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In November of 2022, a Space Launch System Block I took to the night sky of Florida. But... what if a very similar vehicle flew much, much earlier? What if Orbital ATK didn't demand no less than 5 segments for Solid Rocket Boosters? What if Constellation was much less considered than another option? A proposal going by the name of... "DIRECT" Space Transportation System Derivative ____________________ Common Core Stage Every rocket in the series would utilize a Common Core Stage. This would take the External Tank from the Space Shuttle, remove the feedlines on top for the orbiter, attach a thrust structure to the bottom, remove the nose cone LOX tank, and attach a liquid oxygen tank extension and cap with a forward skirt for mounting instrument rings/payload fairings or interstages. This new core stage would be common to every flight of the vehicle. I will refer to it as the CCS. Naming The name given to each Jupiter launch vehicle had three digits; the first digit being how many stages the rocket has, the second being how many engines are on the Core Stage, and the third being how many upper stage engines it has. For example, the Jupiter-246 has 2 cryogenic stages, 4 main engines, and 6 upper stage engines. Jupiter-130 The Jupiter-130 was the first variant of the v3 family. A new thrust structure would allow for the mounting of RS-25s straight onto the CCS, which this variant would use 3 of. The instrument ring and payload fairing would be mounted straight to the top of the CCS. This medium-lift vehicle could lift about 50 tons into LEO, and was designed as a replacement for the space shuttle servicing and rotating crew on the International Space Station Freedom using CEVs. There was no ISS in my timeline. Instead, Space Station Freedom will be the "ISS" of this thread. Jupiter-246 The Jupiter-246 is very similar to the Jupiter-130, but includes a forth RS-25, and most significantly, the Jupiter Upper Stage; a very large hydrolox tank powered by the existing RL10B-2s used on the Delta IV. The instrument ring and payload fairing would sit on top as they would on the CCS of the Jupiter-130. This launch vehicle could put over 100 tons into Low Earth Orbit, which would allow for a crewed return to the Moon and eventually flights to Mars. These two rockets would be the backbone of crewed spaceflight, for decades to come; allowing for continued and much safer servicing of Freedom, a return to the Lunar surface, rides to Near Earth Objects, eventual flights to Mars, and much more... ____________________ On January 1st, 2011, a Jupiter-120 prototype roars into the morning sky of Florida. The age of Jupiter has begun.

I have been studying concepts for missions, and I think I might have one. It is basically an expansion upon the idea of a Saturn atmospheric probe whose relay will escape the Solar System. As of yet, it is nameless, but I have some ideas for what it will be. The carrier-relay probe will have a wide-angle camera with color capabilities, and a narrow-angle camera with only B&W. This is similar to the Ralph-Lorri dichotomy on New Horizons. It may also have some other instruments from the Voyager probes, such as a magnetometer, radio receiver, UV spectrometer, etc. Finally, it will carry an atmospheric probe to descend into Saturn's atmosphere. It will be released not long before the Saturn flyby, and after the relay passes from the shadow, it will relay the data collected from the atmospheric probe, as well as data it may have collected as well. The carrier-relay would look like a mesh between Voyager, New Horizons, and Galileo (with the atmospheric probe), possibly. It would be launched in mid-2034, have a 1.7-year-long cruise phase to Jupiter, then take about 4 years to get to Saturn. After that, a Haumea flyby may be possible, given enough funding directed toward it. A couple of questions, however: Since it's on an escape trajectory from the Solar System, what cargo will it carry for aliens to find? Would it be feasible to have a camera embedded into the probe to take a picture of the Saturnian atmosphere? To get to Haumea, how close would the carrier-relay have to fly to Saturn? Would it be possible to make a mockup of it using RSS? (preferably both imgur photographs AND a youtube video) These are two possible trajectories I might use. They aren't necessary, but is instead a template or guideline. https://drive.google.com/open?id=14YrJYsIIzYcgSTCZa_DjR8acOjPp26Ks https://drive.google.com/open?id=1GF_xSTJa7mQ37aFmDcRsh06SYOPoPD0e Share your thoughts below.

Frontier Aerospace Background: In his high school years, Matthew Kerman founded an aerospace club. He and his team completed many projects with model rockets and high-power rockets. In his senior year, the team successfully launched a space shot mission. He broke a record with the first high school to send a rocket into space. Matthew then got many scholarships and finished college with a master's degree in Aerospace. He then got hired by NASA to work on the Space Launch System. Years later, he proposed a plan to replace the SLS with a clean sheet HLLV. The proposal was called the Jupiter MHLV (Modular Heavy Lift Vehicle). It is composed of many companies like SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, and most importantly... Frontier Aerospace. Matthew left NASA to form Frontier. The team is composed of former SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, and Blue Origin Employees, and even some of his friends from high school. Their goal is to help NASA explore, build transportation for the public, and explore planets like Sarnus or even Plock. Current date: September 2041 Previous launch: Rhea Ia Mass Simulator Next Launch: Rhea Ia: Space Launch Carrier 1 Before I started this mission report, I had many Frontier saves (Frontier was called "Nano Hex" before switching). I have always conceptualized replacements for the SLS ever since I had an interest in space exploration. Thanks and inspiration to: @Blufor878 @GoldForest for Dreaming Big @Jay The Amazing Toaster for Kānāwai: Ares to Mars @Poodmund and @CaptRobau for making OPM And all the modders that contributed to making them

What should I know about planning for a Juno mission to Jool including all of the same gravity assists that the real thing did, in terms of the launch window? I have the spacecraft itself built, and it works well (probably too much delta-V...)

OK, I just found this on the NASA website, put out about 5 days ago when the Juno probe did a polar orbit over Jupiter's South Pole..... ..... and took this! I have no words..... except wow! Here's the link to the article for anyone who's interested. https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/a-whole-new-jupiter-first-science-results-from-nasa-s-juno-mission

Hello. The question is, plainly put, what is the most effective exploration strategy for Jupiter (in terms of getting more science and perhaps some fun along the way)? I'm currently playing RSS/RO/RP-0 build (not sure what the exact versions are, KSP is 1.2.2), and I have a probe that just left Earth's SOI with slightly more than 4k of delta-v on board; its current Jupiter periapsis is ~ 2200 km with an orbit a few degrees off the satellites' plane. Initially, I was planning to capture into satellites' plane and then one by one catch them on flybys. But now I'm more inclined to go more inclined: that is, polar (Juno style). That way I would get all the Jupiter's biomes (closing the Gestalt) and I'd also be able to catch Callisto and Ganymede (perhaps even Europa?) flybys as well (by looking for the encounter at ascending/descending nodes). Then the next probe that would enter the system might not bother with Jupiter, and go for satellites right away (e.g. for orbiting etc.). What do you guys think?

I recently saw this picture And this lead me to the realization that Kerbol is an Ultra-cool Red dwarf star smaller than Trappist-1 (which means that its a Class-T Star.) and can you even see kerbin and the mun?

Jupiter In Opposition at 6PM EST time! Where do I see it if I am in the EST time zone, at 6PM?

Suppose two countries with all of the technologies we expect to have by the year 2150 exist on Ganymede and Europa. They cover the whole of their moons. They have giant vertical underground farms to sustain themselves and huge solar fields with almost 100% efficiency (virtually no energy (light, heat, vibration, etc.) is missed or wasted). They have mining running down to the cores. They have big cities like on Earth, mostly underground. And they go to war with eatchother. No prisoners. No survivors. No slaves. Total annihilation. How is it fought? What are the advantages of Europa over Ganymede?

New flight of interplanetary space ship "Neil Armstrong", new mission into the cold and dark depths of space. At this time goal of expedition is Europe - the second moon of Jupiter, and one of few places in our solar system where life can exist.

It's like watching New Horizons closing in on Pluto.

Sunset is fairly late here at this time of year. I was walking around outside at around 8:20 PM local time and it was still quite bright out; the sun had sunk just below the treeline to the west but the sky hadn't yet started to go gray at all...still pale blue. To my surprise, I was able to see Jupiter just southeast of the zenith, quite clear. It could have been imagination, but it seemed to have both angular size and a faint golden tinge. I have seen planets just after sunset, but never so high or when the sky is still so bright. What's the highest magnitude a planet can get, and is Jupiter's angular size ever visible with the naked eye? Was the gold tint just my eyes playing tricks on me, or was it perhaps Rayleigh scattering?

Am I looking on the wrong sub forum or no one has started the conversation on this impact? http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2016/03/29/jupiter_hit_by_asteroid_or_comet_in_march_2016.html