nortex97 said:

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ABATTBQ11 said:

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nortex97 said:

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In orbit fuel transfers are going to be critical moving forward, too, and shouldn't be cast aside for some sort of silly politics related to somehow hoping to build two Artemis II vehicles at the same time in 2028, or any other SLS-related reason.

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Honestly, I'm a little surprised Elon hasn't built some small models and launched them on a Falcon 9 to test in orbit fuel transfers. Just go from one tank to another on different disposable satellites.

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I am guessing most of the challenge will be precise control of the huge starships to dock without needing thrusters like others use.

Gotta get to orbit I guess.

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You will need thrusters in space. Not many other ways to redirect your velocity vector out there.

Ag with kids said:

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nortex97 said:

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ABATTBQ11 said:

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nortex97 said:

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In orbit fuel transfers are going to be critical moving forward, too, and shouldn't be cast aside for some sort of silly politics related to somehow hoping to build two Artemis II vehicles at the same time in 2028, or any other SLS-related reason.

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Honestly, I'm a little surprised Elon hasn't built some small models and launched them on a Falcon 9 to test in orbit fuel transfers. Just go from one tank to another on different disposable satellites.

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I am guessing most of the challenge will be precise control of the huge starships to dock without needing thrusters like others use.

Gotta get to orbit I guess.

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You will need thrusters in space. Not many other ways to redirect your velocity vector out there.

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Ag with kids said:

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nortex97 said:

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ABATTBQ11 said:

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nortex97 said:

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In orbit fuel transfers are going to be critical moving forward, too, and shouldn't be cast aside for some sort of silly politics related to somehow hoping to build two Artemis II vehicles at the same time in 2028, or any other SLS-related reason.

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Honestly, I'm a little surprised Elon hasn't built some small models and launched them on a Falcon 9 to test in orbit fuel transfers. Just go from one tank to another on different disposable satellites.

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I am guessing most of the challenge will be precise control of the huge starships to dock without needing thrusters like others use.

Gotta get to orbit I guess.

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You will need thrusters in space. Not many other ways to redirect your velocity vector out there.

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Surely you have seen the Star Trek tractor beam. I saw it in a movie and most importantly, on a Tik Toc video so clearly it works

Ag with kids said:

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nortex97 said:

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ABATTBQ11 said:

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nortex97 said:

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In orbit fuel transfers are going to be critical moving forward, too, and shouldn't be cast aside for some sort of silly politics related to somehow hoping to build two Artemis II vehicles at the same time in 2028, or any other SLS-related reason.

---

Honestly, I'm a little surprised Elon hasn't built some small models and launched them on a Falcon 9 to test in orbit fuel transfers. Just go from one tank to another on different disposable satellites.

---

I am guessing most of the challenge will be precise control of the huge starships to dock without needing thrusters like others use.

Gotta get to orbit I guess.

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You will need thrusters in space. Not many other ways to redirect your velocity vector out there.

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The issue is they want to use thrusters only using the methalox common to the Raptors. I think they went away from the nitrogen ones but I really have no idea what they are using other than that it won't be hypergolics, or the ones from the Dragons (Draco's).

Cool, but an unnecessary complication for now. These are being removed to speed up time to orbital launch.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 24, 2021

Surely they have a plan and have also tested in-orbit thrusters on the ground but I just don't know what they plan to use. There was some big bruhaha about Tim Dodd's suggestion to delete some kind of thrusters a couple years ago in favor of hot gas or something.

nortex97 said:

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Ag with kids said:

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nortex97 said:

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ABATTBQ11 said:

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nortex97 said:

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In orbit fuel transfers are going to be critical moving forward, too, and shouldn't be cast aside for some sort of silly politics related to somehow hoping to build two Artemis II vehicles at the same time in 2028, or any other SLS-related reason.

---

Honestly, I'm a little surprised Elon hasn't built some small models and launched them on a Falcon 9 to test in orbit fuel transfers. Just go from one tank to another on different disposable satellites.

---

I am guessing most of the challenge will be precise control of the huge starships to dock without needing thrusters like others use.

Gotta get to orbit I guess.

---

You will need thrusters in space. Not many other ways to redirect your velocity vector out there.

---

The issue is they want to use thrusters only using the methalox common to the Raptors. I think they went away from the nitrogen ones but I really have no idea what they are using other than that it won't be hypergolics, or the ones from the Dragons (Draco's).

Cool, but an unnecessary complication for now. These are being removed to speed up time to orbital launch.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 24, 2021

Surely they have a plan and have also tested in-orbit thrusters on the ground but I just don't know what they plan to use. There was some big bruhaha about Tim Dodd's suggestion to delete some kind of thrusters a couple years ago in favor of hot gas or something.

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Fun video of MKV thruster test.

Amazing, yes.

Cold gas (nitrogen) RCS is what they're still on I guess. Marcus House did a video on this a couple years back. Maybe some others know more, but precise control of such a massive vehicle docking just to transfer fuel has to be a bit of a challenge…to be tackled.



Maybe they move 'back' to hot gas thrusters once they make it to orbit a few times. This stuff all working exceptionally reliably/precisely is necessary if they are going to dock a couple starships in orbit to transfer propellant (methane/oxygen).

Cryogenic thrusters are still…not well proven vs. everything else used for much smaller vehicles in space. But as usual here, I await a correction from some subject matter experts who probably know a lot more than I do (not sarcasm).

This sounds like a pretty cool project;

Starlab, the joint venture of Voyager and Airbus, signed with SpaceX to launch the private space station in a single Starship launch later this decade:https://t.co/80H6G91TF4

— Michael Sheetz (@thesheetztweetz) January 31, 2024

The more habitable LEO space stations the better, I would say.

26' in diameter

It will be about half the volume of the ISS - in one launch.

Space hilton

The FAA is on pace to issue a Starship launch license mid to late February, I’m told, in what is shaping up to be a busy month. Intuitive Machines plans to launch in time for a Feb. 22 lunar landing, which is the same day Crew-8 is scheduled to launch. Caveats about delays, etc. pic.twitter.com/FV6PUO8dsg

— Christian Davenport (@wapodavenport) February 1, 2024

Our stock has increased from $2.66 to $3.50 in the past 10days. Lots of excitement! Traded on NASDAQ as LUNR if you feel like gambling.

Pull this off, and the party in Houston during Rodeo Kickoff will be insane! Space Center Houston is doing a big Launch Party for us the week before.

Newsletter: Artembitious

NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) warned in its annual report that the Artemis 3 plan – which features the first U.S. lunar crew landing since Apollo – is too ambitious.

My takeaways: https://t.co/pzyr0SmiGJ pic.twitter.com/O7UqMB6ydC

— Michael Sheetz (@thesheetztweetz) February 1, 2024

TexAgs91 said:

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Newsletter: Artembitious

NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) warned in its annual report that the Artemis 3 plan – which features the first U.S. lunar crew landing since Apollo – is too ambitious.

My takeaways: https://t.co/pzyr0SmiGJ pic.twitter.com/O7UqMB6ydC

— Michael Sheetz (@thesheetztweetz) February 1, 2024

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n/r. The least surprising statement I've heard in a long time.

The military is expressing interest in renting Starships for secret missions. They would also operate it independently from SpaceX if it goes through

They can express interest but I think SpaceX would charge a significant premium to hand over operational control/management of a starship sub-fleet/launch system to the government or anyone else. Part of the concern has to be that if they do this, for the DoD then they also would very likely under federal procurement rules be required to facilitate as much for NASA or other government agencies if requested/demanded.

The net result is that the motivation for Nasa/FAA etc. to allow SpaceX to continue to develop/refine and expand the project would…be very low, especially with the CCP-Dems in power.

Anyway…

This is why I’m not worried about failures in Starship’s testing program. Just the sheer number of vehicles waiting to fly in the sidelines, they can afford to learn from failures… https://t.co/wTAA9RzB1h

— Everyday Astronaut (@Erdayastronaut) February 2, 2024

I'm a little disappointed we haven't launched this starship already. The last one was November 18th.

I think we are at booster 10 and Starship 28?

I guess it was 7 months between the 1st and 2nd so if it's 3 months for the next one that's not bad.

Yeah, tough to launch without…a launch license.

I think we will be getting 1 a month by the end of 2024.

PJYoung said:

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I think we will be getting 1 a month by the end of 2024.

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Dang... that's gonna be a lot of trips to SPI

Pluto 24 years apart.

1994 and 2018

Pretty interesting channel/history:

I laughed WAY too much at this.

You guys probably know this, but I just discovered today that Endeavour is getting a fancy new display building in California. It'll be in launch configuration, complete with SRBs and external tank. Looks really impressive.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/space-shuttle-endeavour-now-fully-022200841.html

But then people would have to go to Houston to see it.

bthotugigem05 said:

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That shuttle belongs in Houston, angers me every time I see it in LA.

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This. California didn't deserve it. Houston and Florida are the heart of the space program. California hasn't done jack outside of spacex which more more about Elon than freaking California.

bthotugigem05 said:

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That shuttle belongs in Houston, angers me every time I see it in LA.

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When Reliant/NRG stadium opened I thought the Astrodome would make a great indoor rocket park that would see far more visitors than Space Center Houston ever would.

bthotugigem05 said:

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That shuttle belongs in Houston, angers me every time I see it in LA.

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New York is even more of a sham. Quite literally, thanks Obama

Bert315 said:

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bthotugigem05 said:

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That shuttle belongs in Houston, angers me every time I see it in LA.

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This. California didn't deserve it. Houston and Florida are the heart of the space program. California hasn't done jack outside of spacex which more more about Elon than freaking California.

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They tried to use the fact the engines were made in Woodland Hills as justification, doesn't make it any less horse**** though.

Quote:

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The shuttle was built in Palmdale California

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And designed in Downey.

Kansas Kid said:

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Bert315 said:

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bthotugigem05 said:

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That shuttle belongs in Houston, angers me every time I see it in LA.

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This. California didn't deserve it. Houston and Florida are the heart of the space program. California hasn't done jack outside of spacex which more more about Elon than freaking California.

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The shuttle was built in Palmdale California and maybe you have heard of JPL which is the heart of the unmanned space program. What makes no sense is having the Enterprise in NY. The Enterprise should be in CA and the Endeavour should be in Clear Lake.

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We operated it for 30 years and all we got is Space Shuttle Consolation