_Augustus_

Node 4 and Rafaello?

Yeah. The fact that it's still "proposed" and no contracts beyond studies are being initiated means it's about as real as VASIMR for the time being.

Blank ships Monday, but has to go to Florida, be repackaged, and then get sent back up here. I'm estimating delivery will be on December 26th.

I was reading an update on astrobiology.com about the Breakthrough Listen data coming out. One commenter made this excellent point: "The most suspicious aspect is that it did a near perfect gravity assist. So, the easiest way to confirm or deny intelligent design is to answer the question: IS IT HEADED TO ANOTHER STAR? A perfect gravity assist is one that maximizes the gain in velocity, which is done at a deflection angle of 60 degrees. Oumuamua had a deflection angle of 66 degrees relative to the sun's direction of motion. By my estimates, approximating a periapsis distance just inside Mercury's orbit, Oumuamua picked up 28 km/s relative to the galactic core." If it is somehow an alien object, it's definitely some sort of probe headed for somewhere else, not really meant for us.

So thanks to the new administration's pivot towards the lunar surface it looks like DSG/DST is not going to happen. Rest in pieces....

Interesting. When will they fly crew?

South pole or near a lava tube.

A lot of the time in my Career save, randomly all of my vessels lose their connection and I can no longer launch unmanned vessels - they have no connection even at the launch pad. Logs just show errors like this (output and ksp.log respectfully): ArgumentOutOfRangeException: Argument is out of range. Parameter name: index at System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String].get_Item (Int32 index) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 at PartModule.ApplyUpgradeNode (System.Collections.Generic.List`1 appliedUps, .ConfigNode node, Boolean doLoad) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 at ModuleDataTransmitter.CommPowerUnloaded (.ProtoPartModuleSnapshot mSnap) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 at CommNet.CommNetVessel.UpdateComm () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 at CommNet.CommNetVessel.OnNetworkPreUpdate () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 at CommNet.CommNode.NetworkPreUpdate () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 at CommNet.Network.Net`4[_Net,_Data,_Link,_Path].PreUpdateNodes () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 at CommNet.Network.Net`4[_Net,_Data,_Link,_Path].Rebuild () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 at CommNet.CommNetwork.Rebuild () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 at CommNet.CommNetNetwork.Update () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 [EXC 14:07:01.499] ArgumentOutOfRangeException: Argument is out of range. Parameter name: index System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String].get_Item (Int32 index) PartModule.ApplyUpgradeNode (System.Collections.Generic.List`1 appliedUps, .ConfigNode node, Boolean doLoad) ModuleDataTransmitter.CommPowerUnloaded (.ProtoPartModuleSnapshot mSnap) CommNet.CommNetVessel.UpdateComm () CommNet.CommNetVessel.OnNetworkPreUpdate () CommNet.CommNode.NetworkPreUpdate () CommNet.Network.Net`4[_Net,_Data,_Link,_Path].PreUpdateNodes () CommNet.Network.Net`4[_Net,_Data,_Link,_Path].Rebuild () CommNet.CommNetwork.Rebuild () CommNet.CommNetNetwork.Update () What is causing this?

The Boeing CEO and the company as a whole have lately been touting that they will beat SpaceX to Mars. The way they're saying it is really misleading. For one, SLS isn't even built completely by Boeing. Second, it would be NASA, not Boeing, beating SpaceX. Third, Boeing could not care less about beating SpaceX to Mars; they haven't invested any of their own money in it and only even say this nonsense because they're trying to get some more tax dollars. Finally, NASA has no real plan for getting to Mars besides the vague DSG and DST concepts, mainly because they'll never get funding to do so. The media and general public actually believe that Boeing has issued a formal "challenge" to Elon and that there's some sort of "race to Mars" now. There isn't. Boeing will go nowhere unless they receive tens of billions from NASA to build dozens of SLS boosters. Boeing saying they'll beat SpaceX to Mars is equivalent to me telling you that I will beat you in a race with my taxi, if someone pays for me to get my taxi license and vehicle first, while you've already bought a car with your own money.

Winter Storm Benji is on its way to here....

For SLS to beat Elon to Mars SLS a) has to stay around for more than 2 missions, b) cost less or get more funding so that a Mars mission is affordable and c) BFR/SpaceX as a whole has to massively fail, which won't happen. Elon knows SLS is a joke, but he can't bash it too much because NASA is one of his customers.

Not a bad idea.

You can make RTGs with curium? *steps back cautiously*

But you can fly through plumes?????

So Zuma's been moved to LC-40. That's good.

3, actually. EM-1 was originally planned to lift off right around now.

2023-2020 = 3.

The US will have no orbiters besides at Mars after 2018-2019 when Dawn runs out of fuel and Juno is disposed of. Europa Clipper is nearly a decade away at best from arriving at Jupiter, as is JUICE. BepiColombo has a decade before arriving at Mercury. Psyche and Lucy also won't arrive at their targets until the late 2020s. I can see that happening. It's 3 years, and we don't know.

It's taking $2 billion a year from NASA. That's the cost of TWO Curiosity rovers or Cassini-class gas giant orbiter missions. EVERY YEAR.

New Glenn can put 13t to GTO in reusable mode, which obviously isn't enough for Orion (20t), but it could probably put Orion in MEO and still land. I don't think you'd need 3 launches to get it to lunar orbit; two could probably do it. Alternatively if you disposed of the New Glenn (no landing) you could probably just get Orion to lunar orbit in one launch. I ran the numbers in the OP and each SLS launch will probably cost $3+ billion assuming the maximum flight rate. That's more than New Glenn's entire development cost ($2.5 billion).

Fine, I'll change it back. So basically DSG is going to spend most of its time as an unmanned experiment platform? Gee, why don't we just drop the crew part and just use it as an unmanned experiment platform? Oh, yeah, that's because DSG was created as a job for SLS/Orion, and if we removed the need for SLS to launch it and Orion to visit it it wouldn't be able to do that anymore.

I don't think we're overcritical... just honest.

That's 6 or 7 years behind schedule. No large ($1B+) NASA program has ever been delayed that long AFAIK. Now EM-1 might fly around the same time as BFR, which would be hilariously sad, and even if BFR gets delayed (it probably will) it'll still fly before Europa Clipper and/or EM-2 (if EC still flies on SLS and EM-2 even happens at this point). POTUS (or Bridenstine, or VP) is going to kill SLS. A first flight of any kind may not happen until the end of POTUS' second term, and it's thus completely pointless if POTUS/VP/Bridenstine want to go back to the Moon, let alone lunar orbit, before then.

They're already in it....

If EC flies on Block 1, what is going to fly on Block 1B before Orion so they can send a crew up on it? If they're going to fly more Block 1 flights I honestly see Orion flying on Block 1 too. ICPS is pretty much identical to the DCSS other than having some extra avionics and attitude controls.