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Re:Why It's So Challenging to Land Upright on the Moon by abledon on Monday March 04, 2024 @04:06PM (#39596107)
are they going to send a 'test run' HLS first? like, completely computer controlled, to stick the landing?
Re:Why It's So Challenging to Land Upright on the Moon by bryanlarsen on Monday March 04, 2024 @05:27PM (#39596995)
Yes, that is a condition in NASA's contract with SpaceX. It is currently scheduled for 2025.
Re:Why It's So Challenging to Land Upright on the Moon by adonovan on Monday March 04, 2024 @06:06PM (#39597376)
Astronauts must be nervous stepping onto the first manned flight of a new craft that has a 100% success rate in the sole previous flight, but might have only a 50% success rate by the end of their mission...
Re:Why It's So Challenging to Land Upright on the Moon by eagerpace on Monday March 04, 2024 @08:27PM (#39598334)
I don't think nervous is the right word. It's kind of the whole thing test pilots live for.
Re:Why It's So Challenging to Land Upright on the Moon by fragmede on Tuesday March 05, 2024 @06:45AM (#39602144)
the word for nervous and happy is excited
Re:Why It's So Challenging to Land Upright on the Moon by amethyst on Monday March 04, 2024 @09:00PM (#39598588)
Imagine being on STS-1, piloting a shuttle that had literally never been to space before in any form.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-1

Re:Why It's So Challenging to Land Upright on the Moon by seer on Tuesday March 05, 2024 @02:52AM (#39600516)
Well at least they would have no one else to blame but themselves. As far as I remember it was the pilots that insisted on the shuttle to be not be 100% automated, so they had to do it this way. The soviets just made the whole shuttle automated so it could be tested without risk to crew.
Re:Why It's So Challenging to Land Upright on the Moon by dotnet00 on Tuesday March 05, 2024 @07:53AM (#39602673)
Or similarly with Orion, which has never been to space with a fully functioning life support system, and will not be until it carries a crew.
Re:Why It's So Challenging to Land Upright on the Moon by BHSPitMonkey on Monday March 04, 2024 @10:43PM (#39599179)
Apart from STS-1, we also have the even more recent/relevant SpaceX example of this happening: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crew_Dragon_Demo-2

With both Crew Dragon and Starship, there will have been _many_ successful missions involving un-crewed variants of the spacecraft (Falcon 9 and Cargo Dragon were both well-proven systems before crew was a possibility).