Space and Science BS Thread

They’re Home!

 

This weeks ARS Rocket Report 7.36 is a pretty interesting 2024 launch recap. If you don't subscribe, check their website - should be out later today.

 

Huh…
https://abcnews.go.com/US/nasa-plan...st-flight-after-astronauts/story?id=119999352

 

I thought the Starliner program was canceled.

Given how much money we've spent on it, it would be quite a waste to cancel it. However, are we throwing good money after bad?

 

I'm guessing we are way past that point.

 

Could be an breakthrough


Might eliminate improper diagnoses and medications.
https://newatlas.com/imaging-diagnostics/bacteria-fish-diagnostic-technique/

 

I imagine other factors are being weighed. I can’t imagine what those might be of course. I think the technical issues are solvable but I can’t speak to the reasons why they weren’t already.

 

They were in a rush to get it done, they never had enough time to figure it out.

 

Good one. A rookie company with less money or experience somehow had plenty of both to get it done first.

 

Funny how that works.

 

They already have the atlases ... that said they might need to think about getting it certified on vulcan since they'll run out of atlas v.

 

Maybe just semantics but I thought it was Vulcan that needed certification for human flight rather than Starliner It was certainly designed with that goal in mind. In any case Artemis & Orion is the only deep space capable pairing close to available since no other heavy lift vehicle and ship is even being readied to go into cislunar space. I assume Artemis II has either already been approved for crewed flight or soon will be. As is I think FH might be approved for crewed cislunar missions (aka Gateway) sooner than Vulcan since FH doesn’t use SRB’s and the Falcon program already has crew boarding facilities for the F9 Dragon. It will be interesting to see if SX puts all its crewed eggs in the Starship basket or if they plan any Dragon upgrades for deep space crew transport. Crew rotation to Gateway shouldn’t require 8-10 HLS prep launches when a single FH would suffice. It might be cheaper but logistically it’s more prone to delay in an emergency situation.
Still, just because Starliner still seems to have some life to it isn’t any guarantee that it will be made viable. If the management issues aren’t resolved it’s hard to see the hardware ones getting taken care of.

 

Pretty sure you'll need both to be compatible prior to sticking humans into it. Gotta verify vibration modes, etc, with the different aero characteristics, etc. Might even need to verify the abort works somehow.

 

No surprises here…
https://www.independent.co.uk/space/nasa-contract-termination-trump-doge-b2721477.html
Nor here:
https://eos.org/research-and-develo...-to-put-women-astronauts-of-color-on-the-moon

 

Makes sense. Has a capsule ever swapped rockets after being certified before? I don’t think so, at least not on this side of the pond.
I think aborts only get tested with ground equipment. Edit -Wrong.-
I don’t recall one ever being tested including the launch. So yet another uncrewed launch when Atlas runs out. I suppose the same is in order for any of the crewed ships planning to fly on multiple rockets like Dream Chaser. Any Dragon variant meant for FH would as well.

 

https://www.youtube.com/live/ARIZnaMXTEU?si=oRXvl4oTbjLAES7k


@bagleboy the crew dragon in flight abort. For some reason I can’t embed the video link.

 

How many OLM’s along with gse will need to be operational to launch HLS for Artemis III? For the HLS test flight? Will tankers(boosters too) be RAPIDLY reusable by then or will they need to have all of them(HLS, depot ship, 8 refueling ships) tested, staged and ready to roll out? To which pads? It’s conceivable that Pad A & Pad B could launch everything but I don’t know if the gse would hold up through all of them. If it doesn’t then 39A becomes the sole launch facility available (if it’s ready by then) so what’s happening at the Cape? Elon suggested shipping stages but without a place to run checks how does that work. They need to get busy at Roberts Rd with that Giga bay and 39A with its mount & gse. I understand waiting to verify designs at Pad B but with SLC 40 up now they need to prioritize some of the work at 39A.

 

Cool, I only remember the tethered test. Did Starliner do this on Atlas?

 

Rewatched a month old nsf KSC flyover and saw that Roberts Rd Giga bay is supposed to be under construction from Next week until August of next year and they’ve been drilling (a single drill) for the new pad foundation at 39A but there seems to be issues with locating the flame trench so maybe more stuff there gets torn down (F9 integration building is awfully close). Heck if F9’s days are numbered then maybe the launch tower too? A pad B clone is under construction at the rolling tent but there wasn’t any other SH related gse work being done at the pad. Without that I don’t see it being ready to support launches by the time the Giga bay is built. Maybe for Artemis III if it launches in ‘27 but not for the HLS test flight.

 

I think it’s the vertically integrated system at Spacex along with a less stratified, stagnated culture. Not infighting either in house or with contractors over who’s responsibility it is to fix something. ‘Cause there always something needing fixed. Also, if your less worried about it breaking you’re more focused on the solution than CYA.