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
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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.
