Space and Science BS Thread

Sounds like they're serious

 

ouch! Firefly exploded over the pacific. Not a bad 1st try though.

 

Watched that too, I was rooting hard for them.

 

Makes sense at least until they know why or if the corridor needs expansion to accommodate this if it’s not preventable or if indeed the command crew erred in judgement or procedure. I’d expect nothing less with no track record to even know how much of an outlier this was.

 

Their’s is a serious job so I should hope so. Didn’t go where they were supposed to is certainly grounds for an inquiry. If VG doesn’t know why it happened or if they do be able to show why it won’t again or if it will how to accommodate that are all questions that need answers before they go up again. Non lethal data is a good thing at this point. Let’s hope it wasn’t just a fluke it ended ok.

 

They were a leaf on the wind.

 

Glue roller. The problem is it needs to be a setting compound rather than one that dries. Any voc’s would cause it to boil on the surface.
What’s it like to stick/mig/tig/oxy-acetylene weld in a vacuum?

 

You don't have to weld in space. Remove the oxide layer, touch 2 pieces of the same type of material together, and they will cold weld themselves together.

As for actual welding, it's easier-ish than on Earth. No need for a shielding gas as there is no atmosphere to protect the weld from. Not sure about splatter hitting a space suit though. I've had larger pieces of splatter burn through my shoe, and sock, and left a bad burn on my toe, burn a hole in a spacesuit and then the leak could push them off into the abyss...

 

I would imagine that you would have to use a robotic welder with a cover to keep the welding gasses in. Or if not gasses, the weld spatter.

 

Not the job for you if you’re claustrophobic…

https://twitter.com/astro2fish/status/1433777547557416964?s=21

 

Space Force terminated Firefly
https://www.vandenberg.spaceforce.m.../2763829/firefly-alpha-terminated-mid-flight/

https://www-theverge-com.cdn.amppro...lpha-rocket-explodes-space-force-first-launch

 

Thanks.

For you guys in the know, is it SOP for a launch to be terminated by the facility rather than the builder?

Does it indicate a disconnect between them regarding range safety?

 

Range control is run by launch facility and they are the ones pushing the big red button

 

Well those cracks aren’t healing themselves so that why I asked. And if the cracks happen in a vacuum would there even be an oxide layer?
I thought the shielding gas also ionizes to carry the arc but at different voltages depending on the gas used for a given spark gap. That voltage determines the heat generated.
When liquified would the puddle release bubbles from gases trapped in the metal and increase the spattering?
At some point welding in space will become a thing, probably on the moon.

 

This is just pure armchair engineering mixed with a bit of my knowledge of fabrication, but the honest truth is I just found out about cold welding the other day. The fact that they're not healing themselves could mean they started on Earth, the oxidized with escaping atmosphere of the capsule, or they havent/cant pull the pieces together for them to touch. I'm curious about how good the surfaces need to be to be welded together. If you can clean 2 edges, clamp them together, remove the clamps and they're welded together, that would be extraordinarily useful. If you have to have 2 pristine, machine ground edges it's more work than it's worth. My understanding is these would weld permanently in space. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lOOl3VxOtE

The gas mostly protects the molten metal from interacting with the atmosphere. It helps with other aspects, but none of them are 100% dependent on it, more like conveniences which could be ditched for the benefit of not having to bring additional supplies to orbit. Really though, if they can't cold weld super easy, i don't think there will be much welding IN space. More likely to create a drybay, fill it with atmosphere, and weld inside of that, at least when it comes to construction in space. It's much safer for everyone involved, and the cost to train, equip, and insure a spacewalking welder would most likely be prohibitive large scale. Maybe for repairs, but reality is by that time companies will be pushing for advertising in space and I'm sure we'll see some kind of race between flexseal, plastidip, and jb weld for first one used to seal a hole/crack in space.

 

I think robotics would be preferred to space walks where possible or as you suggest bringing the item into a more controlled environment. Hard to imagine doing away with the need completely though as long as metals are being used, especially if we’ve established permanent bases with an idea for future growth. A lot of skill sets will be needed for that whether it’s above or below the surface or in orbit. To be workable the size of the installations will need to be much larger than the current hampster cages we have and not disposable either. Won’t be the Superdome overnight but they will get larger over time. It’s conceivable that in such an environment welding skills would be considered part of the basic set of requirements. It’s not like they’ll need carpenters but some form of masonry might be used in combination with 3D printing since anything built on the ground needs some sort of foundation.

 

I'm pretty sure that SpaceX and ATK both have autonomous flight termination systems that will self terminate if the booster gets off course. For all of the crewed NASA launches (and uncrewed as well), there was someone with their finger on the big red button, what a shitty job.

 

I would imagine that some sort of fabrication and rigging will be needed for larger and larger space stations and colonization efforts.

 

If you’re into the Inspiration4 mission:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/inspiration4photos/

 

The only robot I can see them using in the near future would be one like the arm on the space station. And that's only because a crane wouldn't work. As for construction and fabrication in space, I think most stations will be docking modules. When they do get to the point of actual space construction it will most likely be done in segments and those segments will be joined with fasteners.

There are some interesting alternatives though. The military has some balloon concrete building that could be adapted fairly easily. I'm betting a pretty large structure could be put into a single starship this way.

https://youtu.be/Vb1pdvvoVoQ