 answers
2k views

What standard was used by NASA to certify the Dragon capsule controls as safe for crewed flight?

After watching the livestreams of Crew-1 and Crew-2 missions, I was curious about the certification the capsule had to go through, especially with the new control panels which seem to be largely ...
Mu3's user avatar
  • 703
5 votes
0 answers
150 views

Is Crew Dragon rated for any non-Spacex boosters?

The Spacex crew Dragon uses the Falcon 9 for its orbital launches, and is not set to ever use a different launcher. However, an uncrewed Dragon will probably launch on the Falcon Heavy, as is planned ...
Speedphoenix's user avatar
  • 5,505
4 votes
1 answer
215 views

What launch vehicles of those compatible will Starliner actually use?

The Boeing Starliner is designed to be compatible with four launch vehicles: Atlas V, Delta IV, Falcon 9, and Vulcan. The test flight was launched on an Atlas V, so it can be assumed that more ...
Speedphoenix's user avatar
  • 5,505
2 votes
1 answer
436 views

What are some details of ISRO's Gaganyaan Mission?

What are the some design features of Indian Human spaceflight Programme's Gaganyaan capsule? How much of the testing is done and what are its future plans?
Navoneel Karmakar's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
793 views

Which CI/CD system do/would space companies like SpaceX use for continuous integration in their devops practice? [closed]

I wonder whether there are, or are recognizable in near future, industry specifics for CI/CD solutions in a space engineering company like SpaceX, compared to other companies where mass manufacturing ...
J. Doe's user avatar
  • 2,900
5 votes
0 answers
111 views

Are ferrofluidic seals used in spaceflight? Main applications? Human-rated?

Comments below this answer have inspired this quesiton. Wikipedia's Ferrofluidic seal sez: Ferrofluid-sealed feedthroughs routinely operate in environments including ultra-high vacuum (below 10⁻⁸ ...
uhoh's user avatar
  • 151k
4 votes
2 answers
151 views

Are second stage RUDs less common than first stage ones?

When I'm watching SpaceX launches, my biggest concern is to avoid a big boom. Specifically, an explosion that would threaten the astronauts who will eventually ride the Falcon 9. So around stage ...
Nick S's user avatar
  • 1,054
16 votes
1 answer
3k views

Why was the Saturn V considered to be human-rated after Apollo 6?

Apollo 6 (AS-502) was the second flight of the Saturn V (the first having been Apollo 4/AS-501, five months earlier), the last flight of a Block I CSM,1 and the last unmanned Apollo mission (if one ...
Vikki's user avatar
  • 4,187
12 votes
1 answer
419 views

Human-rating the Saturn V using modern standards

Would a complete Apollo-Saturn stack (like e.g. AS-506) be human-rated according to the latest human-rating process (NPR 8705.2C) of NASA? If not, what are the biggest show-stoppers? This question ...
Polygnome's user avatar
  • 6,967
7 votes
2 answers
363 views

What is the point of launching EM-1 on DIVH/F9H?

EM-1 was originally a full-up test of the SLS block 1B: Orion, ICPS (a modified 5-meter Delta cryogenic second stage), and the first stage/SRBs. NASA administrator Bridenstine’s statement on 3/13/...
lionel's user avatar
  • 321
3 votes
2 answers
165 views

How many companies are working on creating viable spaceplanes in the near future for human spaceflight(10-20 years)

As we are goinh into 2019 and we've seen the likes of XCOR Aerospace adn Virgin orbit working towards spaceplanes. How many other companies are working on getting humans to space, suborbital and ...
Rajath Pai's user avatar
  • 1,251
4 votes
3 answers
2k views

Why doesn't carbon fiber overwrapping in LOX catch fire? (watch this video first)

Sir Martyn Poliakoff, also CBE FRS and his team produce a fascinating series of Periodic Videos. In this one they team up with Smarter Every Day's Destin Sandlin to do high speed video of a piece of ...
uhoh's user avatar
  • 151k
5 votes
1 answer
251 views

Should SpaceX have 2 versions of the Falcon 9 rocket (cargo-only and human-only)?

I am learning that having a human rated Falcon 9 rocket is very difficult. Would it be better to have 2 versions of the Falcon 9 rocket? I figure a human-only version would be easier to design with ...
user2177046's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
4k views

What are the most difficult challenges SpaceX will face getting astronauts to Mars by about 2025?

SpaceX has been announcing very ambitious goals such as starting to send manned missions to Mars in order to (eventually) create a colony, and recently there has been a substantial release of more ...
Ricardo Antunes's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
989 views

How are SLS SRBs considered man-rated?

Using solid rocket boosters on a manned launch comes with some additional risks because they can't be turned off or throttled down once lit. For the Shuttle this created some additional failures modes ...
SafeFastExpressive's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
220 views

Human Rate the ICPS on EM-1 of SLS

What specifically must be done to Human Rate the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) to fly humans on Exploration Mission 1 of SLS?
Chip Snyder's user avatar
1 vote
3 answers
4k views

So with Soyuz being retired, what gets people up to the ISS and back down now?

No Shuttle, no Soyuz, and SpaceX not ready for prime time. I don't get it.
robert bristow-johnson's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
223 views

Which current (2016) ISS resupply vehicles are human-rated, and how many astronauts can they each support?

Based on the situation in 2016: Which vehicles that are in use for ISS resupply missions are human-rated by any space agency? (Bonus points for a list broken down by country of origin and/or the ...
user's user avatar
  • 7,350
3 votes
1 answer
197 views

When is the PTK NP spacecraft likely to be launched?

The PTK NP spacecraft seems to be the future successor of the Soyuz spacecraft. Does anyone know when the first launch will likely be? The estimates I have seen vary a lot, so what will be realistic?
SE - stop firing the good guys's user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
2k views

What exactly does it mean to human-rate a rocket? As opposed to the escape system?

The escape system is that thin pointy part at the very top of the rocket. It has powerful solid rockets that basically act as an "ejection seat" for the entire crew capsule. So when we talk about "...
DrZ214's user avatar
  • 4,606
5 votes
0 answers
116 views

Were all the rockets in the Atlas family man-rated?

Based off what I can find online, and in history books; only the first Atlas rocket could send crew into space, but there is potential for man rates Atlas v rockets (which man rating about that has ...
CBredlow's user avatar
  • 1,247
6 votes
1 answer
683 views

Did Orion do a pad abort test? A live fire abort test?

The CCtCAP customers have to do abort tests to satisfy the NASA Human rating standards. Is Orion going to do a pad abort, and a Max-Q abort, like SpaceX is required to do? Or is Orion being held to ...
geoffc's user avatar
  • 80.5k
22 votes
4 answers
6k views

Why are the very reliable rockets Atlas V and Ariane V not rated for human flight?

During the last ten years all 100 or so launches by Atlas V and Ariane V together have been successful. (One Atlas V payload entered too low orbit, but that would hardly have risked the life of a crew)...
LocalFluff's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
952 views

What specifications is the ISRO crew module fabricated to?

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/science/human-space-flight-prog-hal-hands-over-crew-module-assembly-to-isro/article5685195.ece writes to say Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has handed ...
Everyone's user avatar
  • 13.7k