Ag87H2O said:

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TexAgs91 said:

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Ag87H2O said:

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nortex97 said:

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Why would a crack cause a deorbit? If anything they would evacuate the module in question.

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What if they already have done that but can't do it 100% of the time because the crack is in a module you have to pass through to get to one of the escape vehicles?

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The leak is in Zvezda. It's a critical module with electrical power distribution, life support systems and power, attitude and propulsion systems used to boost the station. If it gets to the point where they have to seal off the Zvezda, that could impact boosting the station.

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I had heard from a pretty reliable source that there was a crack in the Russian module and that they had tried to seal it but that attempts had failed and that it was slowly growing. Said the Americans weren't even sure the totality of the problem because the Russians were not being completely open about it. They know they are losing atmosphere and that it is slowly getting worse. Said they had not even been able to run contingency scenarios because we didn't have all the information needed to run them - which was a big concern. As of a month ago, it wasn't an emergency yet, but it was a big concern and part of the reason they needed to get space suits to the two Starliner crewmembers.

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That is all true. I'm sure they're closing it off whenever it's not occupied.

Ag87H2O said:

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aggiehawg said:

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Quote:

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As of a month ago, it wasn't an emergency yet, but it was a big concern and part of the reason they needed to get space suits to the two Starliner crewmembers.

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Can I get a translation on that? What are the spacesuits needed for under these circumstances? TIA.

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I don't want to speak out of turn because I'm not an expert, but it was my understanding that each astronaut has a custom suit that is made to fit them personally, and in case of an emergency they needed to be able to put on the suits until they could make it to the escape vehicles and normalize the atmosphere and air pressure. My apologies if I am wrong on this, I know I'm out of my lane.

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The space suits were needed because their starliner space suits weren't compatible with Dragon

TexAgs91 said:

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Ag87H2O said:

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TexAgs91 said:

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Ag87H2O said:

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nortex97 said:

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Why would a crack cause a deorbit? If anything they would evacuate the module in question.

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What if they already have done that but can't do it 100% of the time because the crack is in a module you have to pass through to get to one of the escape vehicles?

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The leak is in Zvezda. It's a critical module with electrical power distribution, life support systems and power, attitude and propulsion systems used to boost the station. If it gets to the point where they have to seal off the Zvezda, that could impact boosting the station.

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I had heard from a pretty reliable source that there was a crack in the Russian module and that they had tried to seal it but that attempts had failed and that it was slowly growing. Said the Americans weren't even sure the totality of the problem because the Russians were not being completely open about it. They know they are losing atmosphere and that it is slowly getting worse. Said they had not even been able to run contingency scenarios because we didn't have all the information needed to run them - which was a big concern. As of a month ago, it wasn't an emergency yet, but it was a big concern and part of the reason they needed to get space suits to the two Starliner crewmembers.

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That is all true. I'm sure they're closing it off whenever it's not occupied.

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That is my understanding. Not an emergency unless it has gotten worse, but definitely something they are monitoring closely and has caused concern. I may be wrong, but I think unless they have moved the Soyuz capsule to another docking port that the Russians would have to pass through the leaking module if they needed to get to their ship.

TexAgs91 said:

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Ag87H2O said:

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aggiehawg said:

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Quote:

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As of a month ago, it wasn't an emergency yet, but it was a big concern and part of the reason they needed to get space suits to the two Starliner crewmembers.

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Can I get a translation on that? What are the spacesuits needed for under these circumstances? TIA.

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I don't want to speak out of turn because I'm not an expert, but it was my understanding that each astronaut has a custom suit that is made to fit them personally, and in case of an emergency they needed to be able to put on the suits until they could make it to the escape vehicles and normalize the atmosphere and air pressure. My apologies if I am wrong on this, I know I'm out of my lane.

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The space suits were needed because their starliner space suits weren't compatible with Dragon

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Thank you for the clarification.

I asked someone about it and apparently the leak has been going for years and they just try to keep it closed. Russians. Ot cooperating but they aren't worried.

Ag87H2O said:

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aggiehawg said:

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Quote:

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As of a month ago, it wasn't an emergency yet, but it was a big concern and part of the reason they needed to get space suits to the two Starliner crewmembers.

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Can I get a translation on that? What are the spacesuits needed for under these circumstances? TIA.

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I don't want to speak out of turn because I'm not an expert, but it was my understanding that each astronaut has a custom suit that is made to fit them personally, and in case of an emergency they needed to be able to put on the suits until they could make it to the escape vehicles and normalize the atmosphere and air pressure. My apologies if I am wrong on this, I know I'm out of my lane.

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The suits have to match the vehicle the astronauts will use as there isn't cross compatibility in the attachments to those vehicles life support systems.

There was talk that the two could ride as "cargo" in the Dragon but prior to Starliners departure it was still their primary lifeboat.

Normal operations have a hatch closeout and pressure test procedure that can take an hour or more. If the station were catastrophically depressurizing (say this crack theory or more likely impact) there wouldn't be time to test capsule hatches 100% and it might not even be possible against fluctuating pressure in the ISS. So you'd want to be able to plug directly into the capsule life support systems via umbilical in case your returning capsule wasn't sealed 100%>

Dust or a piece of hair can affect that seal.

Vast announces deal with SpaceX to launch two human spaceflight missions to the International Space Station. https://t.co/V8xeOY1hJA

— Vast (@vast) December 19, 2024

Rumors of the ISS demise overblown?

Russians doing a spacewalk to work on some of their stuff on ISS this am:




Supposed to take several hours. I don't really plan to track/follow along with this, but hopefully it goes well.

Don't miss the final ISS spacewalk of 2024 on December 19! Tune in to see the event live and catch all the action from the International Space Station. #ISS #Spacewalk #NASAhttps://t.co/Ewr4gBwZ6V

— Wonder Of Things (@wonderofthings) December 19, 2024

Update on LTV prototype testing and evaluation at NASA-JSC. All three groups are heading towards PDR early next year.

https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/new-commercial-artemis-moon-rovers-undergo-testing-at-nasa/

bureaucrats doing bureaucrat things.

Can't stand them

He was pretty ticked at that point but it was 3+ months ago I believe. It's very likely the regulatory attitude/environment they are operating in will be much more permissive in another month.

Anyway, I think his other/more optimistic predictions about humanity and mars are likely closer to correct;

Marcus' weekly is upbeat.



The video from the single engine static fire of the V2.0 upper stage is pretty cool. Launch license received. New air separation unit over by the old sign I guess is next up at the massive construction site, to make their own liquid nitrogen/oxygen on-site. The 'concerning' environmental impact meetings/review next month are probably largely about that, imho.


Maybe these images are on the FAA review stuff, I missed them if so.

🚨#BREAKING: Thousands of witnesses across the Southwest are reporting a large meteor or a satellite breaking apart in the sky creating a spectacular display

📌#Unitedstates | #USA

Currently, thousands of people across the Southeast, particularly in Kansas, Arkansas,… pic.twitter.com/KRBNwYjcjJ

— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) December 22, 2024

Starlink or a rocket body is what they saying.

Ag87H2O said:

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TexAgs91 said:

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Ag87H2O said:

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nortex97 said:

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Why would a crack cause a deorbit? If anything they would evacuate the module in question.

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What if they already have done that but can't do it 100% of the time because the crack is in a module you have to pass through to get to one of the escape vehicles?

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The leak is in Zvezda. It's a critical module with electrical power distribution, life support systems and power, attitude and propulsion systems used to boost the station. If it gets to the point where they have to seal off the Zvezda, that could impact boosting the station.

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I had heard from a pretty reliable source that there was a crack in the Russian module and that they had tried to seal it but that attempts had failed and that it was slowly growing. Said the Americans weren't even sure the totality of the problem because the Russians were not being completely open about it. They know they are losing atmosphere and that it is slowly getting worse. Said they had not even been able to run contingency scenarios because we didn't have all the information needed to run them - which was a big concern. As of a month ago, it wasn't an emergency yet, but it was a big concern and part of the reason they needed to get space suits to the two Starliner crewmembers.

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Let me head up there, I'll take care of it.

Times like this is when 18 SDS needs a twitter account. I'm certainly no expert in this field by my guess would be rocket body. I don't think starlinks are big enough to create that big of a light show, could certainly be dead ass wrong though.

BREAKING: Palantir, $PLTR, and Anduril are in talks with companies including SpaceX and OpenAI to form a consortium that will jointly bid for US Defense contracts, per Reuters

— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) December 22, 2024

Is America back? We might be back. (Dubious on the source)

Not yet. We still have a long ways to go to undo the last 4 years.

It's the little things…/REK

Something old and something new in electric propulsion 🚀
The lower box is one the earliest spacecraft ion thrusters (from EOS circa 1962), and on top is a new arrival, a modern marvel from the SpaceX Starlink satellites used for on orbit maneuvering. SpaceX has mastered Argon… pic.twitter.com/wksI3AG497

— Steve Jurvetson (@FutureJurvetson) December 24, 2024

Quote:

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This affords a higher power density (4.2kW in 2.1kg) and much lower cost gas (about $10 per satellite)

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So did SpaceX discover (or rediscover) the secret sauce to get ion impulse engines working? Or is the big news that they figured out how to efficiently use Argon gas instead?

I think Argon just made it (much) cheaper. In truth they simplified it quite a bit too.

Quote:

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The backside of the SpaceX thruster shows how simple it is, with gas lines and wires for the cathode and electrode, insulated with Boron Nitride on the other side and permanent magnets for lensing of the streams.

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I think it's more evolutionary than revolutionary (though brilliant in execution/reliability), and the nasa deep space 1 mission from 1998 gets some credit for advancing the tech finally.


Non-chemical engines will be pretty exciting for inter-planetary missions looking forward, imho.

"Babe, get me in so it looks like I'm catching the rocket!" pic.twitter.com/EfBSSNMhq7

— Wifejak (@Wifejaksolana) December 22, 2024

Found this on one of my meme blogs;

Red heat tiles? 9:30 or so.



It does seem like they are still toying around with heat shield tile construction/composition. Plausibly, it could be the case that the larger v3.0 version of the upper stage might help as the area will be greater.

https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/nesc/characterizing-the-visual-experience-of-astronauts-at-the-lunar-south-pole/

Interesting article on the challenges of living on the lunar south pole. It's ideal from a power and possibly water harvesting standpoint, but will suck for astronauts having to constantly adjust between having the sun directly in their eyes to not at all. Will require some new tech to help with that.

Then the sound arrives (cameras a long distance away). BE-4's singing. pic.twitter.com/lZgdzu2uJm

— NSF - NASASpaceflight.com (@NASASpaceflight) December 28, 2024

Got their launch license today as well.

Are the (non-proportional) methane/O2 tank stretches with upper stage V2.0 related to lunar lander/other non-LEO missions perhaps? Ship catching portals at 20:40 or so is also fascinating (recommend the whole video).

New Glenn first flight Jan 6-7 (launch license/NOTAM)?

NASAg03 said:

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https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/nesc/characterizing-the-visual-experience-of-astronauts-at-the-lunar-south-pole/

Interesting article on the challenges of living on the lunar south pole. It's ideal from a power and possibly water harvesting standpoint, but will suck for astronauts having to constantly adjust between having the sun directly in their eyes to not at all. Will require some new tech to help with that.

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ETA:
NSF - Starship Flight 7: "Starship will deploy 10 Starlink simulators" - Ship 33 gets to deploy payloads, a first for Starship.
Booster 14 will refly a Raptor from Booster 12 following its successful catch during Flight 5!

"The Super Heavy booster will utilize flight proven hardware for the first time, reusing a Raptor engine from the booster launched and returned on Starship's fifth flight test"

Starship’s sixth flight test aimed to push the vehicle to its limits as we iterate towards a rapidly reusable rocket.

Up next: a new ship, new year, and new limits. Excitement still guaranteed → https://t.co/QNCSPTewLA pic.twitter.com/JjhBq8RyYp

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 3, 2025