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Mandella
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Reply #735 on: February 27, 2017, 04:57:43 PM

More PR. They aren't likely to get their man-rating for the Dragon from NASA by the end of 2018 as things currently stand.

Not a space lawyer by any means, but some of the commentary I've seen around suggests that SpaceX does not necessarily need a NASA man rating to boost non-NASA personnel, and the FAA is primarily concerned with danger to private citizens on the ground.

Meaning this is what they might do while waiting on an actual man-rating from NASA.

Don't know myself, but for all the over promising Elon is doing space stuff, and it's pretty exciting space stuff at that.
Count Nerfedalot
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Reply #736 on: February 27, 2017, 05:06:02 PM

if they wanted to launch from Khazakstan or Liberia or something, no problem. Don't think they can launch from US soil without it though.

Yes, I know I'm paranoid, but am I paranoid enough?
calapine
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Reply #737 on: February 27, 2017, 05:22:42 PM

More PR. They aren't likely to get their man-rating for the Dragon from NASA by the end of 2018 as things currently stand.

Not a space lawyer by any means, but some of the commentary I've seen around suggests that SpaceX does not necessarily need a NASA man rating to boost non-NASA personnel, and the FAA is primarily concerned with danger to private citizens on the ground.

Meaning this is what they might do while waiting on an actual man-rating from NASA.

Don't know myself, but for all the over promising Elon is doing space stuff, and it's pretty exciting space stuff at that.

Not a space lawyer either, but I can't see SpaceX doing a mission to the Moon before they have the NASA certification to perform a short (ISS is at 400 km) trip to LEO.

Restoration is a perfectly valid school of magic!
Chimpy
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Reply #738 on: February 27, 2017, 05:31:25 PM

Apparently some in here forgot the timelines made during Apollo. The man-rating is doable if everyone has their shit together.

Apollo was a different era with virtually unlimited government funds and an ambitious political timeline. They also had an acceptable crew loss ratio that was considerably higher than what NASA will require to certify these private capsules.

Trying to say "Apollo did it!" means pretty much nothing in this scenario. The fucking winnebago used to haul the astronauts to and from the pad during apollo probably had as much money poured into it in absolute dollars than SpaceX has thrown into the entire Dragon capsule.

'Reality' is the only word in the language that should always be used in quotes.
calapine
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Reply #739 on: February 27, 2017, 05:58:48 PM

Apparently some in here forgot the timelines made during Apollo. The man-rating is doable if everyone has their shit together.

Apollo was a different era with virtually u8nlimited government funds and an ambitious political timeline. They also had an acceptable crew loss ratio that was considerably higher than what NASA will require to certify these private capsules.

Trying to say "Apollo did it!" means pretty much nothing in this scenario. The fucking winnebago used to haul the astronauts to and from the pad during apollo probably had as much money poured into it in absolute dollars than SpaceX has thrown into the entire Dragon capsule.

Apollo peaked at 0.8% of GDP. I am not doing the exact math now, but in 2017 terms we are talking >$ 100 bn per year.

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Mandella
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Reply #740 on: February 27, 2017, 10:44:33 PM

More PR. They aren't likely to get their man-rating for the Dragon from NASA by the end of 2018 as things currently stand.

Not a space lawyer by any means, but some of the commentary I've seen around suggests that SpaceX does not necessarily need a NASA man rating to boost non-NASA personnel, and the FAA is primarily concerned with danger to private citizens on the ground.

Meaning this is what they might do while waiting on an actual man-rating from NASA.

Don't know myself, but for all the over promising Elon is doing space stuff, and it's pretty exciting space stuff at that.

Not a space lawyer either, but I can't see SpaceX doing a mission to the Moon before they have the NASA certification to perform a short (ISS is at 400 km) trip to LEO.

Yeah. I've been reading a lot of the back on forth on other sites too, and the legality does seem in doubt. Still, he must think he's got an in -- Elon puts vision over practicality all the time, but he's never seemed to not understand the rules and regulations of the game he's playing.
calapine
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Reply #741 on: March 01, 2017, 01:06:19 AM

In the runup to Trump's congress speech there were rumours about a Space-related annoucment.

Here is a full transcript of his remarks:

"American footprints on distant worlds are not too big a dream."





Edit: Oh and Germany has a selection for their first female Astronaut aka Astronautin.

The final 6 candidates:



Edit2: Actually this is a private initiative, not founded by the DLR. Hmmm...
« Last Edit: March 01, 2017, 02:23:35 AM by calapine »

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Merusk
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Reply #742 on: March 01, 2017, 06:46:36 AM

OH *THAT'S* how women feel when they see male astronauts. I get it now.

Still, pretty cool to see a crop of only female candidates. Pick 'em all!

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Reply #743 on: March 01, 2017, 06:47:17 AM

OH *THAT'S* how women feel when they see male astronauts. I get it now.

Well played.

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calapine
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Reply #744 on: March 07, 2017, 08:39:10 AM

So, SATShow17 is, Jeff Bezos was there and he presented more of his rocket:

Introducing new Glenn

Some parts should look familiar...

Intersting bits:

  • No re-entry burn needed?
  • The landing barge is moving. Confirmed by Bezos
  • They have a first customer for a launch in 2021: Eutelsat - European Telecommunications Satellite Organization
  • Performance is 13 tons GTO, 45 tons LEO[1]. I am assuming this is in full reusable mode?


[1]
« Last Edit: March 07, 2017, 08:50:44 AM by calapine »

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Reply #745 on: March 07, 2017, 04:33:06 PM

Reported via NASAspaceflight:

Falcon Heavy continues to follow it's ancient and time honored tradition to be always 6 months from first launch. The demo flight (without playload) is now scheduled for NET (no earlier than) October 2017...  rolleyes

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Reply #746 on: March 09, 2017, 12:33:35 PM

Warning, rant ahead! I'll try to make it short and add some pretty pictures:


Let's have a minute of silence for the Automated Transfer Vehicle. On this day, 9 years ago, the first ATV launched to the ISS.




It was rather big and nifty:





Features included:

  • Completely autonomous docking (without ground station or ISS support) via Laser/videometer system.
  • Pressurized dry cargo transport
  • Reboost the ISS (whose orbit degrades due to drag) with it's main engines and extra tanks.  
  • Also refueling the ISS own fuel reserves
  • Refueling the ISS water tanks
  • Resupplying oxygen, nitrogen, air or a combination of those.
  • Being the biggest ISS freighter: Last mission had 6.616 kg cargo. (Dragon biggest load was 3.136 kg so far)






The ATV was also designed to be the base of an entire family of vehicles: Cargo Return version, Mini Space Station, Crew Return Vehicle. Studies were done for the later especially:





What happend? The ATV was developed (which wasn't cheap), then a total of 5 were built and used and then the programme was stopped.

Any evolution plans were not taken up due to lack of ambition. The crewed version would have taken  €413 million [EADS study] or 2-3 bn € [a rather critical space site's assessment]to develop an require another launch pad. In any case it that was "too much money".

Had they gone ahead it's likley we would today see American astronauts traveling to the ISS on an European craft rather than Putin-Soyuz. SAD! Heartbreak Heartbreak Heartbreak

To quote an ESA engineer I talked with due to this occasion: "and dont get me started on ATV....;-) I worked on that project, still sad, brain dead Orion SM is nice but not an ATV..."

Politics sucks. To end this, here is a GIF of ATV-3 docking:



« Last Edit: March 09, 2017, 01:23:11 PM by calapine »

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satael
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Reply #747 on: March 11, 2017, 04:01:47 AM

« Last Edit: March 11, 2017, 04:04:37 AM by satael »
Lucas
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Further proof that Italians have suspect taste in games.


Reply #748 on: March 11, 2017, 04:06:00 AM

It looks very yummy, but seriously, WTF?  Oh ho ho ho. Reallllly?

" He's so impatient, it's like watching a teenager fuck a glorious older woman." - Ironwood on J.J. Abrams
Soulflame
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Reply #749 on: March 11, 2017, 11:22:15 AM

Looks more like a slider to me.
calapine
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Reply #750 on: March 11, 2017, 11:24:31 AM

Bit of context for the Space Ravilo:


Where?

It's in the the so-called Encke Gap. To get a sense of proportion, the Encke gap is only 325 km wide gap, sitting 133,410 km away from Saturn's center.
The Saturn equator "surface" itself is at kilometer 60,268.Earth's radius is ~6,371 km. So Saturn is big.




Detail view from above:




The Encke Gap was discovered in 1888 (quite a feature IMHO) by American astronomer James Keeler. Note the small gap to the right of the Encke: It's named after Keeler.

The telescope he used:



A 36 inch Refractor telescope. It still exists (California) and the Lick Observatory holds evening lectures and let's visitors view through the telescope. They also host weddings! Anyway...


How it was found:



If you look stare at this Voyager image of the Encke Gap closely you can see that it's inner edge is slightly wavy.

This was the first hint that there must be something there. The gravitation of a moon when passing by tugs on the ring particles, creating this pattern. The moon however was not found.This was in 1980.

Fast forward to 1990: Thanks to a new, high-capacity storage medium, called the CD-ROM the Astronomer Mark Showalter has all 30,000 images by Voyager of Saturn in digital format
He writes a programme to filter the most likely ones to show the moon. And finds it, exactly 1x1 pixels wide:

(As an aside: In his blog he mentions that when leaving for work that morning he told his husband that his plans for the day were to discover a moon of Saturn. I thought that was cute! Anyways...)



Why did Showalter name it Pan?

1) The process whereby a moon opens up a gap in rings is known as “shepherding.” >
2) Moons of Saturn are named after Greek gods. >
3) The god of shepherds in Greek mythology is Pan,aflute-playing satyr.

Any questions?
« Last Edit: March 11, 2017, 11:28:55 AM by calapine »

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Merusk
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Reply #751 on: March 11, 2017, 12:39:23 PM

1) The process whereby a moon opens up a gap in rings is known as “shepherding.” >
2) Moons of Saturn are named after Greek gods. >
3) The god of shepherds in Greek mythology is Pan,aflute-playing satyr.

Any questions?

Thereby proving that the "Council of Elrond" portion of "The Martian" is 100% accurate.  Heart geeks

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calapine
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Reply #752 on: March 11, 2017, 01:06:50 PM

I found images that show "shepherding" in detail:

The Saturn Moon Daphnis in the Keeler Gap (see post above), also photographed by Cassini this year:



Looks like a cookie, imho.

Seen from afar, the "wave effect" clearly visible.

« Last Edit: March 11, 2017, 01:09:24 PM by calapine »

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calapine
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Reply #753 on: March 12, 2017, 05:19:36 PM

"Just a nice pic"

The VLT guide star lasers at sunset:


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RhyssaFireheart
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Reply #754 on: March 13, 2017, 09:42:19 AM

 Love Letters

calapine
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Reply #755 on: March 16, 2017, 12:03:22 PM

Reposting the NASA-budger relevant sections from the politics thread as it probably gets buried there. With slightly improved spelling:


Quote
Remember the mocking of "Goresat", the "Webcam in Space"? Officially known as DSCOVR or Deep Space Climate Observator

That camera is really just a passenger on a satellite whose main is actually rather different different: Measuring the solar wind and thus being an early warning for geomagnetic storms.

Those storms  which, when they hit earth, can damage satellites, disrupt communications, disable GPS and cause power outages. See: Halloween solar storms, 2003

Besides the commercial impact all the affected systems have a high military relevancy, so it's not surprising that the USAF helped NASA fund the satellite. The same is reason is, in my assessment, why the primary mission and thus the entire satellite is maintained.

What will be ended is: The part on it that face earth. The Budget Proposal literally aims to kill of specific instruments on a satellite. The EPIC camera and (likely as well) the NISTAR radiometer. It should be obvious that the monetary savings form this are practically zero. I honestly have issues grasping how petty this administration is can be.

Caveat: this is original research and not a summary of a news article, thus my own interpretation of the relevant budget line, which reads:
Quote
The Budget terminates four Earth science missions (PACE, OCO-3, DSCOVR Earth-viewing instruments, and CLARREO Pathfnder) and reduces funding for Earth science research grants.

Edit: To show what we are talking about, here is an image, taken yesterday, by very camera likely to die to be killed by Trump:



The satellites website: https://epic.gsfc.nasa.gov/

NASA publishes about 10 pictures every day from the camera, in natural and enhanced color (read: more flashy) versions.
« Last Edit: March 16, 2017, 12:32:32 PM by calapine »

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Ghambit
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Reply #756 on: March 16, 2017, 01:01:45 PM

To be fair, the budget to maintain those systems is definitely not "practically zero."  Sure they have no cost once up there, but you have groups tasked with not only maintaining the systems remotely, but dealing with the data.  It's not cheap to pay a data systems phD for stuff like this.  Sure, it's relatively peanuts in the larger scheme... but "cheap" it is not.

Your point is still valid though; really this is just to kill climate science and the jobs attached as such.

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calapine
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Reply #757 on: March 16, 2017, 02:01:17 PM

To be fair, the budget to maintain those systems is definitely not "practically zero."  Sure they have no cost once up there, but you have groups tasked with not only maintaining the systems remotely, but dealing with the data.  It's not cheap to pay a data systems phD for stuff like this.  Sure, it's relatively peanuts in the larger scheme... but "cheap" it is not.

Your point is still valid though; really this is just to kill climate science and the jobs attached as such.

Yes, you are absolutely right with that clarification. BUT (and I hope you believe me that's not an excuse I come with "after the fact") I didn't mean "practically zero" literally but in context of the overall mission cost/in context of what space things cost in general.

EPIC is really "just" a camera...it produces 2048x2048 pixel images and sends them home. The public website for it has been set up and is running for 2 years, the background infrastructure (data storage) for it is bought and running. And considering the satellite will be maintained with all that costs that implies (comm dishes, personal, etc..), so the decision boils down to not download one camera's data and save the few manhours the processing and publication of it's pictures requires.

Addendum: Even worse if they cut the radiometer as well, as it's scientific value is without question.
« Last Edit: March 16, 2017, 02:12:20 PM by calapine »

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Torinak
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Reply #758 on: March 16, 2017, 04:58:29 PM

Cutting all support for DSCOVR could save up to tens of millions of dollars per year (likely below that; a PDF purporting to be a 2015 FY budget shows $3.2M). Eliminating the program would cripple our ability to get any early warning for massive solar storms. It'd cripple the ability of the US military to prepare for GPS-disrupting solar storms, and prevent the power grid from having enough time to get safeguards in place to stop potentially trillions of dollars in damage. But it'd eliminate a pesky source of photographic and other evidence for global climate change, so the risks are totally worth it.
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Reply #759 on: March 19, 2017, 01:28:04 PM



That's are Dragon's navigation lights reflected on the solar panels as it leaves the ISS. Looks very "The future is now" IMHO.

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Reply #760 on: March 21, 2017, 10:11:58 AM

ESA Rosetta might be "sleeping" but she is still doing science:



Partial collapse of 134m high cliff, caused by outbursts of gas, due to the rising temperatures as the asteroid got closer to the sun.

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calapine
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Reply #761 on: March 25, 2017, 11:18:02 AM

President Trump speaks about NASA in his "President's Weekly Address":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdtKAbS4FuE


If 4 minutes Trump is too much for some, here is a short summary:

- Inspirational platitudes,
- Taxpayer "spent billions and billions on Hubble Space Telescope"
- Robert Williams --> Hubble Deep Field "Entire World struck by the awesome images"
- More inspirational platitudes
- JWST: "it is amazing"
- JWST "set to launch next year" [For some strange reason he forgets to mention who will be launching it...  Roll Eyes Roll Eyes]
- More inspirational platitudes "The future belongs to us" "I love America"

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calapine
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Reply #762 on: March 27, 2017, 02:06:13 PM

YARU - Yet Another Rosetta Update

More changes on Rosetta between before and after the comet passed perihelion - the point were it is closest to the sun are being discovered. I'll limit myself to one example here:



Click for zoom.

A 30m wide boulder, with a mass of ~ 18,800 tons (28 million pounds) moved around 140 meters. Which was either caused by erosion of the underground, causing the boulder to roll. Or: an outburst of gases lifted it. Which would be possible because on 67/P's weak and fluctuating gravity field 18,800 tons end up being "feeling like" around 600 kg (1300 pounds). Something bouncy Philae experienced first hand when his anchoring harpoon failed...


"Category: Just a nice video:"

4K timelapse video (with futuristic soundtrack) of Sentinel-2B being prepared for liftoff & launch

No context needed to enjoy the video, but quick:
The Sentinels are part of Copernicus which the European Unions civilian earth obs programme. The EU outsources the technical work to ESA, which made it the space agency's  biggest funding source (ahead of France and Germany).
There is a lot to it, but that's for another time. A quick overview of the Sentinel sats is under the spoiler.


Space Rumors

As you probably know the first flight of the NASA SLS rocket including the Orion spacecraft is due for late 2018 as an unmanned test flight around the Moon. (See my earlier post). Trump asked NASA check if it's possible to the first flights with crew.
The rumor part is: The answer is yes and it will be done and that this will be announced within the week.



That's it!
« Last Edit: March 27, 2017, 02:08:19 PM by calapine »

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Reply #763 on: March 27, 2017, 02:57:12 PM

And then they will have to try and find someone willing to ride in an untested capsule, on top of an untested rocket integration, just to make a man who only cares about his own ego look good.

Yeah, I don't see a lot of the NASA astronaut corps signing on for that job. They walk past the memorials to Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee every day they are at work.


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Torinak
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Reply #764 on: March 27, 2017, 03:00:38 PM

Clearly, said man should prove the manliness of his sausage fingers by being the one to ride in said capsule. Problem solved!
MahrinSkel
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When she crossed over, she was just a ship. But when she came back... she was bullshit!


Reply #765 on: March 27, 2017, 05:21:40 PM

If NASA asked for volunteers to get shot into the Sun, they'd get them. Look at the number of people willing to sign up for public humiliation (see: all of "reality TV") just to be almost famous for 15 minutes. One of the existing astronauts, that have already been in space or are scheduled to go? Probably not. One of the 3rd string, qualified but not scheduled or likely to be?  Probably yes.  Random military fighter pilots? Fuck yes.

--Dave

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Ghambit
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Reply #766 on: March 27, 2017, 06:09:35 PM

The first private Mars mission will be one-way in any case; though the govt. contract for it won't.

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Soln
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the opportunity for evil is just delicious


Reply #767 on: March 27, 2017, 08:17:01 PM

"spam in a can"   why so serious?
Father mike
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Reply #768 on: March 27, 2017, 08:43:27 PM

The first private Mars mission will be one-way in any case; though the govt. contract for it won't.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMe7dRoPRVU  (skip to 45 sec)
      DRILLING AND MANLINESS DRILLING AND MANLINESS DRILLING AND MANLINESS

I would like to thank Vladimir Putin for ensuring that every member of the NPR news staff has had to say "Pussy Riot" on the air multiple times.
Ghambit
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Reply #769 on: March 27, 2017, 10:58:23 PM

Fuck all that.  Just send some old foagies out there to set up the base and be done with it. 

"See, the beauty of webgames is that I can play them on my phone while I'm plowing your mom."  -Samwise
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