From: snidely.too@gmail.com   
      
   Thus spake JF Mezei:   
      
   > Looking at Inspiration4 landing.   
   > They were the highest a human has been since last Hubble repaid mission   
   > (and may have been higher).   
   >   
   > They jettisomed the "trunk" before de-orbit burn.  Is this SOP for   
   > Dragon or special for this mission?   By detaching before de-orbit,   
   > doesn't that create space debris with trucnk staying high up for a long   
   > time (since that orbit was bery high) ?   
      
   SOP.   
      
   Orbit was lowered in 2 steps before jettison and the rest of the   
   landing sequence; this was described by the SpaceX commentators.   
      
   And the trunk is very light, so sensitive the slight atmospheric drag.   
      
   > I was under the impression the standard was to fire de-orbit engines and   
   > then separate which ensures both portions de-orbit with the capsule   
   > distancing itself from the trunk/service module as soon as aerodynamics   
   > kick in.   
      
   Standard?  You mean like ISO?   
      
   /dps   
      
   --   
   "First thing in the morning, before I have coffee, I read the obits, If   
   I'm not in it, I'll have breakfast." -- Carl Reiner, to CBS News in   
   2015.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)