dragon space craft

[palinbook]

Hi,during the April launch of spaceX and the catch-up to the ISS it passed over Ireland at 9.30 PM,it looked very low as we could see the solar panels,it looked like there was nav lights on the panels or was it the sun glinting off the very tip of the panels,thanks.

[Satanic Mechanic]

You can see a flash with the sun hitting the panels if you are at the right angle.  I have seen with the naked eye a satellite fade out and fade in because it was tumbling.  Yes, the Dragon was very low since it has to catch up with the ISS in a lower orbit.  It will start boosting its orbit slowly to rendezvous with the ISS. 

How fast was it going?  Was it keeping up with the ISS?  If you saw flashing lights then it was a plane. 

I have been observing satellites/space stations/shuttles since I was fourteen and I never get tired of it.  My first spacecraft I observed was the Salyut 7 space station.  There are lots of fun things to observe, the orbits especially, you can see a lot of polar orbit satellites at night.

Keep looking up,

SM

[palinbook]

It was the Dragon,I know my Aircraft.Thanks for the reply.

[evancise]

t looked like there was nav lights on the panels or was it the sun glinting off the very tip of the panels,thanks.

For the record, Dragon does have nav lights but they're on the capsule itself, not on the solar arrays.
https://goo.gl/O2mWHA

[Satanic Mechanic]

Good to see you here Ed!  I saw you on TV a few weeks ago.

Looking forward to the Bigelow Module testing.

SM

[evancise]

Good to see you here Ed!  I saw you on TV a few weeks ago.

Looking forward to the Bigelow Module testing.

SM

Sorry I haven't been around much - been lurking when I can, thought!
BEAM inflation/deployment is currently targeted for ~May 26.  Can't wait to see how it goes! One of the first things I worked on as a co-op student at NASA JSC was the TransHab module concept.

[LunarOrbit]

Will they be opening the hatch to allow the crew to enter BEAM, or is the plan to keep the hatch closed just in case there are leaks?

[evancise]

Will they be opening the hatch to allow the crew to enter BEAM, or is the plan to keep the hatch closed just in case there are leaks?

The crew will be scheduled to go in periodically (every few weeks) to gather sensor data.  Otherwise the hatch will be closed; for safety/leak purposes.  But it's really not a big volume inside so it wouldn't be a fun place to hang out.  No life support connections, ventilation fans, lights, etc., either.

[LunarOrbit]

Thanks, Ed. My biggest concern was that it might leak while the crew was sleeping. I'm sure there are blaring alarms that would wake them up pretty quickly though.

I bet it has been tested so thoroughly on the ground by this point that a leak isn't really a major concern.

[Satanic Mechanic]

Well they opened up BEAM and so far no problems.  The reports I read indicated that it was 40F inside.  It could be used as a cold storage or a root cellar. 
I am glad it is working well.  I can see these "expandable" modules being used for many applications.

SM