Space - The Final Frontier

[Chuckanut]

For an interesting documentary on how those rocket engines ended up in American rockets, watch this rather interesting youtube video.

 

[harley]

Man that was quite an explosion. I also think part of the challenge of rocket science is the failures are so highly visible.

I forgot to watch the launch, but the smoke was still pretty visible from my driveway even in the night sky an hour or so after it blew. DW and I had heard a loud boom earlier in the evening, but we didn't realize what it was until after I had seen the story on TV and we went out and looked at the smoke.

 

[Chuckanut]

I am amazed at how the media has already started the speculation game: old Russian rockets were the cause of the explosion, commercial companies can't build rockets as well as NASA's rockets.

Bye the way, where is the NASA rocket factory? I might want to tour it one day.

 

[Chuckanut]

It's been a bad week for commercial companies trying to make a buck sending satellites and people into space. Bramson's Space Ship 2 blew up today killing one test pilot.

Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo Crashes: 1 Dead, 1 Injured - NBC News

 

[Free To Canoe]

Serious anomaly? They will figure it out. In time.

I wonder how the bad press will affect ticket sales?

 

[FireBug]

Off topic…. but a quick story. I worked for Megacorp 1 which bought Megacorp2. After a program enhancement they had a big “all hands”. All the mucky-mucks were there. I and my coworkers were listening in on a conference room phone.
Mucky-muck says “Folks, you should be proud. We spent over 3 hundred thousand billable man-hours on this project and that equates to how many man-hours NASA puts into a shuttle launch. So congrats on being the NASA of the banking industry”.
My co-worker puts the phone on mute and says, “Um, no. NASA straps people onto a bomb. Blasts them into the vacuum of space, supports all their life systems for weeks, returns them thru the 3,000 oF atmosphere and lands them on a dime on a 2 mile long runway in Florida……….and we can see Megacorp2 account numbers on our screen”. I laughed and laughed.

 

[growing_older]

I wonder how the bad press will affect ticket sales?

They've already sold well over a hundred launches worth, so probably plenty of time to get lots of good press.

 

[clifp]

Off topic…. but a quick story. I worked for Megacorp 1 which bought Megacorp2. After a program enhancement they had a big “all hands”. All the mucky-mucks were there. I and my coworkers were listening in on a conference room phone.
Mucky-muck says “Folks, you should be proud. We spent over 3 hundred thousand billable man-hours on this project and that equates to how many man-hours NASA puts into a shuttle launch. So congrats on being the NASA of the banking industry”.
My co-worker puts the phone on mute and says, “Um, no. NASA straps people onto a bomb. Blasts them into the vacuum of space, supports all their life systems for weeks, returns them thru the 3,000 oF atmosphere and lands them on a dime on a 2 mile long runway in Florida……….and we can see Megacorp2 account numbers on our screen”. I laughed and laughed.

Awesome story.

There is a reason that people describe something really hard to do as rocket science. I guess this week is good reminder why that is the case.

 

[Chuckanut]

I think people are being lulled back into the pre Challenger view that space travel is easy. Or, at least, they have it down pat.

We had some lucky breaks with Apollo.

If the Apollo 13 explosion had occurred shortly after the moon landing, the astronauts would not have had the lunar lander to use as a life boat until they were close enough to earth.

Apollo 12 was hit twice by lightening that knocked out all telemetry from the Saturn V. They were close to aborting the flight when one fellow remembered an oddity from a simulation run done a year before. He gave his suggestion "take SCE to AUX" and telemetry was instantly restored. The mission continued on and was a success. Most of the flight crew had no idea what he was talking about. This engineer earned the title of 'steely eyed missile man."

the phrase “SCE to AUX” used to describe a situation where one narrowly averts a catastrophe by coming up with an ingenious plan.

This Day in Space History: Apollo 12 and SCE to AUX

The video below is a great, short film about this relatively unknown but harrowing event in Project Apollo.

 

[FireBug]

Awesome story.

There is a reason that people describe something really hard to do as rocket science. I guess this week is good reminder why that is the case.

That guy in the above story is a very bright guy.... also a wicked sense of humor. He gets tired of hearing 'Rocket scientist' or Brain Surgeon' .... he now just calls them Rocket Surgeons

 

[ERD50]

“SCE to AUX”

This Day in Space History: Apollo 12 and SCE to AUX

The video below is a great, short film about this relatively unknown but harrowing event in Project Apollo.

Great video. It seemed weird to me that the astronauts were barely aware of an SCE switch, or what setting it to "AUX" would do. Good thing this guy had it in his brain.

I am just dying to be able to use “Try setting SCE to AUX” in a conversation, hopefully in front of my kids so I can get that treasured 'rolling eyes' response!

-ERD50

 

[clifp]

I think people are being lulled back into the pre Challenger view that space travel is easy. Or, at least, they have it down pat.

We had some lucky breaks with Apollo.

If the Apollo 13 explosion had occurred shortly after the moon landing, the astronauts would not have had the lunar lander to use as a life boat until they were close enough to earth.

Apollo 12 was hit twice by lightening that knocked out all telemetry from the Saturn V. They were close to aborting the flight when one fellow remembered an oddity from a simulation run done a year before. He gave his suggestion "take SCE to AUX" and telemetry was instantly restored. The mission continued on and was a success. Most of the flight crew had no idea what he was talking about. This engineer earned the title of 'steely eyed missile man."

This week a game/simulation Buzz Aldrin Space Program Manager was released, which is a sequel to an much early game Buzz Aldrin Race Into Space (BARIS). I've been following the game since Beta. I wish I could recommend it since the subject matter is so cool. Sadly I can't the game isn't particular fun, but it is a decent simulation.

Much of the games revolves around doing R&D and test to improve the reliability of the various components engines, capsules , space suits etc. Even when you have things in the high 90% range, if you have enough tests, stuff always fails sometime relatively minor fixes like turning SCE to AUX, other times catastrophic. It is inevitable in the game that you end up with destroyed satellites and almost inevitable the you end up with dead astronauts.

 

[growing_older]

If the Apollo 13 explosion had occurred shortly after the moon landing, the astronauts would not have had the lunar lander to use as a life boat until they were close enough to earth.

Apollo 12 was hit twice by lightening that knocked out all telemetry from the Saturn V. They were close to aborting the flight when one fellow remembered an oddity from a simulation run done a year before. He gave his suggestion "take SCE to AUX" and telemetry was instantly restored. The mission continued on and was a success. Most of the flight crew had no idea what he was talking about. This engineer earned the title of 'steely eyed missile man."

Apollo 11 LEM came down in a boulder field on the moon which would have destroyed the lander. Armstrong was able to hover long enough to reach a smoother patch with only seconds of fuel left - past the abort point - so they were going to have to land in whatever place they found themselves. When time came to blast off from the moon they discovered that the LEM control panel was damaged and the switch to ignite the lift-off was broken off and it was unclear how much damage had been done to the circuitry. Aldrin rigged up a felt tip pen to jab where the switch would have made contact and was able to ignite the blast off from the moon.

There were multiple near catastrophic events on every one of these early flights, but the astronauts and engineers just keep improvising and solving each one. Dangerous as space flight is, it's amazing how much success has been accomplished.

 

[Lakewood90712]

It's been a bad week for commercial companies trying to make a buck sending satellites and people into space. Bramson's Space Ship 2 blew up today killing one test pilot.

Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo Crashes: 1 Dead, 1 Injured - NBC News

The loss of one of the test pilots reminds me of what the father of Rodger Chaffee (Rookie astronaut killed in the Apollo 1 accident ) said at the funeral for his son :

" The price of progress is quite high sometimes "

 

[Walt34]

Amazing story about "SCE to AUX". I had never heard that one.

 

[Chuckanut]

The Europeans have pulled it off and landed a spacecraft on a comet. Well done!

Cosmic 1st: European spacecraft lands on comet

 

[Free To Canoe]

Launched in 2004. Really unbelievable in some ways the amount of planning and the durability of the equipment.

 

[Chuckanut]

Looks like Orion will be launched tomorrow if all goes well.
NASA's Orion spacecraft poised for critical test flight - CBS News

 

[harley]

I'm on the other coast of FL. I might be able to see some vapor trail if it's not cloudy in the morning. That would be fun.

 

[Chuckanut]

"There's Your New Spacecraft, America"

It looks like the Orion spacecraft's first unmanned flight was a success.

Excite News - NASA: 'There's your new spacecraft, America!"

 

[freebird5825]

Video of the launch today

I grew up watching the Apollo missions. EXCITING !!!!

 

[freebird5825]

And the re-entry/splash down

 

[Chuckanut]

They had great camera shots of the launch and re-entry from the Orion spacecraft. Thanks for posting the videos.

Great shots of the two side boosters falling away, the fairings separation and the first stage falling away. Not to mention the Earth and the horizon with space.

 

[splitwdw]

That was amazing. I was late for work this morning due to watching the launch. Was startled when the boosters separated and I saw all those flames. Someone at work said they think it's some kind of explosive charge that disconnects the booster rockets. Anyone know why all the flames?

 

[MBAustin]

Very exciting to see the Orion test go so well. Will be even more exciting when testing is done and astronauts go back out beyond earth orbit.

I was a total space geek when I was a kid so this brings back great memories.