He's talking like 300+ is the operational goal. They seem to be very focused on small and easily interchangeable engines with an eye on rapid servicing. I think they're trying to ring every bit of performance they can out of them, especially on anything landing oriented.... they need as much margin as possible.

flakrat said:

---

bmks270 said:

---

They seem small given the thrust.

---

That's what she said!

---

Weekly quota for a phallic reference in the space x thread has been met.

Tangentially related... though it was cool.

Cmon GM, we where supposed to have fusion plants for big stompy robots by now....

Nice... and I like the BFG reference

And accelerating a projectile to twice the Earth's escape velocity in 5mm?

The BFG reference made me chuckle, nice to see companies just saying to hell with it and making people chuckle at things. It's one thing that has endeared spacex to people so much, vs the NASA/Boeing/Lockheed/ULA "silent and serious" fixation. Even Gene Kranz would tell a funny joke when he needed to!

It's an interesting concept too.... seems to be based more in the realm of "things we could actually make" vs "things we have to figure out how to make the things we might need....ish"

Crew launch is about 3 hrs out Btw, they just arrived at the pad.

James Webb already making discoveries...

Am I missing something? I watched that vid and it looks like everything in it was discovered by Hubble.

Looks like they're stacking for another OFT-2 attempt.

Ag_of_08 said:

---

Looks like they're stacking for another OFT-2 attempt.

---

Spacemonkey says they're shooting for May 19:
https://www.spacelaunchschedule.com/launch/atlas-v-n22-cst-100-starliner-orbital-flight-test-2-oft-2/

This is a competitor to Crew Dragon right? Wikipedia tells me OFT-1 had a problem with the mission timer and failed to reach ISS so I'd imagine this is probably important to get right. NASA and the government will only give Boeing 14 or 15 more tries to get this right!

bthotugigem05 said:

---

Am I missing something? I watched that vid and it looks like everything in it was discovered by Hubble.

---

The galaxy was already discovered by Hubble. The super blackhole that was ejected from the galaxy was discovered by JWST.

Decay said:

---

Ag_of_08 said:

---

Looks like they're stacking for another OFT-2 attempt.

---

Spacemonkey says they're shooting for May 19:
https://www.spacelaunchschedule.com/launch/atlas-v-n22-cst-100-starliner-orbital-flight-test-2-oft-2/

This is a competitor to Crew Dragon right? Wikipedia tells me OFT-1 had a problem with the mission timer and failed to reach ISS so I'd imagine this is probably important to get right. NASA and the government will only give Boeing 14 or 15 more tries to get this right!

---

Not really a competitor, both are part of the Commercial Crew program. NASA wanted to have two launch providers to the ISS, Boeing was actually supposed to be first but they screwed up OFT-1 that badly.

Docking confirmed! pic.twitter.com/RyPZBAv5Lo

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 27, 2022

It's was a lot more than the mission timer, the craft would have destroyed itself had a review not caught it after the myriad of other problems, but yes. They've tried to launch oft-2 since then, and a valve issue has caused them to delay to this point.

They're the other Commercial cre provider, though with all the problems ULA is having with Vulcan, I don't know that they will be flying it for long

Video of Dragon’s Draco thrusters moving the spacecraft closer to the @Space_Station pic.twitter.com/0zBNYgAcDb

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 28, 2022

pic.twitter.com/LY1N5nhVp9

— Eric Berger (@SciGuySpace) April 28, 2022

I'm not sure what kind of odds you'd have to offer me to bet on it NOT getting pushed again.

But the odds would have to make me Elon Rich with just a $1

Ag_of_08 said:

---

It's was a lot more than the mission timer, the craft would have destroyed itself had a review not caught it after the myriad of other problems, but yes. They've tried to launch oft-2 since then, and a valve issue has caused them to delay to this point.

They're the other Commercial cre provider, though with all the problems ULA is having with Vulcan, I don't know that they will be flying it for long

---

Let's make sure my brain is on the right track here.
Starliner currently flies on the AtlasV. ULA is not building any more AtlasV boosters and even if they were/did they've only got 4 or 5 spare RD180's with ZERO legal authority to buy more even if the Russians would sell them.
ULA stacks an AtlasV with Starliner and OFT2 goes off flawlessly. This will be it's 2nd trip to orbit and only it's 1st docking with ISS.
Starliner receives it's man rating and is cleared to carry crew to the ISS.
So lets assume that someday BO gets the BE4 flight ready. Vulcan will finally fly. How many launches will be required before Vulcan receives it's man rating?

Once all of that happens will Starliner move to a full crew mission or will they have a Demo mission much like SpaceX did on Demo2 with Bob and Doug?

Yes, you have stumbled onto the conundrum that Starliner is useless unless/until BE4's are delivered from Blue Origin, and they work, for Vulcan Centaur.

It's an audacious plan, to be sure.

They could do what most every other country in thee world does and steal the intellectual property and tell Russia to kiss off and just start making their own RD-180s. I guarantee you if the situation were reversed the Russians or Chinese would do it in a heartbeat.

Could... But even that would likely take several years to completely pull off and then they'd have to restart AtlasV construction. I wonder how many Vulcans have been built and are just lying on the floor waiting for engines?

They'd be better off I think crawling to Hawthorn, prostrating themselves at Musk's feet, and begging him to sell them Raptors. Vulcan is a Methane LOx rocket. There would be some changes required, certainly. But I can't help but think that wouldn't be the fastest path to getting Vulcan in orbit.

I think Blue Origin will come through with a very reliable engine and rocket. They've already done 4 crewed flights with New Shepard. Yeah, it's not taking people to full orbit, but they are getting in reps for human space flight with a rocket.

Eventually Blue Origin is going to have a competing offering. And maybe Relativity or Rocket Lab will too.

Honest question because I don't know, has Blue Origin ever actually gotten something into orbit?

No, and the one rocket they do have flying has something like 1/3 the dV required to do so if I remember right. It BARELY get that capsule above the line.

At the ASCENDx Conference in Houston, Derek Hodgins of Lockheed Martin says there have been three eras of NASA procurement: Cost-plus->Public-private partnership->Services. Says the future is Services and Lockheed is embracing it. Example: Working with GE to build Lunar Rover.

— Eric Berger (@SciGuySpace) April 28, 2022

Benji Reed of SpaceX is now speaking on the panel, talking about launching. "A high flight rate is so very important. So important. We should be launching every day. Every hour." Executives from Boeing and Lockheed sitting next to him look on, with poker faces.

— Eric Berger (@SciGuySpace) April 28, 2022

LOL.

More from SpaceX's Reed: "We're big believers in firm, fixed-price contracts. Contracts should be firm, fixed-price." These comments earn him additional hard stares.

— Eric Berger (@SciGuySpace) April 28, 2022

Photo of the reactions Reed engendered from his counterparts at Boeing (left) and Lockheed (center). pic.twitter.com/mjowDAylGf

— Eric Berger (@SciGuySpace) April 28, 2022

Boeing and Lockheed execs internally: pic.twitter.com/d8NKGe8Yks

— Jevaughn (@Jevaughn_Brown) April 28, 2022

What do you need from us?

We need you to expand your thinking. Get ready *****.

FAA delays publishing the result of the Starship environmental review in Boca Chica until the end of May. pic.twitter.com/5t5R4tC3jt

— Michael Baylor (@nextspaceflight) April 29, 2022

nortex97 said:

---

FAA delays publishing the result of the Starship environmental review in Boca Chica until the end of May. pic.twitter.com/5t5R4tC3jt

— Michael Baylor (@nextspaceflight) April 29, 2022

---

I mean, that was all but given.

and we all know it will be pushed past May.

Shocker

So.... some of the scuttlebutt currently going is that there may be an even bigger problem with MLS-1, the launch tower for sls, other than the continuing inability to operate a valve( pull 5 operators and a pipe fitter out of ExxonMobil, watch them fix the problem), may have an even bigger problem than previously thought. The RUMOR( and I cannot verify it) is that they believe one of the stabilizer/umbilicals that have been a cluster**** from the beginning, may have a pretty serious design flaw. Failure to disconnect could result in a helluva "Earth shattering" kaboom. It would make the destruction done by the starship landing "oops" look like a cherry bomb under a trash can.

**edit I know about the OIG report, these rumors are that they had a Jam in the VAB after rollback

Let's talk/think thru that for a second. IF, in fact, that is true.

Redesigning such a quick disconnect/coupler, would, spitballing here, be a 24 month delay I am guessing. Design, review, have that be studied/approved, then produced/installed...easily 18 months anyway.

But that also means the SRB's have to be scrapped. This leads to a separate 24 month process to get new ones purchased/fabricated/installed. This...I think would delay any actual contract to do so out until mid/late 2023. This...makes the whole disaster an election-year controversy, and I believe that...leads to cancellation.

Again, these are just my rough thoughts, but I don't think a GOP Senate, and likely pretty strong GOP POTUS nominee, will support another 3 years of BS for SLS. It's just too big a disaster, finally, for the pork to be worth it heading to Nov 2024 unless they manage to use the SRB's already mounted/expired.

What do I have wrong?

I dont think either party will sustain it if it in fact happens.

A RUD and/or a significant delay( a year or more) will likely be the final nail in a multi-billion dollar **** up. I'll be watching the launch if they ever try it.... gonna either be a big damn rocket, or one helluva fireball.

Never discount the ability of the government and contractors to fleece the taxpayers? Pride of folks at NASA over SLS? Any number of things that wouldn't affect a logical analysis of this situation, and yet here we are.

I for one am tired of NASA engineers bragging about working there and then not doing ****, and contractors wasting all our money for absolutely nothing to show for it (not ALL NASA engineers suck, but the ***es make up for them :/ ). I simply can't wait for SpaceX to do their own thing and bring the rest of us with them.

Jumping off the soapbox...it's a long fall, sorry!