Space and Science BS Thread

They might have come close but they only hit this milestone by this date because Starliner hasn’t flown a single crewed mission and there weren’t any other missions, destinations, or vehicles to ride in. If Starliner were flying then those same scheduling conflicts arise. All of the private missions were publicized well in advance and if there were more demand they would have happened. Dragon flies because it’s paid to. If somebody else had a space station and needed ferry service because Starliner, Dream Chaser, or someone else’s capsule couldn’t fly it might be different but we aren’t there yet. There’s only one destination for now and parking is limited.

 

There’s also launch capability limitations and as we know from I4 and Polaris Dawn, space is a destination in and of itself.

 

https://twitter.com/esa/status/1663927422775853056?s=46

 

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1663944001224081408?s=20

 

https://twitter.com/axiom_space/status/1664036591499726852?s=46

 

I’d like to think they could’ve found space for those other missions if they’d existed. There’s no shortage of theoretical destinations, it’s the funding to go that’s been in short supply. Without the ISS there probably wouldn’t even be a crew dragon capsule to sell rides on. Nobody else beyond those you mentioned paid the freight so they didn’t happen. But when Haven, Orbital Reef, and Axiom come online and Artemis becomes a consistent if sparse thing they’ll have to find that ground support crew launch capability. It’s the growth NASA wants and is soon to get. But even then those are all(save Haven) supposed to send people up on other vehicles than dragon. Free flight capsule missions might become a thing but for now the majority of those have been either experimental or warm ups for something else.

 

Apparently Vulcan couldn’t get the match lit and had to roll it back to the integration facility again. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JRbYmCKgrKg
I guess we’ll have to wait a bit longer for the frf.

 

https://twitter.com/space_jim1/status/1664290614756757505?s=46

 

I know the government, military, NASA, et al like their acronyms...but STARCOM is actually pretty neat.

 

Dragon’s gonna hit 20 manned flights before Starliner ever carries one..
https://twitter.com/wapodavenport/status/1664403480302190593?s=46

They should scrap the program and give back the billions to NASA…

Edit - I think the link above is behind a paywall:
https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1664377812684357633?s=20

 

At this rate and given how ponderously Dream Chaser(and it’s launch vehicle) are progressing and throw in Haven 1 I do believe Spacex is going to wait and make them (all but Vast) beg for more Dragon capsules, and that second Falcon 9 crew launch facility as well. No sense doing that too soon if you can leverage demand to get the others to pay for it.

 

IT’S HAPPENING
https://twitter.com/amuse/status/1664374464883073029?s=46

 

The harnesses = SMH

https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/...er-launch-to-address-recently-found-problems/

The second issue involves P-213 glass cloth tape that is wrapped around wiring harnesses throughout the vehicle. These cables run everywhere, and Nappi said there are hundreds of feet of these wiring harnesses. The tape is intended to protect the wiring from nicks. However, during recent tests, it was discovered that under certain circumstances possible in flight, this tape is flammable.

 

Mark Nappi's son was a tech with me working on SLS. He's a Q there now. Mark is a nice guy with a really tough job. Boeing-Starliner is losing techs to X-37 program and other places, the tunnell is narrowing.

 

Are they leaving or being transferred to other projects? Bit of both? Gotta be tough to either be not allowed to see it through or get fed up with the process. Solving the problems is hard enough without extra baggage.

 

But then there’s:
https://twitter.com/arstechnica/status/1664671345009999873?s=46

 

https://twitter.com/astro_cady/status/1664671674854264832?s=46

 

https://twitter.com/starlink/status/1664717672104198147?s=46

 

Now we just need to figure out how to get to them..
https://twitter.com/spacedotcom/status/1664683506251726875?s=46