SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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New FAA rules change who qualifies for commercial astronaut wings
On July 20, the same day that Blue Origin launched its crewed suborbital mission using the New Shepard vehicle, the FAA announced a major change to its Commercial Space Astronaut Wings Program, which launched in 2004. Previously, to be eligible to earn the wings, commercial launch crew members had to both meet specific requirements for flight crew qualifications and training and fly above a 50-mile (80 km) altitude on an FAA-licensed or permitted vehicle.

Now, effective July 20, the FAA has added new criteria to its short list of qualifications.

With the new change, those who fly on commercial space missions must also have "demonstrated activities during flight that were essential to public safety, or contributed to human space flight safety," according to the FAA.
Regardless of whether these crewmembers will receive the FAA's "official" commercial space astronaut wings, the space flyers may still be awarded honorary wings. It is not yet clear if the honorary FAA wings are different in appearance or carry any additional meaning.

Additionally, whether or not someone has FAA wings does not determine whether or not they are considered astronauts.

According to the dictionary Merriam-Webster, an astronaut is defined as "a person who travels beyond the earth's atmosphere," or "a trainee for spaceflight."

In the U.S., the FAA and the U.S. military awards astronaut wings to those who fly above 50 miles (80 km). However, NASA astronauts don't receive wings to qualify their astronaut status. Since the dawn of human spaceflight, "wings" have not been a necessary requirement to achieve astronaut status.
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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NASA cites Falcon flight heritage to select SpaceX to launch Europa Clipper
SpaceX’s heavy-lift Falcon Heavy rocket, which has been flown three times since its debut in February 2018 and currently maintains a 100% launch success record, was the vehicle of choice to launch Europa Clipper. A source selection document released this week revealed that Falcon Heavy was selected over one other bidder: United Launch Alliance’s yet unflown Vulcan launch vehicle.
Also:

SpaceX retires giant net boats that caught rocket nose cones
SpaceX went through nearly two years of trial-and-error before its zany idea of a mid-air catch would prove to be fruitful. But in the middle of the night, after the company's third-ever Falcon Heavy launch, Ms. Tree plucked the falling fairing out of the sky.

The boat celebrated numerous success, although not consistently. In an effort to recover both fairing pieces, SpaceX introduced a new vessel: GO Ms. Chief. Identical to her cohort, Ms. Tree, Ms. Chief was adorned with four arms and a giant net.

The dynamic duo roamed the Atlantic launch after launch, attempting to make history with a dual fairing catch. That day eventually came. Following the Anasis-II mission on July 20, 2020, both boats snagged its respective fairing.
Catching falling fairings proved to be trickier than the company expected, as a number of uncontrollable factors — like sea states, winds, and other weather conditions — played a role in how successful SpaceX's dynamic duo actually were.

To that end, the company made some modifications to its fairings pieces that would allow the hardware to stand up to the corrosive nature of seawater better.

For a time, SpaceX used the twin boats to both scoop fairings out of the water, and catch them in midair. But with the boats delicate arms too easily damaged by rough seas, SpaceX decided that it would look to another avenue for its recovery efforts: its fleet of recovery vessels for its Dragon spacecraft splashdowns.
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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That's great news about the Clipper. Ultimately, Boeing's inability to provide a core stage made the decision to save $1.8B possible.

The linked report doesn't say what the travel time tradeoff is. SLS would've gotten Clipper there in four years. NASA found a way to avoid a Venus boost with a Falcon Heavy launch, but IDK how much longer it will take to get there. At my age, a few extra years matter. :P
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Spoiler:
Spaceflight Now
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Unexpected thruster burns on Russia's newly-arrived Nauka module at the space station have caused the complex to move out of its proper orientation. Thrusters on the Zvezda module are counteracting Nauka’s thrusters in a “tug of war,” mission control says. https://spaceflightnow.com/2021/07/29/n ... us-center/
NASA TV is live with an update on the status aboard the International Space Station after Russia’s Nauka module began errantly firing thrusters.

The station drifted about 45 degrees out of its correct orientation, but attitude control has been restored.
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Blue Origin protest of NASA moon lander choice nixed by government agency
Blue Origin's protest against NASA's decision to not hire the company to build its next human moon lander has been shut down by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).

Earlier this year, NASA awarded SpaceX a contract to build its Human Landing System (HLS), or the moon lander that will carry astronauts to the lunar surface as part of the agency's Artemis program. Three companies had competed for the contract: SpaceX, Blue Origin and Dynetics, many expected the agency to choose two companies to both stoke competition and have a backup vehicle. However, they ended up choosing only SpaceX with its Starship vehicle.

In response, Blue Origin and Dynetics filed protests to the GAO, and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos issued an open letter to NASA in a bid to change the agency's mind.

The GAO "denied protests filed by Blue Origin Federation, LLC, of South Kent, Washington, and Dynetics, Inc.-A Leidos Company, of Huntsville, Alabama," the office announced in a statement Friday (July 30) after the "protestors," Blue Origin and Dynetics, "challenged their [NASA's] non-selection for awards."
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Another status update about SpaceX at Boca Chica: Starbase Surge sees SpaceX speed ahead with Booster 4 and Ship 20
In a marked increase to the already-impressive production cadence at SpaceX Starbase, it’s all hands on deck with Booster 4 and Ship 20 preparations ahead of the duo being sent to the launch site. Booster 4 was stacked on Sunday, with all 29 Raptors installed by Monday morning.

While the orbital launch attempt is not imminent, the duo is expected to undergo a series of ground testing objectives, including multiple Static Fire tests for the booster. This will also provide time to complete the final elements of the Orbital Launch Site (OLS), from which the duo will conduct the milestone test flight.
And this tasty little bit of info, estimated space in payload bay is ~1000 cubic meters :shock:


Finally, I'd really like to see this happen:
Elon Musk also provided encouraging news about the down mass capability of Starship, albeit with a one word answer – “sure” – when asked if Starship could be used to return Hubble from orbit at the end of its lifetime, allowing it to be put on display, as opposed to suffering from a destructive re-entry.
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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More on the craziness in Boca Chica, again from Eric Berger.

SpaceX Installed 29 Raptor engines on a Super Heavy rocket last night.
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Zaxxon wrote: Mon Aug 02, 2021 4:28 pm More on the craziness in Boca Chica, again from Eric Berger.

SpaceX Installed 29 Raptor engines on a Super Heavy rocket last night.
They build rockets just like I do in KSP.
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Zaxxon wrote: Mon Aug 02, 2021 4:28 pm More on the craziness in Boca Chica, again from Eric Berger.

SpaceX Installed 29 Raptor engines on a Super Heavy rocket last night.
Can't wait for the first all up ground firings with 29 Raptor engines going at once :D. Might want to step back a bit from the test site for that one.
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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jztemple2 wrote: Mon Aug 02, 2021 4:30 pm
Zaxxon wrote: Mon Aug 02, 2021 4:28 pm More on the craziness in Boca Chica, again from Eric Berger.

SpaceX Installed 29 Raptor engines on a Super Heavy rocket last night.
Can't wait for the first all up ground firings with 29 Raptor engines going at once :D. Might want to step back a bit from the test site for that one.
That's one big boom stick, for sure.
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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So what's the over-and-under on Boeing's uncrewed Starliner launch tomorrow? Will the mission succeed? Does it still matter? Do we need a fallback for Dragon? Can Starliner compete with SpaceX on a fair playing field?
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Kraken wrote: Mon Aug 02, 2021 10:30 pm So what's the over-and-under on Boeing's uncrewed Starliner launch tomorrow? Will the mission succeed? Does it still matter? Do we need a fallback for Dragon? Can Starliner compete with SpaceX on a fair playing field?
1. Enlarge Image

2. Probably, since they've already had a practice run :wink:

3. Yes... it is still a NASA budgeted project

4. Yes... Imagine if the next Dragon has a massive failure. Starliner would be the backup to take crews to and from the ISS till the Dragon failure is identified and fixed.

5. Probably not, but NASA could adjust the ratio of Dragon to Starliner flights so that Starliner has just enough flights to keep it viable.
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Space
However, while NASA said on Twitter and officials repeated during public comments about the incident that the orbiting lab tilted about 45 degrees, that appears not to have been the full story. According to reporting by The New York Times, Zebulon Scoville, the NASA flight director leading mission control in Houston during the event, says the station tilted far more severely than just 45 degrees.

According to Scoville, the event has "been a little incorrectly reported." He said that after Nauka incorrectly fired up, the station "spun one-and-a-half revolutions — about 540 degrees — before coming to a stop upside down. The space station then did a 180-degree forward flip to get back to its original orientation," according to the report.

Scoville also shared that this was the first time that he has ever declared a "spacecraft emergency."
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Man that could have gone so bad.
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Isgrimnur wrote: Mon Aug 02, 2021 11:27 pm Space
However, while NASA said on Twitter and officials repeated during public comments about the incident that the orbiting lab tilted about 45 degrees, that appears not to have been the full story. According to reporting by The New York Times, Zebulon Scoville, the NASA flight director leading mission control in Houston during the event, says the station tilted far more severely than just 45 degrees.

According to Scoville, the event has "been a little incorrectly reported." He said that after Nauka incorrectly fired up, the station "spun one-and-a-half revolutions — about 540 degrees — before coming to a stop upside down. The space station then did a 180-degree forward flip to get back to its original orientation," according to the report.

Scoville also shared that this was the first time that he has ever declared a "spacecraft emergency."
Yeah, that Scott Manley video I posted above really makes it clear that this wasn't just some minor issue. Thankfully there was apparently no harm done, but this is why NASA really hammers on readiness reviews, rehearsing maneuvers and practicing contingencies. Although I'll bet that "ISS does a one and a half gainer" wasn't in their contingency list :wink:
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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The Boeing Starliner launch has been postponed...
"During pre-launch preparations for the uncrewed test flight of the CST-100 Starliner spacecraft, Boeing engineers monitoring the health and status of the vehicle detected unexpected valve position indications in the propulsion system. The issue was initially detected during check outs following yesterday's electrical storms in the region of Kennedy Space Center," Boeing officials wrote in the statement.

"Consequently, the launch of the Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket will be postponed. The launch was scheduled for 1:20 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Aug. 3. Boeing and NASA teams are assessing the situation. The team will provide updates regarding a launch attempt on Wednesday, Aug. 4," the company added.
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Bummer. I hope they get it worked out and have a successful launch this week. Starliner can't be ready soon enough.

Meanwhile...

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Only in Texas do horses have dashcams :D
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Daehawk wrote: Wed Aug 04, 2021 2:53 pm
Great, something else to worry about :wink:
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Jaymann wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 10:52 am
stessier wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 6:07 am
Jaymann wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 5:20 pm Here is the best, most comprehensive documentary I have seen on evidence that the moon landings were faked. It's 3 hours long, but trashes all the debunking arguments, including Mythbusters. Feel free to dismiss out of hand, but if you actually watch it you might find that difficult to do. Also find it interesting that YouTube made it difficult to find even though they are awash with flat earth garbage. :ninja:
Is your position that the landings were faked?
My position was summed up by Collins:

"I don't remember seeing any stars."
I just got a new computer with an RTX 3060 Ti, so I decided to search for some NVIDIA RTX Demos. I came across this one for the Apollo 11 photos of Buzz Aldrin coming out of the LEM

Interestingly enough, it comes with a readme.txt file that has some conspiracy theory claims about the original photo:

1. Buzz Aldrin is much brighter than the moon in the shadow of the lunar lander
2. No stars visible in any of the shots and astronauts cannot recall seeing any stars
3. Looks like Buzz is being lit by multiple light sources and there is even a bright blob in one of the videos. Stage lighting?

For each of these the readme file explains how to play with the lighting settings. On basic lighting, with direct ray tracing and no reflected light modeling, Buzz is definitely dark. For indirect lighting modeling with NVIDIA VXGI it shows Aldrin getting lit up by light rays bouncing off the lunar surface AND from Neil Armstrong's suit. In fact, there's a button to remove Neil and his suit from the scene and it clearly shows the effect of sunlight bouncing off his suit and lighting up Buzz.

In addition, there's an exposure slider and if you turn it all the way to the right you'll see that stars can be seen, but it overexposes all of the lunar surface, Buzz, and the LEM. So there is no way to capture both starlight and the surface; there's just too much sunlight bouncing all over the place. And finally, playing with the exposure I was able to see that the bright blob in the video is actually the overexposure of Neil's suit - since he was already outside with the camera to capture Buzz's descent from the LEM, and he was positioned right where he would have been to capture the angle of Buzz as he was exiting the LEM.
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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You're right, it is all 100% legit.
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A fun and maybe plausible dream.

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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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That was fascinating. I didn't like Scott Manley at first, but he quickly won me over by speaking at the edge of my understanding and sometimes pushing just a little beyond. The SpaceX tile system is ingenious.
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Kraken wrote: Mon Aug 09, 2021 12:47 am That was fascinating. I didn't like Scott Manley at first, but he quickly won me over by speaking at the edge of my understanding and sometimes pushing just a little beyond. The SpaceX tile system is ingenious.
I like him too, although his voice kinda throws me off at first, each time I start listening to a video.
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Blue Origin continues the tantrum from crazytown over HLS. (Prior episodes: GAO protest, misleading infographic.)

Now this:


Eric Berger has thoughts.
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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jztemple2 wrote: Mon Aug 09, 2021 9:53 am
Kraken wrote: Mon Aug 09, 2021 12:47 am That was fascinating. I didn't like Scott Manley at first, but he quickly won me over by speaking at the edge of my understanding and sometimes pushing just a little beyond. The SpaceX tile system is ingenious.
I like him too, although his voice kinda throws me off at first, each time I start listening to a video.
I imagine him as Simon Pegg.
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Kraken wrote: Mon Aug 09, 2021 12:47 am I didn't like Scott Manley
You are dead to me. He was the first (and one of only two, I think) person I watched play video games to watch someone play a video game. I think I may have watched like 80 episodes of him playing Kerbal Space Program and he was fantastic. I never did get very far in the game but I have forgotten more astrophysics than I ever thought I could have possibly learned by watching him play.

OK, I'll cut you some slack for warming up to him.
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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LordMortis wrote: Wed Aug 11, 2021 3:37 pm
Kraken wrote: Mon Aug 09, 2021 12:47 am I didn't like Scott Manley
You are dead to me. He was the first (and one of only two, I think) person I watched play video games to watch someone play a video game. I think I may have watched like 80 episodes of him playing Kerbal Space Program and he was fantastic. I never did get very far in the game but I have forgotten more astrophysics than I ever thought I could have possibly learned by watching him play.

OK, I'll cut you some slack for warming up to him.
His voice was off-putting, but I like what he says.

I had no idea Scott Manley was a gamer. I haven't played a video game since the pandemic and don't care about them at all anymore. I’ve lost my ability to concentrate, much less remember rules and strategies and stuff.
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Kraken wrote: Wed Aug 11, 2021 11:12 pm I haven't played a video game since the pandemic and don't care about them at all anymore. I’ve lost my ability to concentrate, much less remember rules and strategies and stuff.
Sheesh, that's bad. I turn 68 next month and I'm hoping that aside from the arthritis in my hands making use of a controller a bit of a pain (literally) I'll still be whacking away at digital bad guys, racing at ridiculous speeds and running medieval empires for many more years.
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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I still play many hours a day.
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Kraken wrote: Wed Aug 11, 2021 11:12 pm
LordMortis wrote: Wed Aug 11, 2021 3:37 pm
Kraken wrote: Mon Aug 09, 2021 12:47 am I didn't like Scott Manley
You are dead to me. He was the first (and one of only two, I think) person I watched play video games to watch someone play a video game. I think I may have watched like 80 episodes of him playing Kerbal Space Program and he was fantastic. I never did get very far in the game but I have forgotten more astrophysics than I ever thought I could have possibly learned by watching him play.

OK, I'll cut you some slack for warming up to him.
His voice was off-putting, but I like what he says.

I had no idea Scott Manley was a gamer. I haven't played a video game since the pandemic and don't care about them at all anymore. I’ve lost my ability to concentrate, much less remember rules and strategies and stuff.
It was something under a decade ago I watched him play. I watch him play KSP more than I played KSP

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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Blue Origin is really trying hard to piss off | lose respect from | be laughed at by the entire space community...

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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Zaxxon wrote: Fri Aug 13, 2021 9:53 am Blue Origin is really trying hard to piss off | lose respect from | be laughed at by the entire space community...

Why being laughed at? I think Blue Origin is making some valid points. Just because SpaceX is a media and public darling doesn't negate the fact that the SpaceX approach carries a lot of risk. If the American public is going to shell out billions of tax dollars it is important that the risk involved isn't sugar coated. It is a booster that hasn't been flown yet, from a launch pad that hasn't been built, and requires in-orbit refueling on a scale that hasn't been demonstrated before. And the lander is absurdly oversized for the task.
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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jztemple2 wrote: Fri Aug 13, 2021 1:57 pmWhy being laughed at? I think Blue Origin is making some valid points. Just because SpaceX is a media and public darling doesn't negate the fact that the SpaceX approach carries a lot of risk. If the American public is going to shell out billions of tax dollars it is important that the risk involved isn't sugar coated. It is a booster that hasn't been flown yet, from a launch pad that hasn't been built, and requires in-orbit refueling on a scale that hasn't been demonstrated before. And the lander is absurdly oversized for the task.
It's not a media darling thing, it's a look-thyself-in-the-mirror thing. Blue Origin continues to protest an award that they lost--by a very wide margin--fair and square as judged by every article I've seen that didn't originate with BO, as well as by the GAO. Their proposal wasn't competitive.

SpaceX's booster hasn't yet flown but will in the next several months, from a pad that is being built as I type. When will BO's be ready? The infographic isn't even accurate at the time it was put out (Musk had addressed the 16 launches thing earlier). It is designed not to 'just ask questions,' but to continue to beat BO's dead horse. If BO wanted this contract, they should have put forth a bid that was more competitive--there was no surprise that their bid would come in well higher than SpaceX's, nor that their hardware would be delayed beyond SpaceX's. If they want contracts going forward, they should sharpen their pencils or self-fund the proof-of-concept as SpaceX was already doing.

As Berger puts it:



He has contacts at BO, and they're 'disgusted' at Smith's behavior lately.

Every proposal's approach carries a lot of risk. That's part of the process of going to the moon. I would posit that SpaceX's actually carries the least risk, as they have at least come through on recent projects. What has BO done?
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

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Swear to Bob I hadn't seen this when I posted above...

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Kraken
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Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff

Post by Kraken »

Starliner is grounded indefinitely. Apparently Boeing didn't figure on Florida humidity.
The decision to move Starliner precludes a launch date this month, and it may prevent a launch before 2022. United Launch Alliance, which is providing the Atlas V rocket, will need to focus its attention on NASA's Lucy mission, due to launch in mid-October. While it is possible Starliner could be readied for a November launch, Vollmer did not sound optimistic.

"It's probably too early to say whether it's this year, or not," he said. "I would certainly hope for as early as possible, and if we could fly this year it would be fantastic."

More likely, according to sources familiar with NASA's schedule for traffic to the International Space Station and United Launch Alliance's manifest for the rest of the year, a launch before February 2022 is unlikely. And that is reliant upon Boeing finding the root cause of the valve issue, identifying a fix, implementing it, and successfully testing it.
If everything goes well, they might still have a crewed launch by the end of next year.

While part of me enjoys seeing Boeing fumble going head-to-head with SpaceX, my rational side knows that a fallback launch vehicle is still valuable, and my taxpayer side wants it to work. Even if Boeing's covering the retesting/redesign out-of-pocket, we have a lot of sunk costs and Boeing has a contract to fulfill.
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