Space - The Final Frontier

[Koogie]

Not really... lots of political things that are sucking up all the oxygen....
But I did see a story when it first landed...

I don't find a lot of the exploits of the Chinese space program or their taikonauts gets a lot of coverage in the West either, except from specialty sources.

In the meantime, does this [-]Amazon[/-] Blue Origin announcement mean that my next delivery will get even more lost than my last one.....

LET’S GO TO THE MOON
https://www.blueorigin.com/news/news/lets-go-to-the-moon-is-key-focus-at-iac-2018

"We’re in the conceptual design phase of a large lunar lander that will provide that access called Blue Moon."

 

[Huston55]

My old stompin grounds are landing a SpaceX rocket on the west coast.

https://www.vandenberg.af.mil/

Miss them rockets! Whoa!


SLC-4W, The public can view this launch from the Hawk's Nest on Azalea Lane off of Hwy 1 just a half mile south of Vandenberg Air Force Base's main gate.

We share ‘old stompin grounds’...I worked on SLC-3E, which is still used for Atlas launches.

 

[rocketjockey]

We share ‘old stompin grounds’...I worked on SLC-3E, which is still used for Atlas launches.

Me too, former SpaceX payload lead. So REALLY my stompin grounds for this one....

 

[dtbach]

Thanks for the links. Hats off to JAXA, this is quite an achievement. Odd how it really isn't playing that big here in the US.

It makes sense that the future of unmanned space exploration will be smaller vehicles. Think of all the things you cell phone can do, and how inexpensive (comparatively) it would be to send dozens of them to a planet or asteroid, instead of one big lander.

Totally agree. Especially deep space. Much easier (and practical) to get a 10 Kg mass going >.1 speed of light than a 1000 Kg object. And we need that kind of speed to get to the nearest star within the life time of the engineers who developed it.

 

[bjorn2bwild]

No need to be located in the immediate vicinity, the viewing zone is wide.
DW and I were sitting out in our northern California driveway enjoying the early evening sky when the first stage booster made the loop through our airspace.
We were unaware of the Space X launch so needless to say, a pretty cool surprise.

 

[Huston55]

My old stompin grounds are landing a SpaceX rocket on the west coast.

https://www.vandenberg.af.mil/

Miss them rockets! Whoa!


SLC-4W, The public can view this launch from the Hawk's Nest on Azalea Lane off of Hwy 1 just a half mile south of Vandenberg Air Force Base's main gate.

We share ‘old stompin grounds’...I worked on SLC-3E, which is still used for Atlas launches.

Me too, former SpaceX payload lead. So REALLY my stompin grounds for this one....

I also worked on construction of LC-40 @ Cape Canaveral; formerly for Titan vehicles & now also a SpaceX launch site. Small world.

 

[Souschef]

We share ‘old stompin grounds’...I worked on SLC-3E, which is still used for Atlas launches.

Do these bring back memories. I took them from a private rail car hooked to the Coast Starlight.

 

[kgtest]

We share ‘old stompin grounds’...I worked on SLC-3E, which is still used for Atlas launches.

 

[kgtest]

I also worked on construction of LC-40 @ Cape Canaveral; formerly for Titan vehicles & now also a SpaceX launch site. Small world.

INDEED!

 

[6miths]

60 years ago today was the first manned Apollo flight (Apollo 7) and the first American manned flight in almost 2 years due to the Apollo 1 fire. The frequency of flights to follow in the coming year and the strides taken would be truly amazing. Heady days.

 

[Souschef]

Sunday, we watched le launch of the Space X rocket from our front porch. It was spectacular.
The first stage landed back at Vandenberg for a first!

 

[Telly]

Today's Soyuz launch to the Space Station resulted in a failure in the boost stage, requiring an abort with crew module separation, which was successful. I can't ever remember a US abort during the boost stage, can you? I vaguely remember some questions as to if it would work, or it had to be used within X altitude, or something like that. I also vaguely remember some sort of escape tower on the top of Mercurys? Geminis?, was it? I watched all the launches early on for years, hoping they would launch before I had to head off walking (or running) to school... "T minus 10 minutes... and holding!" Drat! Got to go!

 

[Texas Proud]

Today's Soyuz launch to the Space Station resulted in a failure in the boost stage, requiring an abort with crew module separation, which was successful. I can't ever remember a US abort during the boost stage, can you? I vaguely remember some questions as to if it would work, or it had to be used within X altitude, or something like that. I also vaguely remember some sort of escape tower on the top of Mercurys? Geminis?, was it? I watched all the launches early on for years, hoping they would launch before I had to head off walking (or running) to school... "T minus 10 minutes... and holding!" Drat! Got to go!

As long as you do not count the blown up shuttle as an abort you are right...


Yes, all prior rockets had escape towers... it was only the shuttle that did not... I think they thought it was safe enough that they did not need anything (which was proved wrong)...


I also remember reading that Space-X was testing out an escape [-]tower[/-] system... (looked it up and it is not a tower)....


https://www.space.com/29329-spacex-tests-dragon-launch-abort-system.html

 

[CaptTom]

I also remember reading that Space-X was testing out an escape [-]tower[/-] system... (looked it up and it is not a tower)....

What SpaceX does is integrate the escape system into the regular attitude control (I think) thrusters. So it's not an after-thought or an add-on, but built into the design of the capsule.

To me, this marks a turning point. The moon race was breaking new ground, developing new technologies, and basically finding out, often the hard way, what works and what doesn't.

Since then, NASA has been limping along, trying to shoe-horn that tried-and-true technology into new projects. Not a bad strategy.

But SpaceX is on the threshold of a new wave. A lot of the big questions have been answered, and they're at a point where there's enough knowledge in the field to start again with a blank slate. They can combine the long history of real-world experience with new ideas, techniques and materials.

I hope it works out well. It would be a real blow to lose a manned SpaceX flight. The time for moving fast and breaking things is over. Hopefully they can make the transition.

 

[Retch The Grate]

I assume everybody saw that the Hubble has lost another gyro and is operating in safe mode? And with the shuttle gone we've currently got nothing that can reach its orbit and do time on station to do a replacement. Sad news, if they can only get it back up in 2 gyro mode it has significant performance impact on its ability to observe specific points for longer durations. The James Webb is supposed to replace it in 2021, and one of the repurposed Keyholes that the NRO gave NASA is going up as WFIRST in... someday. :/

 

[stepford]

The James Webb is supposed to replace it in 2021, and one of the repurposed Keyholes that the NRO gave NASA is going up as WFIRST in... someday. :/

The first rule of the N*O is never talk about the N*O.

 

[Retch The Grate]

my friend's dad spent his working career at the NRO, never tried to get him to talk about it on the assumption that he couldn't say much.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Yes, all prior rockets had escape towers... it was only the shuttle that did not... I think they thought it was safe enough that they did not need anything (which was proved wrong)...

Actually, Gemini did not have an escape tower. The capsule was equipped with ejection seats. Only Mercury and Apollo had escape towers.

 

[6miths]

Saw 'First Man' tonight. Very well done.

 

[Huston55]

Saw 'First Man' tonight. Very well done.

Would like to hear more...w/o spoilers of course.

 

[Chuckanut]

I think the Gemini spacecraft was supposed to use its rockets when high enough.

The shuttle’s big problem was that the crew was not on top of the stack. Instead they were side by side with the solids and the fuel tank.

 

[6miths]

Saw 'First Man' tonight. Very well done.

Would like to hear more...w/o spoilers of course.

Without spoilers is difficult. Was a biography of Neil Armstrong beginning with his days as a NASA pilot in the X-15 programme and ending with his return to earth following Apollo 11. It was very well done with strong performances by Ryan Gosling as Armstrong and Claire Foy as his wife Janet. Jason Clarke was good as Ed White as well. The spacecraft scenes were very good especially the Gemini 8 sequence and the Eagle sequence and moonscapes in IMAX. Was a very good period piece of the 60s as well and conveyed the tension of the space race. In some ways it wasn't exactly what we were expecting as although it had the space programme weaved throughout, it really was about Armstrong, his wife and children. The audience in the theatre I think quite enjoyed it. No clapping at the end. More awed silence. The crowd was largely of people who would have remembered the moon landing.

 

[Chuckanut]

SpaceX pulled of quite an impressive demonstration with its Falcon Heavy launch. After coasting 6 hour, the 2nd stage reignited and sent Mr. Musk's roadster headed out into interplanetary space. IOW, it has the power to put a satellite into geosynchronous orbit on its own. No need to to equip the satellite with powerful rockets of its own to get the the final destination. Or they can save fuel for future needs rather then expending it getting to the final orbit. Falcon Heavy can do just about all of it.

https://arstechnica.com/science/201...t-seems-to-be-a-hit-with-satellite-companies/

The Falcon Heavy rocket now seems nicely positioned to offer satellite companies relatively low-cost access to orbits they desire, with a minimum of time spent getting there in space.

Dave Ryan, president of space systems at ViaSat, said in a news release. "Their proven technology is both powerful and efficient enough to thrust a ViaSat-3 spacecraft close to geostationary orbit."

 

[CaptTom]

I used to lament the old days of the Apollo program. But I think we're now living through an even bigger turning point.

Remember, Columbus "discovered" the Americas in 1492, but it wasn't until the early to mid 1600's that people from Europe started coming here (sorry about that, Native Americans!) in any significant numbers.

I was hoping that we wouldn't have to wait that long to start seriously exploring space, but maybe it'll be close. The shift from government (remember Queen Isabella?) to commercial space flight is a BIG deal.

 

[HFWR]

“Space” is not a friendly place for humans. Until we solve the health-related issues, we shouldn’t be in too big a hurry.