Ars: As for the docking system, Orion uses the NASA docking system and SpaceX uses its own design for Starship?
Lisa Watson-Morgan: This is something I think Human Landing System has done very well. When we created our high-level requirements set, we did it with the bigger picture in mind. I just said we need to consider and adhere to the overall standards for how things are normally done. So this is compliance with docking standards, and SpaceX clearly meets that. Of course, they certainly have the International Space Station and Dragon heritage. So we are very confident that they will all work very well. Still, it’s important to go ahead and perform ground tests and resolve the issue as best you can.
Lisa Watson Morgan, NASA’s HLS program manager, is based at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
Credit: ASA/Aubrey Gemignani
Ars: How far along is the development and design of the crew cabin layout on top of the Starship? Is it quite advanced or is it still on the drawing board? What can you say about it?
Lisa Watson-Morgan: It’s much further down the road. We have installed environmental control and life support systems, including carbon dioxide monitoring fans to ensure air is circulating properly. We’ve done a lot of research with SpaceX on temperature. It’s… a large area (for the crew). Ensure that seats, crew seats and their loading capacity are appropriate. For all of these tasks, analytical work is performed and reviewed by the NASA team. In fact, they had mocked up parts of the life support system going back more than eight months. Great progress has been made in that regard.
Ars: Will SpaceX use a touchscreen design for crew displays and controls, as it does with its Dragon spacecraft?
Lisa Watson-Morgan: We’re talking about that and what’s the best approach for the crew to the dynamic environment of landing.
Ars: You can imagine a very dynamic environment in which the Raptor engine fires. It almost feels like starting in reverse.
Lisa Watson-Morgan: right. These are some of the topics discussed during crew office hours. That’s why the crew, in addition to the leaders of the various disciplines, whether it’s structural, mechanical, propulsion, interact directly and all of them discuss guidance and say, “When the system does this, That’s why it’s good to have the control to say, OK, well, I’ll do that. , this is the mode we expect. Impacts on crew include: This state is also an optional space for next steps. ”
