Refurbished Dragon Heads For ISS - Does This Save Money?

SpaceX Dragon Headed to The International Space Station

"Major experiments that will look into the human body and out into the galaxy are on their way to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft following its 5:07 p.m. EDT launch aboard a Falcon 9 rocket."

Keith's note: NASA KSC PAO just held a post-launch media briefing - one of many events they mentioned in a media advisory. But they did not bother to tell offsite media that there was a secret dial-in option - only a few of their media pals knew about it. Yet the media advisory gives detailed information about every other way to cover/follow the launch. All other NASA centers take the time to tell news media about dial-in opportunities in advance - but not KSC. This happened with a SpaceX CRS launch in 2016 too. NASA KSC PAO's excuse then was it was not part of their media template. They still do not seem to care about telling the media about these things.

I wanted to ask SpaceX and NASA what the cost of flying a refurbished Dragon is and if they do (or do not) pass on these savings to NASA and if there are any additional NASA requirements for certifying a previously-flown spacecraft to the ISS. Everyone is hyping how cool it is that a refurbished Dragon is being flown. OK, it is cool - but what does that actually mean? Is it actually cheaper to re-fly these Dragons or do the costs of NASA-mandated re-certification limit the actual cost savings?

from NASA Watch http://ift.tt/2rS17YS
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