On: Station Crew Docks Dragon Capsule to ISS

[readerrrr]

And that is their second launch within 14 days. The previous launch was a satellite to a geostationary orbit.

[bfe → readerrrr]

This 14-day interval between Falcon 9 launches was the fastest consecutive launch since Gemini 7 & 6A in December 4 & 15, 1965.

SpaceX plans to beat that record soon with launches a week apart becoming routine.

[ChuckMcM → bfe]

And that is what I find fascinating. Weekly launches into even low earth orbit is a tremendous capability to lob stuff up there. I do look forward to the Dragon2 tests, and the next F9R landing attempt.

[ewoodrich → bfe]

Gemini 7 and 6A were manned launches on human-rated launch vehicles, so it isn't quite comparable yet.

[bfe → ewoodrich]

Still, modern launch vehicle human ratings were only developed after the second Shuttle disaster, and are far beyond 1965 standards.

http://nodis3.gsfc.nasa.gov/displayDir.cfm?Internal_ID=N_PR_...

Falcon 9 v1.1 is almost certainly safer than the Titan II Gemini Launch Vehicle. As with prior Dragon flights, humans could have flown and been just fine.

[jessaustin → ewoodrich]

It's comparable to any consecutive launches that occurred in the nearly five decades since.

[syncsynchalt → bfe]

Unfortunately they've only got two F9 orbital launches planned for the entire rest of the year.