Space and Science BS Thread

ULA has a chunk of the CRS contract?

This must be a 100,000 euro sax

 

All that wasted money when there are such cheaper alternatives....

 

Those don't make for a cool IG post, though.

 

https://twitter.com/rookisaacman/status/1425066870156238850?s=21

 

That’s a small book. I bet it’s only 1/10th of a pound!

 

https://twitter.com/nasaoig/status/1425092999541927944?s=21

 

Question for all:

Which flies first, Starliner or Artemis 1?

 

Starliner, but I'd put money on them getting all the valves working, going back out to the pad, then having more valve issues. 1 valve is a bug. 13 is a flaw in production.

 

Agreed. They’ve had this issue before.

Don’t forget about the ballet around open docking ports on the ISS..

 

Plus Atlas being needed for actually useful missions in the near future, meaning starliner has to get de-stacked.

 

Def Starliner. I see SpaceX getting more Artemis 1 contracts so it stays on schedule.

 

It’s amazing they only have the one bay..

(At least I think that’s the bottleneck- need to understand ULA ops better.)

 

They've only had, what, 50 years to make a better moon suit? What's the rush!

 

Went looking on ULA's Atlas V page, lol'ed at this 'aspirational' bit of text:

Maybe some day, I suppose. And yeah, looks like only one bay in the Vertical Integration Facility for SLC-41, and I think that's the only pad they launch from, so that's definitely a bottleneck, and sounds like the 'Lucy' mission might be a higher priority for NASA.

 

Lucy mission?

 

ULA launches from 37 and 41 but 41 is the only place CST-100 can launch from.

Keep an eye out for X-37B here in the next few months as well.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_(spacecraft)
Has an October launch window. If Starliner can't make it's August window, then Cargo dragon takes the docking port until October. Even if Starliner launches at the beginning of October, it still eats into the Lucy launch window, and I'm guessing NASA would prioritize that over Starliner.

ULA only launches Delta IV from SLC-37, not Atlas V, and with Lucy going up on an Atlas V, means it has to go through SLC-41.

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/10/elon-musk-spacex-could-make-new-astronaut-spacesuits-for-nasa.html
While I don't necessarily want Elon/Gwynne distracted with spacesuits, he's not wrong with his "too many cooks" comment.

 

Nominal launch despite last minute helium valve issue and range violation which was quickly addressed

https://twitter.com/nasa_wallops/status/1425216560524931076?s=21