Monday's Goddard Engineering Colloquium will feature Mr. Steve Davis, Lead Systems Engineer for the Space-X Dragon spacecraft. (Elon Musk apparently had to cancel and sent Steve instead). If any local Amsat people would like to attend, (and maybe beg him for a free satellite launch) please get in touch with me or Pat Kilroy. You will need one of us to escort you through Goddard security. I will not be at my normal work location on Monday, so call me at home before Sunday night at 301-879-8377, or call Pat at work on Monday at 301-286-1984. This offer is regrettably limited to US citizens.

Dan Schultz N8FGV

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771

ENGINEERING COLLOQUIUM

Monday, December 15, 2008 / 3:30 PM, Building 3 Auditorium

Steve Davis

"Falcons and Dragons: Economical Liftoffs for Science Payloads, Cargo, and People"

ABSTRACT -- A new vehicle for small payloads, the Falcon, was successfully launched in September. Designed for cost efficiency and reliability, the Falcon series of spacecraft can provide an affordable option for science and engineering researchers to get their payloads to orbit, either LEO or, with the Falcon 9, geo-synchronous. In addition to describing the Falcon spacecraft, the speaker will describe the Dragon. The Dragon spacecraft is made up of a pressurized capsule and unpressurized trunk used for Earth to LEO transport of pressurized cargo, unpressurized cargo, and/or crew members. Initiated internally by Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) in 2005, Dragon will be utilized to fulfill a NASA COTS contract for demonstration of cargo re-supply of the ISS.

SPEAKER -- Mr. Davis of Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) (http://www.spacex.com) is Lead Systems Engineer for Dragon, a free-flying reusable spacecraft being developed under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program for the delivery of cargo and crew to the International Space Station (ISS). In this role, Davis is responsible for the technical management of 25 engineers, overall system and mission design, and interfacing with the ISS program to ensure ISS-Dragon compatibility. Prior to his role as Lead Systems Engineer on Dragon, Davis designed, analyzed and tested the guidance system for the SpaceX Falcon 1, the first privately-developed liquid fuel rocket to achieve Earth orbit.