darthgently

Orbital maneuvers for ISS using Dragon planned https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/11/for-the-first-time-a-dragon-spacecraft-will-be-used-to-move-the-space-station/

ISS orbital maneuvers via Dragon. First time soon! https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/11/for-the-first-time-a-dragon-spacecraft-will-be-used-to-move-the-space-station/

And 400th Falcon launch

IFT-5 was a watershed moment, but still has a dreamlike quality to it. It hasn’t been fully banked yet, but I have to keep reminding myself that massive, large, budget-friendly payloads are going to become possible, then normal. Good times

Put the PVs and solar salt heaters up on a ridge, the hab bridging the twilight zone with adaptive sun shades, and radiators in the dark and ice melting via molten salt from the ridge via exchangers

Got to love that Korolev cross

When I see the nebulous 200t payload mentioned I can’t help but think that even the small Prufrock 4 12’ diameter tunnel boring machine weighs at least twice that probably. Need a Prufrock 4B (breakdown model, ships in two pieces). Or just have the Optimus crew assemble a TBM from parts on site, ha Very cool. Better than ditching in the ocean or using for lunar seismic research

This is devolving into the economic version of yo mamma jokes: “yo currency is so inflated…” Let’s not cross the lines, lol

Berger tweeted later (paraphrase) that he figures Blue Origin is likely burning through $3B/yr so maybe this is just to cover a BO infusion. I guess we’ll find out at some point

Veddy interestink

Don’t know

A technical history of a certain type of pestilence, how the CCP pickpocketed the F35 from the US, and the mess left behind

I think I called this one when I guessed they might be going for lowering AP over multiple passes many posts back. Can’t remember now. I hope this is also tried at Mars and lunar returns with other missions and craft to save fuel and ablative mass

At this point, any rocket company or agency trying to get good PR that isn’t swallowing their pride and putting Starlink antennas and multiple 4k+ cameras on the vehicles is simply into self harm. One of the best things to happen for space industry and agency PR is streaming video. I mean if taxpayers are paying the billions, at least show them cool videos of what they “own”

I’m shocked this topic didn’t get TOTM oct 2024. Which one did?

Possible Moon scenario (in my mind): All SpaceX HLS stay on surface as permanent base, all astronaut return from surface is via other smaller landers brought down autonomously

HLS tidbits Tom Bickmore: ”Inside the HLS prototype there are 5 bedrooms (ISS style, but horizontal), and a picture showing that you can fit 20 in one ring around the ship. Being inside makes it SO clear that it's stupid big, and there will be no lack of space with any size crew. They only have 2 floors so far: One with very laid out life support, all clear to see (& in use). The main one with the bedrooms, a storage area, 4 control seats, and a 40ft ceiling.”

Yes, looks like all liquid and no SRBs, as it should be. Orange insulated tanks makes me think hydrolox

Maybe it was a comment at the video but someone said something about firing it as in ceramics

Danger Will Robinson! Move away from Dr. Smith!

I always liked this Shuttle launch concept better

If that is clay and to be fired at those thicknesses it would have to be heated extremely slowly, like on the order of weeks, or months, to keep it from cracking. Actually, at those thicknesses, it is about guaranteed to crack no matter how slow you heat it. It will crack quite a bit from simply air drying. One can however keep filling the cracks, letting it dry, lather, rinse, repeat. Unless you have a lot of green energy high, or even bisque, firing stuff that massive is going to be very not-green. Glass working temperatures going on there

Sorry if I didn’t make it clear: this would be for developing the technology, R&D and such. Under no circumstances other than practice, training, and testing would it make financial sense to wrangle a 20 meter rock

Musk stated that 1 second is 50 control loop iterations, which is a looong time. And coincidentally is about the same ballpark frequency of the physics frame in KSP on many machines

Who says it has to be returned to earth? Well, Bezos, and many others, would like to move heavy industry to space for environmental reasons. Seems like a pretty big market just to get that done