Space and Science BS Thread

https://twitter.com/spaceflightnow/status/1639304876948856833?s=46&t=FKss13TBQEQ0WMl570hnxg

 

Regarding my earlier criticism, I have to wonder how many full duration SF’s they subjected the be-3 engine to before declaring it flight ready? For a reusable rocket I would think it would have to be as many as it takes to generate a failure repeating the test with other engines as often as needed to establish a safe operational window. You might be able to determine how some parts wear by tearing down an engine and examining the pieces before a rud but You don’t find out where something consistently breaks without breaking it. I don’t think this is on that guy unless he’s the sole person responsible for the test regimen. Now maybe they already knew there were deficiencies in that particular stage since it was only ever used for unmanned flights but since they won’t say we’re left to speculate.

In the same vein though the first several iterations of Starship will be disposable they will eventually come up against the same problem certifying engines for reuse. They've done pretty well with the Merlin engines so my hope is that the same truly hardware rich approach will yield similar results with Raptor X.XX engines.

 

Throw a dart across town and hit a bullseye.

 

https://twitter.com/sciguyspace/status/1639266593564766211?s=46&t=FKss13TBQEQ0WMl570hnxg

What a cluster… They’re considering a mass simulator for cert flight 2 if the DC isn’t available. Meanwhile there’s no word on any info on a second set of BE4s much less a 3rd.

 

https://www.nasa.gov/dragonfly/dragonfly-overview/index.html

 

Near-Earth Asteroid 2023 DZ2 very close encounter: online observation – 25 Mar. 2023

Near-Earth Asteroid 2023 DZ2 very close encounter: online observation – 25 Mar. 2023 - The Virtual Telescope Project 2.0

 

Apparently they need 2 approved missions and then have the military analyse the results before certification is possible and the Dream Chaser was to be the second such mission in August. Delaying that until Dec slams the door on any military missions this year unless they can launch a basically dead weight payload in its place. That assumes the first launch is both timely and successful and allows for that second launch.

 

ULA is on the record as saying they CAN get to that military flight by the end of 2023.

I think they’re smoking something

 

The announcement is right around the corner. Whoever gets picked from NASA, despite what the say publicly, is gonna be bummed they didn’t get III..
https://twitter.com/csa_asc/status/1639605551108702209?s=46&t=Ih-X2F-XnqGm55VuPtSynQ

 

But it wouldn’t rule them out for a later return mission would it? It’s those that actually land and stay that might accumulate enough radiation exposure to rule out a second visit.

 

First the be-4 has to be a complete success before any other ducks get in line. It could happen, monkeys might take flight.

 

I don’t think the Art II crew would be ruled out for future landings. I was thinking each might be in consideration for commander for later landings. Good point about the radiation, though.

I’m sure that’s gonna be high on topics to study. I thought of that too for crew on Gateway.

 

Speaking of people who’ve make multiple trips (around) the moon:
https://twitter.com/andysaunders_1/status/1639675106627665922?s=46&t=qQafjdH_7ysLYprK8XSu9g

 

https://twitter.com/spacenews_inc/status/1639757948384624640?s=46&t=jZPBpnLISaGchq939behEg

 

Yes, though it will be interesting to see how the mitigation measures compare for the crew members that stay with Gateway/Orion vs those that continue down with HLS. They’ll all be out there beyond the magnetosphere.

 

https://twitter.com/nasaexoplanets/status/1640433252115554306?s=46&t=_FNG1xPJFuGbdNpJHsAECw

 

Amazing pic of the evening:
https://twitter.com/johnkrausphotos/status/1640494427327045632?s=46&t=_FNG1xPJFuGbdNpJHsAECw

 

6 days:
https://twitter.com/nasa_astronauts/status/1640716270458011650?s=46&t=LArOG-BFxAAIs3ZbbFh3rA

 

Earth/Moon from MRO:
https://twitter.com/setiinstitute/status/1640723671953055750?s=46&t=LArOG-BFxAAIs3ZbbFh3rA

 

I hope this signals an increase in the usage rate of the ISS for the other partners once Russia is officially out. Especially once the Axiom module is installed. It will also be interesting to see if Sierra Space gets interest in their LIFE module beyond the Orbital Reef project.