Copenhagen Suborbitals: Umm...

[DAL59]

https://copenhagensuborbitals.com/about-us/

Yep, they are trying to do a crowdfunded, volunteer space program, on very low budget.  

"The DIY spacesuit is made with valves and pipes from the hardware shop," says Bengtson, "because there was nothing to suggest these wouldn't work just as well for our purpose as some fancy equipment. We use a lot of stuff you can buy in the supermarket or local shops." He is using cork from the nearby carpet shop as a heat shield in the rocket.

"We didn't have the money to hire Nasa's facilities so we went to Copenhagen's Tivoli Gardens and tested the g-forces on fairground rides instead," says Bengtson: "Turns out the Vertigo ride has exactly the same g-force as our rockets, so we hired it for a day."

[Spaceception]

Best of luck to them. But that honestly sounds like a mistake waiting to happen. I've heard of people designing DIY spacesuits for fun, but not for actual spaceflight. I wonder how they will test and verify the safety of a suit like that.

[Bill Phil]

I mean, they may have some major issues, sure, but spacesuits for sub-orbital spaceflight aren't too complex.

The technology is far from new, and there's some good quality stuff commercially available. If they play their cards right and don't goof it up, it may work just fine.

Cork has been used in heat shields before...

Edited May 13, 2018 by Bill Phil

[NSEP]

They have already tested the thing 5 years ago.

Guys, please keep in mind that Copenhagen Suborbitals isn't some very young space programme like LinkSpace or Vector Launch Inc. They aren't new to the things they are trying to do.

They are going to test some of the systems used for their manned missions (hopefully) this summer (with Nexo II).

[SuperFastJellyfish]

They used to post here.  It's been since 2015 since this account has visited though. 

Edited May 13, 2018 by SuperFastJellyfish

[Ultimate Steve]

And I don't have the video link right now, but they actually have tested several large rocket engines successfully, and also several large rockets moderately successfully. They are launching their demonstrator Nexo-2 rocket sometime this year.

[SuperFastJellyfish]

 

[YNM]

As long as they don't overdo the bitter, it should be fine and good.

[Gargamel]

Considering Madsen was just convicted of murder and sentenced to life in Prison, I wonder what the future holds for CSO.  He was their head guy and chief investor correct?

[Scotius]

He was. Luckily he left in 2014. Good thing guys dodged that bullet...

[Gargamel]

25 minutes ago, Scotius said:

He was. Luckily he left in 2014. Good thing guys dodged that bullet...

I get my avatar from a submarine simulator forum I'm on, these guys are pretty hardcore sub/naval buffs.  About 4-5 years ago they organized a trip to take a ride on Madsen's boat, some of them became friends with Madsen.   We were watching the trial closely. 

[Streetwind]

The guy hasn't even been affiliated with Copenhagen Suborbitals in some four years, so that discussion is pretty far off topic here.

Much more interesting is what the actual people at the organization are doing right now:

- Nexo II is finished and awaiting launch in Summer (they can't do it right now because of weather and sea conditions)
- They only just wrapped up a public engine test series for the Nexo II's engine last week
- They've built a mockup of the crew compartment of the Spica rocket to help design and build the real thing
- They've started work on a new test stand for the full-size engine for Spica
- Much of the first quarter of 2018 was dedicated to refurbishing their sea launch platform and outfitting/comissioning a new command ship

[wumpus]

19 hours ago, Spaceception said:

Best of luck to them. But that honestly sounds like a mistake waiting to happen. I've heard of people designing DIY spacesuits for fun, but not for actual spaceflight. I wonder how they will test and verify the safety of a suit like that.

First I've heard of it, but I remember enjoying "Have Spacesuit, will Travel" so I image there are worse things for RAH fans to do.  To be honest, I'd be surprised if a significant fraction of the danger involved in riding an copenhagen suborbitals rocket would involve the spacesuit.

No claim against Copenhagen Suborbitals, but space is hard and they're not well funded.

[Gargamel]

23 hours ago, Streetwind said:

The guy hasn't even been affiliated with Copenhagen Suborbitals in some four years, so that discussion is pretty far off topic here. 

Whoops, yup, fair point.  Nipped.

 

I just remember early designs of theirs.  It basically looked like a coffin, with a window, on top of a rocket.   Definitely the most Kerbal RL space program out there....

[Zeiss Ikon]

For short exposures (like a suborbital flight below the Karmann line), a wet suit mated to a dry suit type full helmet should make a perfectly serviceable "space suit".  Wouldn't want to stay in it more than an hour or so, especially with heavy exertion, because it fails one of the important things a "skin tight" suit needs to do: allow your sweat to evaporate to let your body cool itself.  You'd also need to prebreathe pure oxygen (to prevent nitrogen bubbles in your blood and joints), and regulate the supply to 2-3 psi while in vacuum, to protect your lungs and make exhaling practical, however -- adding a strong elastic around the chest and abdomen would make exhaling easier, too, though it would make inhaling a chore at surface pressure.

[ChrisSpace]

On ‎5‎/‎14‎/‎2018 at 4:17 AM, DAL59 said:

Yep, they are trying to do a crowdfunded, volunteer space program, on very low budget.

Personally I give my full respect to this idea. While I doubt space will be opened up to ordinary civilians or non-billionaire-or-government programs any time soon, I admire that they're giving it a go.

On ‎5‎/‎14‎/‎2018 at 4:17 AM, DAL59 said:

"The DIY spacesuit is made with valves and pipes from the hardware shop," says Bengtson, "because there was nothing to suggest these wouldn't work just as well for our purpose as some fancy equipment. We use a lot of stuff you can buy in the supermarket or local shops." He is using cork from the nearby carpet shop as a heat shield in the rocket.

"We didn't have the money to hire Nasa's facilities so we went to Copenhagen's Tivoli Gardens and tested the g-forces on fairground rides instead," says Bengtson: "Turns out the Vertigo ride has exactly the same g-force as our rockets, so we hired it for a day."

I actually once had an idea to write a story similar-ish to this, where a group of teenagers builds a homemade rocket to explore an alternate "galaxy" with tiny planets and solar systems, like in Spore (tiny so delta-v isn't ridiculous). That idea got overshadowed by Steel Sky (formerly known as the Alternate Solar System Project) and my other project, but it's still a fun concept.

On ‎5‎/‎14‎/‎2018 at 5:09 AM, Spaceception said:

I wonder how they will test and verify the safety of a suit like that.

A vacuum chamber?

On ‎5‎/‎14‎/‎2018 at 7:31 PM, Streetwind said:

The guy hasn't even been affiliated with Copenhagen Suborbitals in some four years, so that discussion is pretty far off topic here.

Agreed.

On ‎5‎/‎16‎/‎2018 at 9:37 AM, Zeiss Ikon said:

You'd also need to prebreathe pure oxygen (to prevent nitrogen bubbles in your blood and joints)

This historically hasn't ended well.

[Streetwind]

2 hours ago, ChrisSpace said:

This historically hasn't ended well. 

Huh? Breathing pure oxygen is safely done by specialist divers around the world, and has been for decades.

You're probably thinking of keeping a pure-oxygen atmosphere inside a spacecraft, which is something entirely different, and yes, quite dangerous.  But I'm not sure CopSub has the technology, or the spare funds, or even the need to do such a thing. A bog-standard rubber grommet around the capsule hatch with zero other atmosphere and pressure control inside will likely serve their needs perfectly well, so long as the astronaut is in a simple pressure suit and able to breathe from a tank. Spica is going to be outside of breathable atmosphere for like... four or five minutes at best.

Heck, they could give the astronaut a small handheld air tank to manually help regulate capsule pressure

Edited May 19, 2018 by Streetwind

[totalitor]

They are launching their rocket July 28th. Can be seen live.

[Ultimate Steve]

For any curious, this is a liquid fueled rocket called Nexo (the o has a cross through it but I don't want to google it and copy-paste it) 2. It is expected to go 12-15km in the air if everything works, and its goal is to prove that the team can successfully build rockets without them exploding while still being small enough to be affordable.

Nexo 1 launched either last year or two years ago and suffered an engine failure shortly after liftoff.

They launch from a boat in the middle of the ocean.

The only things they need to do to be ready to launch are fixing the livestreaming stuff which broke due to a bad air conditioning unit (not on the rocket) and packing the parachute.

Best of luck to them!

[Streetwind]

8 hours ago, Ultimate Steve said:

its goal is to prove that the team can successfully build rockets without them exploding while still being small enough to be affordable.

Well, more precisely its role is that of a technology demonstrator for all the parts and software that are meant to go into the full-size Spica rocket. Which they have already started work on, by the way. Nexo 2 s supposed to be the last test launch before going all-in on Spica.

[Xd the great]

If they are building rockets from eccencially trash, Im in. Where can i be hired/work as a volunteer?

[Streetwind]

In Copenhagen, Denmark.

Like, it's literally in the name, dude!  

 

(In case you're serious: https://copenhagensuborbitals.com/ has their address and contact info.)

[Streetwind]

Blog about the impending launch: https://copenhagensuborbitals.com/nexo-ii-flight-profile/

[Streetwind]

Aaaaand postponed:

 

 

[Cheif Operations Director]

A space suit it pretty much a fancy diving suit so I'm sure they can do it.