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Another routine launch, first one I've had the opportunity to watch in a while. I just put it on while watching the Make-Me-Laffs force Game 7. The game ended as the booster was coming in to land.

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Posted (edited)
7 hours ago, Jacke said:

no real concern that Starlink is destroying ground-base Astronomy

I'd like to point out that there are many professional astronomers who have no real concern about Starlink, mostly because it's not "destroying" ground-based astronomy.  Even in fields where satellites are having an impact, there are systems both in place and in development for minimizing their effect.

Edited by Entropian
better word choice
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6 hours ago, Entropian said:

I'd like to point out that there are many professional astronomers who have no real concern about Starlink, mostly because it's not "destroying" ground-based astronomy.  Even in fields where satellites are having an impact, there are systems both in place and in development for minimizing their effect.

I'm skeptical.  I've seen images destroyed by satellite tracks.  And it's getting worse.  Link below is a Duck-Duck-Go search within the past year that gets plenty of hits, including an article in Nature.  And then there's the threat of the Kessler Syndrome.  And all the launchers of the massive satellite constellations DO NOT CARE.  It will require regulation.  Hopefully soon.

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=astronomer+concerned+about+starlink&t=ffab&atb=v101-1&df=y&ia=web

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On 5/1/2024 at 1:53 AM, Exoscientist said:

 

The “chopstick catch” was proposed by the same guy who proposed the stage separation technique of flinging out the second stage.

More evidence than ever SpaceX needs a true Chief Engineer.

  Robert Clark


 

Well you seem to be engineering-minded, why don't you toss your resume in to SpaceX? Actually, I'd pay good money to see you and Elon work on the same design together at the same time. It'd be like The Odd Couple but with rockets!

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4 hours ago, Meecrob said:

Well you seem to be engineering-minded, why don't you toss your resume in to SpaceX? Actually, I'd pay good money to see you and Elon work on the same design together at the same time. It'd be like The Odd Couple but with rockets!

Like^2

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11 minutes ago, sevenperforce said:

It looks absolutely terrific. The shoulder motion is…amazing. 

Millions of suits cannot cost billions each, or even hundreds of thousands each.

Will be interesting to see what PLSS they come up with for untethered EVA suits (this mission has an umbilical).

GMvYxi4WsAARFW9?format=jpg

 

Umbilical no longer on leg (obviously):

GMvYxi4WQAEnMwP?format=jpg

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17 minutes ago, Elthy said:

I wonder if we will see testing in a vacuum chamber, im curious how flexible it is under pressure.

Wouldn't it be simpler to just pump 2 atmospheres of pressure into the suit and test it in a regular chamber?

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1 hour ago, Codraroll said:

Wouldn't it be simpler to just pump 2 atmospheres of pressure into the suit and test it in a regular chamber?

Probably, but you might want to test its thermal response too.

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Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, cubinator said:

Probably, but you might want to test its thermal response too.

It would be a good way to boil off any processing volatiles left in the materials from manufacturing the materials (who wants to be breathing 5x new car smell all shift?). 

Also, guessing, maybe test whether the vacuum boils off or breaks down any compound that they'd rather not lose from the material.

All are thermal response by way of pressure as you indicated, to be clear

Edited by darthgently
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Here's interesting. Orbital Index alerted me to this part of SpaceX/NASA collaboration: Coupler for Propellant Transfer (CPT-TP)

The really interesting part is what it's leading on to (notwithstanding a forest of other associated projects for setting up prop transfer in space), and the assumed timeline for TRL7 and testing ("End: 2028"): Cryogenic Fluid Management (CFM) Portfolio Project

Most of all, I note:

Quote

SmartProp is a ground test demonstration at MSFC of an integrated tank pressurization system to reduce mass and improve performance of launch vehicles by recycling spent gases.

Completed: March 2021

TRL5

Does that sound like zero-boiloff propellant handling? Hope so.

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50 minutes ago, AckSed said:

The really interesting part is what it's leading on to (notwithstanding a forest of other associated projects for setting up prop transfer in space), and the assumed timeline for TRL7 and testing ("End: 2028"): Cryogenic Fluid Management (CFM) Portfolio Project

It is also leading to hopefully some cool new parts mods for KSP.  Transferring fuel via normal general purpose docking ports is meh

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On 5/3/2024 at 4:09 PM, Entropian said:

I'd like to point out that there are many professional astronomers who have no real concern about Starlink, mostly because it's not "destroying" ground-based astronomy.  Even in fields where satellites are having an impact, there are systems both in place and in development for minimizing their effect.

of course cheaper space flight means more space telescopes.

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On 5/3/2024 at 11:14 PM, Jacke said:

I've seen images destroyed by satellite tracks.

Merely having one, or even multiple satellites in an image does not mean that it's "destroyed."  It may look unsightly, but the area of the image covered by the satellites is generally small.  Most often, the object you actually care about is missed entirely by the satellite(s), and even if it isn't, you can simply remove the (small amount of) pixel data saturated by the satellite and use data from another image.

12 hours ago, Nuke said:

of course cheaper space flight means more space telescopes.

While this is certainly true, actually building and operating space telescopes is expensive, which doesn't match well with the small amount of funding the astronomical sciences generally get.  I'd love it if ground-based astronomy was shunned in favor of space-based astronomy, but ultimately the capacity and funding for it isn't present yet for it to even begin to become feasible.

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