tater Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 https://www.gravitics.com/ Kinda kerbal... Bending metal... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FleshJeb Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 We've all built this in KSP and we're lying if we haven't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AckSed Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 Very glad something like this is actually being built. Looking at the actual specifications, this thing is wider than Skylab. It also anticipates StarShip if "Capacity for 50+ tons of interior outfitting" is any indication. I can't help but imagine this coupled to the Spacecoach concept: simple spacecraft with water walls for radiation protection, clustered electrical water-propelled thrusters for travelling between Luna, Mars and Earth, and partially-open-loop life-support. Hydrogen peroxide can be generated onboard to fuel the attitude control thrusters. You'd need a powerful solar array, but that's not too onerous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tazooka Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 8 hours ago, FleshJeb said: We've all built this in KSP and we're lying if we haven't. The PPD-10 Hitchhiker Storage Container with tons of solar panels surrounding it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted March 8 Author Share Posted March 8 7.6m diameter 9.8m height 400 m3 volume. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeSchmuckatelli Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 Am I wrong to be leery of all the 'Space Station Startups'? Even if SS gets up and flying this year or next... Is there a demand for this? Aside from the Billionaire Lookatme crowd - I'd think there would have to be some kind of industrial /commercial need (beyond hostelry) to make even one of these viable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevenperforce Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 20 minutes ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said: Am I wrong to be leery of all the 'Space Station Startups'? Even if SS gets up and flying this year or next... Is there a demand for this? Aside from the Billionaire Lookatme crowd - I'd think there would have to be some kind of industrial /commercial need (beyond hostelry) to make even one of these viable. Yep, this is what worries me too. Hard to say "if you build it, they will come" when people can't just drive or walk to the thing you're building. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeSchmuckatelli Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 20 minutes ago, sevenperforce said: Yep, this is what worries me too. Hard to say "if you build it, they will come" when people can't just drive or walk to the thing you're building. It's a very interesting dilemma. Should someone get access to research from university / NASA indicating that some kind of LEO manufacturing could be profitable - the initial size of any facility isn't going to scale well. 7m sounds huge for a human spaceflight container - but for some kind of factory? (Eyeroll). Also; given launch costs, there are likely to be pressures to combine assets. So - who really wants tourists poking around the factory floor, even here? All that aside; someone has to be first - or we're not getting off this rock! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted March 16 Author Share Posted March 16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevenperforce Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 9 hours ago, tater said: Wouldn't they need to get to 29.4 psi to prove space worthiness? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted March 16 Author Share Posted March 16 23 minutes ago, sevenperforce said: Wouldn't they need to get to 29.4 psi to prove space worthiness? You'd think they'd want 2 atm (1 over ambient). Maybe a typo? (I'll admit I didn't do the math when I saw it, and I don't think in PSI) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piscator Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 It's above the cabin pressure in airliners, so I guess it would be sufficient. There's not really a need to use the ISS standard, is there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomf Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 A lower pressure at higher 02 would be easier to manage and shouldn't have and adverse effects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted March 17 Author Share Posted March 17 I'm thinking this was minus ambient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnemoe Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 On 3/8/2023 at 4:41 PM, JoeSchmuckatelli said: It's a very interesting dilemma. Should someone get access to research from university / NASA indicating that some kind of LEO manufacturing could be profitable - the initial size of any facility isn't going to scale well. 7m sounds huge for a human spaceflight container - but for some kind of factory? (Eyeroll). Also; given launch costs, there are likely to be pressures to combine assets. So - who really wants tourists poking around the factory floor, even here? All that aside; someone has to be first - or we're not getting off this rock! Agree, now most research its easier. NASA states it want to rent in on an commercial space station, they pay for hotel services and to dock multiple labs to the station. That is the obvious money tourists is an bonus, and the long term crew would enjoy spending dinners with very rich space geeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted March 18 Author Share Posted March 18 Not sure what the market is for this. It's a bit of chicken and egg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K^2 Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 On 3/8/2023 at 6:56 AM, JoeSchmuckatelli said: Even if SS gets up and flying this year or next... Is there a demand for this? Aside from the Billionaire Lookatme crowd - I'd think there would have to be some kind of industrial /commercial need (beyond hostelry) to make even one of these viable. From a venture capitalist perspective, there are two ways you make a return on your investment in a startup. It either starts making huge profits, or you sell the company to someone else. I'm pretty sure all of these space startups are in the latter category. I don't think anyone investing in these expects them to start making independent space stations. The expectations is that they get bought up by someone like Boeing, Lockheed, or SpaceX for work on a gov't contract. Whoever gets the contract to build the Lunar Gateway, for example, might be looking to buy three or four of these startups just to get access to their talent. That's not to say that people working at these startups think that way. Many of them might actually believe in the idea of building private space stations. And heck, one or two of these might actually get contracted to build something and could even grow as a company that way. But it's not the sort of hope on which you invest money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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