Elon is about to spend twice the amount of money spent to develop NASA’s SLS rocket on a single app.
— David Willis (@ThePrimalDino) April 14, 2022
Take this info however you wish pic.twitter.com/R0NnEV8l3l
SpaceX and other space news updates
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Last: 9 min ago by nortex97
Today was when they were supposed to try the SLS wet dress rehearsal again. Looks like they have a hydrogen leak somewhere in the GSE.
(2/2) The team will keep the core stage LH2 tank at about 5% and the core stage LOX loading will remain stopped. The team will not conduct the terminal countdown activities today as planned and will assess next steps after today's operations.-JP
— NASA's Exploration Ground Systems (@NASAGroundSys) April 14, 2022
And the price of tea in China is effected how?
Same as before..... re-used shuttle hardware , that they've had IN this configuration for how many years now, and they can't successfully tank LH2?
SLS going back to the VAB for repairs before the next wet dress rehearsal probably in June
bthotugigem05 said:
SLS going back to the VAB for repairs before the next wet dress rehearsal probably in June
That thing will get as close to the moon as my Jeep Wrangler.
OKCAg2002 said:bthotugigem05 said:
SLS going back to the VAB for repairs before the next wet dress rehearsal probably in June
That thing will get as close to the moon as my Jeep Wrangler.
I've had my Jeep over 11,600ft. That's closer to the moon than that thing will get.
bthotugigem05 said:
SLS going back to the VAB for repairs before the next wet dress rehearsal probably in June
Good thing they aren't targeting a launch window...
It was a gorgeous night at Starbase. Thanks for another awesome convo @elonmusk! pic.twitter.com/6YM2xumEHi
— Everyday Astronaut (@Erdayastronaut) April 17, 2022
Damn that thing is absolutely huge.
NM was thinking NROL85Kenneth_2003 said:bthotugigem05 said:
SLS going back to the VAB for repairs before the next wet dress rehearsal probably in June
Good thing they aren't targeting a launch window...
Man those RCS thrusters were working hard during the landing.
Still confident in my prediction that starship makes orbit prior to SLS
I don't think they will get FAA approval until after SLS lights up.
I agree with both your, and his, assessment. I'm only giving SLS a 15-20% chance of a successful orbital flight. Giving it about a 5% chance of a successful mission completion.
That looks like it will be a damn LONG time. Before I was hoping they would hurry up and launch SLS, and that will perhaps green light Starship with the FAA since it would save face a little. Now I hope SLS get cancelled altogether, and the FAA, NASA, DoD, etc. all realize that SpaceX is our best shot. And that it is in all our best interest to allow them to innovate unabated.Mathguy64 said:
I don't think they will get FAA approval until after SLS lights up.
I think at this point you'd have to think SLS won't launch before the fall, which brings the SRB fuel into play again.
Tho7ght they where already in play with the current NET estimate? Isn't it may or June?
Ag_of_08 said:
Tho7ght they where already in play with the current NET estimate? Isn't it may or June?
I'm assuming the SRB issue goes something like this:
"We need another billion dollars or we won't be able to launch before the SRB expire!"
One year later
"The SRB deadline was mostly just for meaningless compliance issues. We do however need another billion or we won't be able to fulfill the compliance exceptions and beat next year's SRB expiration!"
Repeat for several years
They pencil whipped the SRB deadline in January already to extend it to what, 18 months? The issue I have read is the degradation of the seal between the segments. You'd think they could…have new segments ready to quickly stack (within a month) for a fresh set of SRB's, but of course this is SLS we are talking about.
nortex97 said:
They pencil whipped the SRB deadline in January already to extend it to what, 18 months? The issue I have read is the degradation of the seal between the segments. You'd think they could…have new segments ready to quickly stack (within a month) for a fresh set of SRB's, but of course this is SLS we are talking about.
Sounds like a multi-year, multi-million dollar fix to me.
NASA asks for more info/options for DragonXL:
I don't think this is indicative of any certain move at all, but it seems to imply, this month, that the agency is considering options to move…past SLS.Quote:
That's why the new April 1st RFI is so intriguing. NASA begins by referencing fine print in the original 2018 Gateway Logistics Services (GLS) Request For Proposals (RFP) that allows the agency to continue receiving and considering new proposals from new and existing providers throughout the program's planned 17-year lifespan. The agency says its primary motivations are for "information and planning purposes, to request feedback, to promote competition," and to "[determine] whether to conduct an on-ramp in 2022." NASA doesn't specify what exactly that means, but in the context of the rest of the text, it appears that the agency wants to use this RFI to help determine whether or not to finally "on-ramp" its existing Dragon XL contract with SpaceX.
…
NASA seems very interested in the potential benefits of alternative deep space cargo transport services that are both cheaper and more capable than Dragon XL. Between the lines, however, the RFI also reads as if it was written directly to SpaceX. The first question is perhaps the most telling: "Is your company interested in on-ramping to the GLS contract to provide Logistics Services as described in the original solicitation?"
SpaceX is the only company with an existing GLS contract that it could "on-ramp to" a roundabout way to say "start work on". In the following questions, NASA then repeatedly expresses interest in cargo transport capabilities well beyond the original contract's requirements and asks about innovative new capabilities that could enable such improvements. NASA even "recognizes" and hints at a willingness to consider unorthodox solutions that, for example, might require "more than one launch" per cargo delivery or help "minimize upfront costs to the Government." Put simply, while it does open the door for just about any US company to inform NASA about new GLS options, it's hard not to conclude that this new RFI is at least partially designed to give SpaceX an opportunity to propose Dragon XL alternatives or upgrades.
The most obvious option: Starship. Through the Human Landing System (HLS) program, NASA has already committed to investing at least $3 billion to develop a crewed Starship Moon lander and the fully-reusable launch vehicle and refueling infrastructure required to launch and operate it. With barely any modification, the Starship architecture SpaceX and NASA are already developing could be used to deliver dozens of tons of pressurized cargo to cislunar space, lunar orbit, the Gateway, the lunar surface, or just about anywhere else NASA wants. Leveraging that significant investment would also tick almost every box in NASA's new RFI by drastically reducing upfront and total development costs, helping to stimulate a "vibrant" deep space supply chain, and beating Dragon XL's cargo capabilities by a factor of 5, 10, or even 20+.
Of course, there are technical challenges and reasons to believe that Starship can't easily replace Dragon XL. Even Dragon XL risked running into Gateway's visiting vehicle mass limit of just 14 tons. Starship would likely weigh at least 100-200 tons more than the entire Gateway. Dragon XL would use non-cryogenic propellant and is baselined to spend at least 6-12 months at a time at the Gateway. NASA has also studied the possibility of using Dragon XL as a crew cabin or bathroom to temporarily relieve Gateway's extremely cramped habitable volume. Starship's main engines use cryogenic propellant that wants nothing more than to warm up and boil into gas, making it far harder to keep at the station for months at a time. Those problems are likely solvable, but it's still worth noting that Starship is not a perfect fit right out of the box.
The RFI could also end with a whimper if SpaceX simply tells NASA that it's happy to proceed with Dragon XL as proposed. Only time will tell. NASA is planning to hold an industry day on April 20th to better explain the RFI's goals and wants responses by May 31st, 2022, after which the agency will decide whether or not to follow up with a solicitation or on-ramp Dragon XL.
SpaceX Falcon team making great progress! Aiming for 5 day launch cadence with many performance & refurb improvements.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 18, 2022
Harris is making a speech proposing the establishment of space norms this evening.
Didn't see anything on it that doesn't mean I have to watch her, cliff notes?
Space government. Many enjoyable sci Fi novels deal with other planets/colonies throwing off the shackles of Earth's governments. Wonder how it'll all play out in real life once we establish real presences and self-sufficiency.
Hasn't started yet but would suspect calling out the usual suspects (prc, soviets, lil kim, etc) to be safe actors in space, to use space for the advancement of the good of humanity, to avoid the weaponization of space, etc. Will probably say a lot without saying much of anything concrete as to keep some operating space for us and not back ourselves into a corner IMO.
Might also touch on the establishment of JTF-SO to complement JTF-SD
As suspected not much substance other than announcing US policy to commit to no destructive DA-ASAT testing while calling out the Russians and chicoms for their tests. Unclear if an "emergency" like the one that led to burnt frost is to be prohibited as well.
Jock 07 said:
Harris is making a speech proposing the establishment of space norms this evening.
Oh God. She can't do anything but F it up.
No, I don't care what CNN or MSNBC said this time
New quarterly launch report from @BryceSpaceTech on Q1 2022. Here's the chart on upmass by launch provider. https://t.co/2HXcqt9wYe pic.twitter.com/rVkib3SNOS
— Eric Berger (@SciGuySpace) April 20, 2022
That's a whopping 6.1x more broomstick cargo than Ivan!
Where's BO?
PowerPoint slides must not register enough mass to show up on the chart.Mathguy64 said:
Where's BO?
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