Space and Science BS Thread

Had wondered the same but I went to YouTube (not just the embedded video) to see the timestamp.

 

A Lucy Twitter special edition:


You don’t hear this much in the aerospace world:
https://twitter.com/sciguyspace/status/1449309514176552961?s=21

https://twitter.com/johnkrausphotos/status/1449319992504332289?s=21

https://twitter.com/nasa/status/1449340036487467010?s=21

https://twitter.com/dr_thomasz/status/1449331991497826307?s=21

I’ve always found pics like this disorienting - like Lucy’s Atlas V did a loop:
https://twitter.com/stephenclark1/status/1449327042923794433?s=21

https://twitter.com/ameliawizard/status/1449482711178043392?s=21

https://twitter.com/canberradsn/status/1449379977632251908?s=21

 

Stress testing only works if you take it far enough to encompass more than what’s likely to include what's possible. That’s where the “what if’s” make their presence known. The problem is if there’s insufficient imagination, recognition, or ability to apply the tests. The shuttle tragedies were in that sense preventable but in such a high risk environment it’s impossible to make progress and simultaneously avoid all risk.

 

https://twitter.com/space_station/status/1449450202243424257?s=21

https://twitter.com/space_station/status/1449485163872804865?s=21

 

The distances are deceiving…

https://twitter.com/nasamoon/status/1449462572634230786?s=21

 

I guess they have over a decade to figure it out..
https://twitter.com/dr_thomasz/status/1449823392333508614?s=21

 

Looks like Collins Aerospace has a solution to the spacesuit issue already developed

It’ll be interesting to see if they go for the contract, and if so, how they score.

https://twitter.com/collinsaero/status/1447612882489905168?s=21

 

I get a very “old space / established contractor” vibe from the video. Which isn’t necessarily terrible, just was presented to lean into that.

 

I hear ya but they’re saying they have a product that’s operational now aren’t they?

If so, no ‘cost plus’ to develop it..

 

ILC dover is the existing spacesuit provider for NASA. (Collins mentioned it in their team) This is literally 'buy the one you've spent all the money developing already'.

 

Thanks.

If it works, isn’t that a good thing?

 

You could get to work on a horse, it would work, it's even got auto pilot, but for some reason you prefer a truck with air conditioning.

 

So it’s disingenuous or outright lying in advertising…

 

They did mention it is designed to be upgraded, which is all fine and dandy until you consider all the testing that'll have to go into performing those upgrades - instead of being run as incremental upgrades it'll turn into major block upgrades with big costs and long schedules. I'm still hoping someone with a more ... agile approach to things gets in the game, I think there's a lot of potential for something newer/better/lighter/faster.
I am also curious as to whether the suit was pressurized during the mobility testing that was shown, and if it was the standard 4 PSI of oxygen currently used, or something else. I'd love to see spacesuits move from 4 PSI to full pressure, so astronauts no longer have to go through prebreathing/decomp/recompression. But that's mostly so we can get to that wonderful future in The Martian where Matt Damon is able to put a suit on himself in mere minutes and walk right out there door :-D

 

I'd put money on this just being an old suit with a bunch of little upgrades. There's a good chance they are upgrades they've suggested to Nasa, and got turned down because of the cost of proofing. "designed by astronauts" just means they asked a few of them what they liked and didnt like. I'm not saying it's going to be bad, just a bit skeptical. Then again, I'm skeptical of most people going for government contracts.

That's the whole point. It's the same reason that Bezos wants a Nasa contract so bad. I was machining a part today that had a problem, the boss calls the customer, and an hour later we have a solution. If that was a part for Nasa today would have been spent getting permission to start the email chain that is going to be required to make a revision, and that chain will take 2-6 months to complete, and millions of dollars will be spent, somewhere...

I can't really fault them here though. This is something Nasa is asking for, and they've delivered a prototype/commercial. Not sure I like those fancy swivel joints though. Look like something that's going to need to be heavily maintained. Really curious how they're sealing that joint, and if they have any power assistance in them. How long before Moon dust starts jamming them up? Don't worry, we'll upgrade that bearing, with this new million dollar sealed bearing that will last 5% longer!!

 

Posting this from the C3PF, supporting Boeing's ox offload today.

 

https://spacenews.com/senate-appropriators-direct-nasa-to-select-second-artemis-lunar-lander/

 

Because having 2 for the Commercial Crew Program worked out so well…

 

Depends how you look at it. If they were limited to 1 pick, that pick probably would have been Boeing...

 

Right….and we’d still be buying seats on Soyuz.