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[Spaceflight & Exploration] Thread

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    BrodyBrody The Watch The First ShoreRegistered User regular
    Delmain wrote: »
    Dedwrekka wrote: »
    Zilla360 wrote: »


    In space, no one can hear you pretend to break a guitar.
    Vader: "I find your lack of STEM education disturbing."
    "The solar panels are generating over 9000 jigga-watts!"

    What's great is that this means that there will always be a Darth Vader costume on the ISS, since they leave most personal items they brought up behind when they go. (That's the guitar Hadfield played Space Oddity on, for instance)

    what about that nice lady that sewed a quilt in space? did she have to leave her quilt on the ISS?

    I would hope so, I've been told its very cold in space, leaving it for the next person seems the polite thing to do.

    "I will write your name in the ruin of them. I will paint you across history in the color of their blood."

    The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson

    Steam: Korvalain
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    SealSeal Registered User regular
    Russia put out its report of the Soyuz failure and Scott Manley put out a video based on said report.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5boa6wAK0Sc
    TL:DW: "non-standard assembly" bent a pin that activates a sensors, so a booster didn't detach properly after a valve that's supposed to open did not open, causing bad times for the 2nd stage.

    I think this is relatively good news for future crewed launches on Soyuz since all they have to do is check the pins on currently assembled vehicles. But the phrase "non-standard assembly" is certainly something you want to avoid in rocketry.

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    SyngyneSyngyne Registered User regular
    Seal wrote: »
    Russia put out its report of the Soyuz failure and Scott Manley put out a video based on said report.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5boa6wAK0Sc
    TL:DW: "non-standard assembly" bent a pin that activates a sensors, so a booster didn't detach properly after a valve that's supposed to open did not open, causing bad times for the 2nd stage.

    i.e. the sensor wasn’t quite straight so they hammered it into place with the handle of a screwdriver

    5gsowHm.png
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    HevachHevach Registered User regular
    edited November 2018
    Syngyne wrote: »
    Seal wrote: »
    Russia put out its report of the Soyuz failure and Scott Manley put out a video based on said report.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5boa6wAK0Sc
    TL:DW: "non-standard assembly" bent a pin that activates a sensors, so a booster didn't detach properly after a valve that's supposed to open did not open, causing bad times for the 2nd stage.

    i.e. the sensor wasn’t quite straight so they hammered it into place with the handle of a screwdriver

    Which if the case, IMO puts the lie on the leak "sabotage." It suggests a culture of covering up fuckups rather than going through proper quality control, not any specific act of sabotage.

    And that idea is scary as a motherfucker.

    Hevach on
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    BurtletoyBurtletoy Registered User regular
    edited November 2018
    Hevach wrote: »
    Syngyne wrote: »
    Seal wrote: »
    Russia put out its report of the Soyuz failure and Scott Manley put out a video based on said report.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5boa6wAK0Sc
    TL:DW: "non-standard assembly" bent a pin that activates a sensors, so a booster didn't detach properly after a valve that's supposed to open did not open, causing bad times for the 2nd stage.

    i.e. the sensor wasn’t quite straight so they hammered it into place with the handle of a screwdriver

    Which if the case, IMO puts the lie on the leak "sabotage." It suggests a culture of covering up fuckups rather than going through proper quality control, not any specific act of sabotage.

    And that idea is scary as a motherfucker.

    Is Truth Lies and Orings still regarded well as a book? I remember in high school tech class we watched some VHS speech from, I assume this guy, back in the early 00's. This is what popped up when I tried to Google my memories, but the book is dated 2009 and my class would've been before that.

    But I remember the part about the Orings and the cover-up/smear job stuff by NASA after Challenger.

    Wondering if my high school tech class teacher was some kinda pre911 truther or if it was real.

    Edit: this guy. Forgot the video link

    https://youtu.be/QbtY_Wl-hYI

    Burtletoy on
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    ZibblsnrtZibblsnrt Registered User regular
    edited November 2018
    Syngyne wrote: »
    i.e. the sensor wasn’t quite straight so they hammered it into place with the handle of a screwdriver

    Which wouldn't be the first time engineers decided to save some time by hammermangling a component into a position it wasn't supposed to fit in.

    That one super spectacular Proton crash from 2013 involved a sensor which had to be oriented a certain way, was labelled to be installed in a certain way, and which had connectors designed to only fit a certain way. Some dumbass installed it backwards by not caring about the schematics, not caring about the labels, and not caring that it didn't fit anyway - it was pounded into the receptacle with a wrench, and physics ensued upon launch.

    Zibblsnrt on
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    ChanusChanus Harbinger of the Spicy Rooster Apocalypse The Flames of a Thousand Collapsed StarsRegistered User regular
    there was definitely some controversy and cover up with the challenger disaster behind the scenes

    not like mustache twirling or anything, i think it’s normal, though not justifiable, to try and point blame elsewhere or just to minimize fault in these types of incidents

    as a hilarious aside i was trying to remember the tv movie that was about the investigation into challenger and the second google result was 1986’s screwball comedy Space Camp

    which i believe may be incorrect but i’m just going to assume now is a documentary

    Allegedly a voice of reason.
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    evilbobevilbob RADELAIDERegistered User regular
    There was some effort to cover up that Morton-Thiokol engineers had recommended not launching, because of fears that the exact failure that happened might happen, and were then were pressured into okaying the launch.

    Here's the tv movie you're probably thinking of. Focuses on Feynman and his role in the investigation.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT7Yx5kxYco

    l5sruu1fyatf.jpg

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    ChanusChanus Harbinger of the Spicy Rooster Apocalypse The Flames of a Thousand Collapsed StarsRegistered User regular
    yeah that's the one!

    Allegedly a voice of reason.
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    SynthesisSynthesis Honda Today! Registered User regular
    edited November 2018
    I've watched the same film on Amazon Prime--a highly entertaining work, and as far as I've read on the subject, dramatized somewhat but still pretty darn accurate.

    Specifically, Morton-Thiokol and NASA being completely aware that the rubber sealing rings were not adequate, and that what happened with the boosters was inevitable so long as there were basically any cold weather launches (sooner or later) was pretty damning. The former in particular was not surprised--then combine that with the strong political desire for the shuttle to demonstrate its worth as the do-all launch vehicle option. But of course it's more complex than that, and it's been a few years since I've seen the film or read on the topic. Still, the political need to ignore the very obvious limitations of the shuttle--some of them of the "this is the most complex machine ever flown" variety--completely separate of the solid rocket boosters was endemic to the program for years.

    Fascinating movie, highly recommend it.

    EDIT: Adequate, not accurate. Doh.

    Synthesis on
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    HevachHevach Registered User regular
    edited November 2018
    A lot of our program was tied up in the shuttles. We passed on a chance to extend Skylab and delayed Space Station Freedom out of existence because our whole manned program was pinned to a boondoggle, to the point that when it finally became unsustainable we didn't have a program, we became cosmic hitchhikers. To admit problems with the shuttle was to admit the program itself was broken.

    And a lot of the same voices are trying to do that again with the SLS.

    Hevach on
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    a5ehrena5ehren AtlantaRegistered User regular
    edited November 2018
    Eh, SLS isn't technically broken from inception like STS, it is just insanely expensive for what it is, which is exacerbated by having no effort at re-usability.

    Ironically, we'd probably be in a better place overall if something like SLS had been the follow-up to Saturn/Apollo, applying the lessons learned, and we were developing a re-usable vehicle in the late-90s.

    a5ehren on
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    SealSeal Registered User regular
    Saying STS was broken from the inception might be overstating it a bit. It could have been better that what it ended up being had the program been guided by what was practical. Instead it kept having design requirements dictated by outside agencies and political expedience instead of focusing on making something that was capable and affordable.

    It's easy to say that SLS isn't as flawed as the STS program knowing what we know now and looking back. But at least STS had some ambition and vision behind it. Meanwhile SLS is re-using old, well known, proven technology for a safe and reliable launch vehicle but is still somehow ludicrously expensive. STS took risks and tried to push the envelope of what was possible, SLS just looks more and more like a jobs program for NASA's usual line-up of contractors. Even if there are some good ideas and missions planned for the vehicle.

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    HevachHevach Registered User regular
    edited November 2018
    SLS has political baggage that makes it so expensive, it was required to use legacy contracts and even parts from the STS. Rather than being open to new bids from the flurry of new rocket companies springing up at the time or the more since, it was locked into companies that had no incentive to deliver an affordable product, and some of which have seen their reputation go to shit as they burn far more money eternally developing systems for the government than those systems will ever sell for if they were actually finished.

    The Falcon Heavy and BFR for example, were developed without bottomless government checkbooks and are being sold to NASA as completed products. They're cheaper and to market faster because companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin have every incentive to do so, while the companies behind the SLS have incentive to go over budget to within an inch of their lives and eventually sell an infinitely expensive product that their pet senators will guarantee a set number of purchases a year.

    Hevach on
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    BeNarwhalBeNarwhal The Work Left Unfinished Registered User regular
    This is a cool visualization of NASA's current fleet of Near-Earth satellites, color-coded for your enjoyment!

    Blue = Earth Science Projects Division

    Yellow = Heliophysics Science Division (study of the Sun)

    Green = Manned spaceflight

    Red = Astrophysics

    Orange = Communications

    Gray = Lunar Missions

    :biggrin:

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    SealSeal Registered User regular
    Rocket Lab is planning on launching their first fully operational commercial mission, dubbed "It's Business Time" tonight at 10 pm est. Assuming things go to plan of course.

    http://www.rocketlabusa.com/live-stream

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    SealSeal Registered User regular
    The "It's Business Time" launch went well, congratulations to Rocket lab.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPwMuUxSrcA

    Also Juno, NASA's solar powered Jupiter probe, takes some good pictures:
    https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/pia22692.jpg

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    BeNarwhalBeNarwhal The Work Left Unfinished Registered User regular
    *grins* I just jumped over here to post about "It's Business Time", good work Seal!

    Excited to see RocketLab and the Electron flying well, they'll serve an important microsat market at a very reasonable price! Universities and labs all over the world will make great use of the Electron I'm sure, as well as the occasional light-weight commercial satellite :)

    No reusability of course, but a brilliantly-engineered and cost-effective rocket that really makes reaching orbit a bit easier for small payloads!

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    BeNarwhalBeNarwhal The Work Left Unfinished Registered User regular
    Stealing from myself in the [chat] thread, an interesting look at the proposed Starlink network and some recent changes that were made to it:
    BeNarwhal wrote: »
    An interesting animation focused on the proposed Starlink satellite network and the changes made in their recent FCC filing:

    https://youtu.be/QEIUdMiColU

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    BeNarwhalBeNarwhal The Work Left Unfinished Registered User regular
    For a basic breakdown: The first constellation will be lower, in fewer orbital planes, and with less complex satellites, but still more than able to provide surprisingly competitive internet speeds compared to current fiber networks.

    For SpaceX's launch purposes, lower orbits mean they can launch more satellites in a single launch, and fewer orbital planes means they can achieve the whole thing in a) fewer launches and b) less time. Smart on their part.

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    webguy20webguy20 I spend too much time on the Internet Registered User regular
    Please god let me get off this shitty satellite Internet I'm on and onto the less shitty satellite Internet of the future.

    Steam ID: Webguy20
    Origin ID: Discgolfer27
    Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
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    Ninja Snarl PNinja Snarl P My helmet is my burden. Ninja Snarl: Gone, but not forgotten.Registered User regular
    edited November 2018
    BeNarwhal wrote: »
    Stealing from myself in the [chat] thread, an interesting look at the proposed Starlink network and some recent changes that were made to it:
    BeNarwhal wrote: »
    An interesting animation focused on the proposed Starlink satellite network and the changes made in their recent FCC filing:

    https://youtu.be/QEIUdMiColU

    They had me at "giant interlocking network of space lasers".

    Ninja Snarl P on
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    BeNarwhalBeNarwhal The Work Left Unfinished Registered User regular
    BeNarwhal wrote: »

    There IS a Falcon 9 launching TOMORROW with a launch window of 20:46 - 22:27 UTC (3:46pm - 5:27pm Eastern, 12:46pm - 2:27pm Pacific)!

    That's right, daytime Falcon 9 launch - the perfect thing to briefly interrupt your workday :surprised:

    Launching a Qatari communications satellite to a geostationary transfer orbit, exciting stuff!

    *run program "copytospacethread.exe"*

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    SealSeal Registered User regular
    SpaceX will finally launch something in November.

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    BeNarwhalBeNarwhal The Work Left Unfinished Registered User regular
    Seal wrote: »
    SpaceX will finally launch something in November.

    And another one scheduled in 4 days! :surprised:

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    BrodyBrody The Watch The First ShoreRegistered User regular
    How many is SpaceX at for 2018?

    "I will write your name in the ruin of them. I will paint you across history in the color of their blood."

    The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson

    Steam: Korvalain
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    HevachHevach Registered User regular
    https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/10/spacex-lines-five-launches-2018/

    This mentions this launch and four more for a total of 22 for the year. So this should be #18?

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    Styrofoam SammichStyrofoam Sammich WANT. normal (not weird)Registered User regular
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    BeNarwhalBeNarwhal The Work Left Unfinished Registered User regular
    Hevach wrote: »
    https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/10/spacex-lines-five-launches-2018/

    This mentions this launch and four more for a total of 22 for the year. So this should be #18?

    Yep, should end up at 21 F9 launches, and the one FH launch of course :)

    I guesstimated 2 a month for 2018, so I'd say they did pretty well this year

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    BrodyBrody The Watch The First ShoreRegistered User regular

    If you don't love me at my blurriest, then you don't deserve me at my crispiest.

    "I will write your name in the ruin of them. I will paint you across history in the color of their blood."

    The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson

    Steam: Korvalain
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    BeNarwhalBeNarwhal The Work Left Unfinished Registered User regular
    edited November 2018
    There is a Falcon 9 launch in ~4 hours! :surprised:

    Launch window is 20:46 - 22:27 UTC (3:46pm - 5:27pm Eastern, 12:46pm - 2:27pm Pacific), to be more precise!

    GTO satellite launch! Flight-proven booster! Downrange landing attempt on Of Course I Still Love You! Exclamation marks!

    Very nice shots from John Kraus, a young guy in Florida who is quickly becoming The Man when it comes to Space Coast photography <3 :





    Word of warning - Weather is only ~60% in the forecast due to unfriendly skies in the area today, so mentally prepare for the possibility that this launch may not happen today >_>

    Spaceflight!

    BeNarwhal on
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    wanderingwandering Russia state-affiliated media Registered User regular
    sorry Pluto, you're still not looking like planet material. You can reapply again next year

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    ZibblsnrtZibblsnrt Registered User regular
    Kraus' work is amazing. Anyone here who's either a space nerd or a photography nerd should be paying attention to his work.

    Also, anyone who dislikes camera lenses in particular. His close-up launch photos are a little rough on his equipment..

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    BeNarwhalBeNarwhal The Work Left Unfinished Registered User regular
    Zibblsnrt wrote: »
    Kraus' work is amazing. Anyone here who's either a space nerd or a photography nerd should be paying attention to his work.

    Also, anyone who dislikes camera lenses in particular. His close-up launch photos are a little rough on his equipment..

    This is all true and accurate :biggrin:

    Also update from the Cape - GO has been given to proceed toward launch, fuel loading has begun!

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    BeNarwhalBeNarwhal The Work Left Unfinished Registered User regular
    Livestream is LIVE with SpaceX FM!:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhTbzc-BqKs

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    SealSeal Registered User regular
    That crew access arm still looks like it's photoshopped in.

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    BeNarwhalBeNarwhal The Work Left Unfinished Registered User regular
    T-5 minutes, enjoy the show y'all! <3

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    SealSeal Registered User regular
    That was a subdued and informative customer video.

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    BeNarwhalBeNarwhal The Work Left Unfinished Registered User regular
    Seal wrote: »
    That was a subdued and informative customer video.

    Surprisingly in-depth and largely free of propaganda! I enjoyed it! :P

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    SealSeal Registered User regular
    edited November 2018
    It's a good thing these landings are more consistent than their first stage stream reliability.

    Seal on
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