Jump to content

Boeing's Starliner


Kryten

Recommended Posts

1 hour ago, StrandedonEarth said:

Does some entity have a product they wish to manufacture in space?

They mention microgravity, but what about the easy access to vacuum? Are there dirtside vacuum chambers that can reach the same level of vacuum that surrounds the ISS?

Vacuum tends to be used either to draw the oxygen out of something that is subject to oxidation (like vacuum-packed food) or for things where you want to use air pressure to push on something (like in an autoclave where you might want to press a part into the tooling as it is being cured).

The latter type of application wouldn't work in space because it relies on the difference between air pressure and vacuum. In space you would have better vacuum but no air pressure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, mikegarrison said:

The latter type of application wouldn't work in space because it relies on the difference between air pressure and vacuum. In space you would have better vacuum but no air pressure.

Good point. But if one used space as the vacuum source, vacuum pumps wouldn't be needed. Just hook up a hose to a port that vents to space....

I work with autoclaves to cure re-treaded tires. Tires are sealed into bags under vacuum to get out as much air as possible for the reason you gave. It would be easier to seal the bags with unlimited vacuum. but that wouldn't be economical to send them to space.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Spoiler
5 hours ago, StrandedonEarth said:

Does some entity have a product they wish to manufacture in space?

They mention microgravity, but what about the easy access to vacuum? Are there dirtside vacuum chambers that can reach the same level of vacuum that surrounds the ISS?

They can grow vegetables in a space greenhouse and vacuumize them for free, then send to the ground, as 100% GMO-free, pesticyde-free, ecological organic space food. For wealthy and healthy.

Spoiler

Vacuum-Packed-Carrots.jpg

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, StrandedonEarth said:

Does some entity have a product they wish to manufacture in space?

They mention microgravity, but what about the easy access to vacuum? Are there dirtside vacuum chambers that can reach the same level of vacuum that surrounds the ISS?

There are quite a lot of high tech process that require vacuum at some point, such as ion deposition for solar panels and computer chips, and the vacuum that the ISS orbits in is much more rarefied that anything we can create on Earth. 

That being said, I can't imagine us fabricating chips or solar cells in space and taking them back down to earth, unless microgravity also assists their manufacturing. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, MinimumSky5 said:

There are quite a lot of high tech process that require vacuum at some point, such as ion deposition for solar panels and computer chips, and the vacuum that the ISS orbits in is much more rarefied that anything we can create on Earth. 

Not true. Any decent laboratory vacuum rig outperforms the ISS, and even interplanetary space, by a huge margin. I briefly worked with one such rig, a vacuum of the sort that they have at 400km up would definitely not have sufficed for what we were doing (nanotech semiconductor research, basically). In fact, industrial ion deposition probably needs a better vacuum than that, as well.

There could be advantages to using space vacuum, though. First off, your vacuum chamber doesn't need to resist any appreciable pressure difference, meaning you may not need to fool around with copper seals and heavy pressure vessels. Second, you don't need a multistage pumping setup, with roughing pumps and turbos - you can skip straight to ion pumps or some other tech that only starts working when you already have a decent vacuum. However, for manufacturing things for terrestrial use, these advantages are diminished by the cost of getting things up there and then back down. Probably not worth it unless you can either get materials from space, use the product in space, or both.

Edited by Guest
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
On 6/8/2019 at 11:16 AM, slav_king said:

the formal name for the cst-100 is starliner

Speaking of, wouldn't it be a good idea to rename the thread accordingly? "Boeing CST-100 Starliner" would work as a thread title, alternately with "discussion thread" at the end. Which moderator would we have to tag to get it done?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 minutes ago, Codraroll said:

Speaking of, wouldn't it be a good idea to rename the thread accordingly? "Boeing CST-100 Starliner" would work as a thread title, alternately with "discussion thread" at the end. Which moderator would we have to tag to get it done?

If you want to draw moderator attention to a thread or post, just flag it and leave a message. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/8/2019 at 2:16 AM, slav_king said:

the formal name for the cst-100 is starliner

I would actually say "Starliner" is more of an informal name. It's an official trademark, but not any more formal than "CST-100 Starliner" or even just "CST-100".

It's like the "787 Dreamliner" is also known as 787-8, 787-9, or 787-10.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why not just use simple and meaningful names like 11F615A8 (aka Soyuz-T) or 11F35 (aka Buran) ?
Why all this fantasy?

(Especially when neither Starship, nor Starliner fly to the stars. Like naming a riverboat "Thunderbird of Oceans")

Upd.

Quote

Boeing's CST-100 capsule to receive a proper name

"Leoliner", because it's actually a LEO liner.

Edited by kerbiloid
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎6‎/‎7‎/‎2019 at 8:16 PM, StrandedonEarth said:

Good point. But if one used space as the vacuum source, vacuum pumps wouldn't be needed. Just hook up a hose to a port that vents to space....



I work with autoclaves to cure re-treaded tires. Tires are sealed into bags under vacuum to get out as much air as possible for the reason you gave. It would be easier to seal the bags with unlimited vacuum. but that wouldn't be economical to send them to space.

You may be able to create power that way. Have a magnetic liquid and throw it out a pressurized hole into a turbine and take it back with a magnet. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
On 6/24/2019 at 3:26 PM, Codraroll said:

Speaking of, wouldn't it be a good idea to rename the thread accordingly? "Boeing CST-100 Starliner" would work as a thread title, alternately with "discussion thread" at the end. Which moderator would we have to tag to get it done?

Actually, your best course of action would be to PM the OP.  Although they haven't been around in a while, they might drop by if they get a PM.   We generally don't make a habit of changing or locking a thread without the OP's consent based on the whims of the other forum members.  If the lack of an perfectly accurate title does become an issue, then we can take a look at the matter again. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Not sure what the ?! is regarding. December 2019 would be a small schedule slip from what was earlier announced (November, IIRC).

https://www.cnet.com/news/nasa-puts-spacex-boeing-iss-flight-test-dates-under-review/

Hmm. Check out this NASA post. https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/2019/07/30/flight-test-dates-under-review/

Says that the schedules will be reset "once new leadership is in place to deliver realistic schedule plans". Wait ... what "new leadership"? Is there a shakeup going on in NASA?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, mikegarrison said:

Not sure what the ?! is regarding. December 2019 would be a small schedule slip from what was earlier announced (November, IIRC).

https://www.cnet.com/news/nasa-puts-spacex-boeing-iss-flight-test-dates-under-review/

Hmm. Check out this NASA post. https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/2019/07/30/flight-test-dates-under-review/

Regarding the !? That's a date for the actual crew mission, not the uncrewed flight in September. Most accounts I have read assumed a slip until early 2020 for either actual crew flight.

 

11 minutes ago, mikegarrison said:

Says that the schedules will be reset "once new leadership is in place to deliver realistic schedule plans". Wait ... what "new leadership"? Is there a shakeup going on in NASA?

Gerstenmaier (Human spaceflight)  and Hill (SLS) were moved from their jobs a few weeks ago.

 

Regarding the shakeup, it has to do with management of SLS/Orion to a large degree. It's part of the issue with hitting milestones (or more specifically, not hitting them, because they were not set realistically in the first place).

Bridenstine mentioned coming back with better dates for commercial crew once they had accurate dates, but we've not heard more, since.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From what I have read the uncrewed CST-100 flight is likely October. SpaceX has targeted NET December for the crew mission (the NET being important, it's likely 2020). This was the first I have seen that they might actually have a NET date for Starliner before 2020 (2 months after uncrewed seems unlikely).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...