[New] Space Launch System / Orion Discussion Thread

[Brotoro]

If NASA's graphic is correct, the craft is now in sunlight. The time to look for it is now after separation so you can tell you are seeing the right thing because it's two objects.

[magnemoe]

1 hour ago, tater said:

Perigee raise in ~9 min

Now this shows the difference between 2.5 stages like this and 2 stages like falcon 9, first stage almost go into orbit, in fact I suspected the high Ap of 1125 miles is to avoid leaving first stage in orbit Chinese style. 
Its also a bit like the initial plan for the starship second stage flight plan.

[Codraroll]

How typical. I had my alarm clock set for 7:30 this morning. Had I got up in time, I would have caught the launch as it was happening, while eating breakfast.

Unfortunately, I woke up tired as a deflated balloon, drenched in cold sweat, and with a slight fever, so I decided to give it an extra hour (yo-ho, yo-ho, a PhD student's life for me). While eating breakfast, I discovered that the launch had already happened, less than an hour earlier.

Note to self: try not to get sick around predicted rocket launch dates.

[mikegarrison]

43 minutes ago, magnemoe said:

Now this shows the difference between 2.5 stages like this and 2 stages like falcon 9, first stage almost go into orbit, in fact I suspected the high Ap of 1125 miles is to avoid leaving first stage in orbit Chinese style. 
Its also a bit like the initial plan for the starship second stage flight plan.

Just like the Space shuttle. They could have taken those external tanks to orbit, but they intentionally didn't. That's what the super-high ISP of the SSME buys you.

[Rutabaga22]

I was staying up for this but ended up so tired I just passed out. Like, I woke up this morning and didn't know what was happening until I checked the time. Didn't end up seeing it live. Replays aren't the same.

[Barzon]

2 hours ago, magnemoe said:

in fact I suspected the high Ap of 1125 miles is to avoid leaving first stage in orbit Chinese style. 

thats 100% correct.

[Minmus Taster]

Spoiler

 

[StrandedonEarth]

Couldn't stay up (didn't believe they would actually light it anyways). Nice to see that the bird made it up and safely away. Congratz to all involved!

Now where's that replay...

 

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

That was cool! 

What's the plan for deorbit of the 1st Stage? 

[RealKerbal3x]

Just now, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

What's the plan for deorbit of the 1st Stage? 

It's inserted into a decaying orbit so that it re-enters over the Pacific safely (similar to what was done with the Shuttle external tank), and the upper stage does a burn at apoapsis to circularise the orbit.

[Br0wnie007]

That was one exciting launch can't wait for the return

[Spaceception]

That was a great launch! It really took off. I took a few naps beforehand, and ended up missing the first few seconds getting my earbuds and opening the stream. But it was really cool to watch, and I didn't go back to bed until about the time the solar arrays were supposed to be deployed.

[Beccab]

November 2022 has just become the first month in history which saw two Superheavy-class launch vehicles launch successfully! The only other time this could have happened was July 1969, but as we all know that N1 crashed catastrophically over the launch complex

[Minmus Taster]

2 minutes ago, Beccab said:

November 2022 has just become the first month in history which saw two Superheavy-class launch vehicles launch successfully! The only other time this could have happened was July 1969, but as we all know that N1 crashed catastrophically over the launch complex

Which one was the second?

[Beccab]

Just now, Minmus Taster said:

Which one was the second?

FH, November 1

[RCgothic]

50 minutes ago, Beccab said:

November 2022 has just become the first month in history which saw two Superheavy-class launch vehicles launch successfully! The only other time this could have happened was July 1969, but as we all know that N1 crashed catastrophically over the launch complex

Happened within a month (but not same month) with Energia and STS in '88.

Buran/Energia launched November 15th, and Atlantis/STS launched December 2nd.

[Beccab]

3 minutes ago, RCgothic said:

Happened within a month (but not same month) with Energia and STS in '88.

Buran/Energia launched November 15th, and Atlantis/STS launched December 2nd.

Under current definition of SHLVs, the Shuttle is not considered an SHLV because the orbiter is part of the launch vehicle and you'd need an entirely new propulsion module to be able to launch without it

[sevenperforce]

7 hours ago, Brotoro said:

Perigee-raising burn. It's like they are playing KSP.

...and NOW it's in orbit.

Interesting view from the camera on the solar array wobbling during burn.

Crazy that one of the limiting factors is the gees that the solar array can handle. 

[kerbiloid]

1 hour ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

What's the plan for deorbit of the 1st Stage? 

1 hour ago, RealKerbal3x said:

It's inserted into a decaying orbit so that it re-enters over the Pacific safely (similar to what was done with the Shuttle external tank), and the upper stage does a burn at apoapsis to circularise the orbit.

The plan.

[RCgothic]

53 minutes ago, Beccab said:

Under current definition of SHLVs, the Shuttle is not considered an SHLV because the orbiter is part of the launch vehicle and you'd need an entirely new propulsion module to be able to launch without it

Really? Meh. AFAIC the orbiter is part of the payload. 

[tater]

14 minutes ago, RCgothic said:

Really? Meh. AFAIC the orbiter is part of the payload. 

Yeah, the payload definition needs to be the mass of anything that remains useful for some period of time. Days, weeks, years, whatever. Useful in space, or if it returns to Earth.

 

[Minmus Taster]

Can't wait for when people can see this again 

[StrandedonEarth]

I assume the camera is on the end  of a boom or solar array?

[Beccab]

19 minutes ago, RCgothic said:

Really? Meh. AFAIC the orbiter is part of the payload. 

 

3 minutes ago, tater said:

Yeah, the payload definition needs to be the mass of anything that remains useful for some period of time. Days, weeks, years, whatever. Useful in space, or if it returns to Earth.

 

The problem is that an extremely broad definition. The SSME are useless after MECO; why would those count them as payload and not the engines of, say, an ICPS stage? The RCS system is a good portion of an orbiter's mass; yet, the Centaur stage also has a powerful one used during, say, Starliner's launch which doesn't count as payload either. Do you count the whole orbiter even if a good percentage of it is as useless as any second stage after orbit insertion? Do you count only part of it, and open the can of worms between where the orbitally useful part ends and where the useless part begins? The only metric that is both objective and not unfair towards other stages is the payload it can carry inside the cargo bay, which is not SHLV sized

7 minutes ago, StrandedonEarth said:

I assume the camera is on the end  of a boom or solar array?

Solar array, yeah

[tater]

NASA needs to up their PR game. Better and more constant imagery, so they need some more bandwidth (limiting factor right now).

The crew mission (certainly the landing one) needs 24/7 HD video from external cams.