Space and Science BS Thread

Seen this earlier this evening.



Wifey found this on the facebox.



I will assume so.
https://spaceflightnow.com/2025/02/...alcon-9-rocket-from-the-kennedy-space-center/

Pretty damn neat if true.

 

An interesting interview by Fraser Cain with one of the NAIC grant winners about the future of welding in space. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3BHNz68krNM&t=2s

 

Anyone surprised?

https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/...employees-that-nasa-may-cancel-sls-contracts/

https://bsky.app/profile/arstechnica.com/post/3lhmmh5hsus2t

Too bad the Blue Sky posts don’t show like the other.

 

Disappointed but not surprised. Hopefully that funding will find other suitable projects to fill out the growing needs. There are plenty of projects that have been sacrificed already in order to keep SLS going. Disappointed mainly because no one else is even remotely close to having a crewed option ready. We really do need to get out there and start using equipment in real environments rather than imitating realistic ones.

 

bsky is kinda lame anyway, tbh.

Happy and hope it actually happens. Literally billions on a crap architecture. But Atermis 2/3 are mostly paid for already so... ehhhh. Good museum pieces I guess that can sit by the pile of Ares I/V stuff.

 

Boeing is part of the problem.

When they received the core stage contract, replacing Lockheed Martin (who NASA thought had too much of the SLS program contracts), they threw out all the work/fixtures/prototypes/etc. that LM built, and started from scratch. IIRC, that was 2 years of work, putting SLS 2 years behind schedule from the (their) start.

What else would you do on a cost plus contract?

Boeing used to be a great company, with vision and drive. They have morphed to a jobs program.

 

Not what they used to be and seemingly disinclined to do anything serious about it. Not unique among large, industry entrenched companies.

 

Unfortunately, very true.

I think the mergers of the defense contractors that have occurred over the years has really hurt the industry and users (us). There used to be competition, and lots more designs. Now, all we have is the overpriced, too long to develop, "wonder plane" F-35.

 

https://pluto.jhuapl.edu/News-Center/PI-Perspectives.php?page=piPerspective_02_12_2025

 

I heard mention on NSF that there was a debate on whether pad B was going to be mobile or not and though I haven’t seen that discussion I wanted to throw my hat in the ring. It’s pretty obvious that they’ve realized that pad A as currently configured requires too much refurbishment after each launch to be able to reach the cadence needed even if it can still be improved. The question it seems is will pad B be able to fully achieve their goal or if it will just be a better but still incremental step forward. Since the answer can’t really be known until being put to the test I’m thinking an answer might be to build additional interchangeable pads equipped with their own QD’s. This means that launch cadence would automatically cut in half whatever the refurb time pad B requires. And even if it doesn’t require any at all after each launch(best case) it would drastically reduce downtime if refurbishment is needed after one, a few or several as well as more easily be able to iterate the pad along with the rocket. I don’t think this means it will be used as a transport stand though.

 

Cool stuff.

 

I like science!

 

https://nasawatch.com/personnel-news/probationary-employee-firings-across-nasa/

What’s the end game here? Cripple the labor pool for generations? Privatize the whole industry?

 

Government reduction in spending. It’s not just NASA.

 

Ha, Butch and Suni put out a statement they were never, and don’t feel, stranded.

 

Extra time in space is a bonus, not a drag, lol.

 

Methinks the statement was made for political purposes, unfortunately.

Why can no one admit their mistakes (other than SpaceX) and learn from them and move forward. A big reason we are in the mess we are in right now is due to this.

 

In response to IMHO.

 

Agree

 

10% of the NASA workforce laid off- https://www.chron.com/news/space/article/nasa-layoffs-musk-20173396.php