Latest Posts by cozy-airlessness - Page 2

Probably one of the coolest photographs ever taken. Can't wait for Artemis 2 to best it.

1989: ‘Shuttle Evolution “Block II”’

(sorry for low resolution, I cannot find a higher-res version anywhere)

1989: A concept drawing for a never-realised next-generation Space Shuttle, capable of carrying 8 astronauts and possibly over 30 tonnes to low-Earth orbit. The most noteworthy feature is the detachable cockpit with engines which could serve as a launch escape-system or a lifeboat during an incident in-orbit. It was to use its lifting body, wings, and body flap to glide to a runway and presumably land on skids. The escape system would enable a crew's escape at any point during launch or orbital flight.

Comments and observations

The inclusion of this escape-system in the orbiter would necessitate a gap in the heatshield at the nose, one of the hottest parts of the vehicle during re-entry. That's obviously a big problem. Further, a pad-abort would seem to be very impractical. 3 seconds at 8 Gs would only send the capsule about 2 km high, probably not high enough to glide towards the nearest runway, especially with those stubby wings. Perhaps an emergency parachute system and a splashdown of the capsule would have been more sensible?

Other changes to the orbiter seem to be in the interest of improving gliding performance, such as two wing-tip vertical stabilisers instead of one tail-mounted one (to eliminate wing-tip vortices), shrinkage of the orbital manœuvring system pods by relocation of the OMS's propellant-tanks into the wings, and the addition of canards which would probably yield greater pitch-authority during landing.

The system also proposes replacement of the solid rocket boosters with liquid-hydrogen–fuelled boosters. These could provide a greater payload capacity, as well as greater control of thrust during ascent, and the possibility of an emergency engine shutdown, improving the crew's safety. The biggest and most obvious downside would be increased cost. The drawing doesn't specify whether the LFBs are intended to recover themselves by deploying parachutes, but what's certain is that saltwater generally damages delicate chemical rocket engines, so they probably couldn't just plop into the ocean like the real Shuttle's SRBs did.

Lots of cool moments with the crew in this video. They seem very easy-going and friendly. The fact that they're doing EVA and docking tests could imply that this crew might get to fly on future Artemis missions!

Especially liked the EVA training in the neutral buoyancy lab. The underwater audio is so relaxing. It must be very comfy for those scuba divers down there.

Blue Moon really should go first. It's a more practical, less ambitious design, with better inherent safety. We shouldn't splash out on the towering ambitious megarocket just because we can. That stuff should come later, once we've gained confidence and experience. That should be obvious.

NASA does not need a lander with a dry mass of 100+ tonnes to put 2–8 astronauts on the Moon. The lander's excessive size and mass actually make several problems, such as the hatch being 30 m above the ground and there needing to be a crew elevator system with no current plan for a backup if it fails.

Big spaceship does not equal good spaceship. Don't be fooled by spectacle and awe. Starship HLS is ill-suited to taking humans to the surface of the Moon. The best case for it is as a heavy cargo vehicle, perhaps in service of a Moonbase. Again, that comes later. Skylab after Mercury-Redstone, not before.

It's genuinely possible that Starship HLS might not be ready before Blue Moon MK 2 is.

Basically, there's an alternate universe in which Kathy's selection was blocked, and Blue Origin ended up being the primary contractor, with maybe SpaceX being a secondary contractor for later heavy cargo missions.

It's genuinely possible that Starship HLS might not be ready before Blue Moon MK 2 is.

Well actually it wasn't just about funding. Kathy Lueders basically made the decision to contract SpaceX by herself in 2021. The fact that there was a governmental leadership-change ongoing at the time might have enabled her to sneak this through: https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/option-a-source-selection-statement-final.pdf

In 2023, she quit NASA and went to work for SpaceX as a general manager of the Starship Programme in Texas.

Bare in mind that SpaceX had not yet provided a capsule mockup and their lander design was inherently less safe and more ambitious than the alternatives. It also depends upon a highly experimental super heavy-lift launch-system using several wholly new technologies and flight profiles.

But now that it's crucial for NASA's Artemis Programme, NASA is basically required to be involved in Starship development and to continue providing funds. Musk's companies are already quite well known for tricking the government and the customer out of their money.

It's genuinely possible that Starship HLS might not be ready before Blue Moon MK 2 is.

I say it was one of NASA's worst decisions. Really it wasn't their fault. They didn't have enough government funding to contract two companies to build landers, so they went with the bare cheapest bidder (SpaceX).

It's genuinely possible that Starship HLS might not be ready before Blue Moon MK 2 is.

Honestly, funding Starship HLS was probably one of NASA's worst recent decisions. At least Blue Moon is also in development, too, or else there'd be good reason to worry about the entire Artemis Programme being cancelled.

It's genuinely possible that Starship HLS might not be ready before Blue Moon MK 2 is.

It's genuinely possible that Starship HLS might not be ready before Blue Moon MK 2 is.

My thoughts on the upcoming IFT-3 flight of Starship-Super Heavy

As of writing (12th of February), IFT-3 is currently scheduled to occur later this month, but it could still easily get delayed.

My prediction is that IFT-3 will probably achieve orbit and will probably conduct an internal propellant-transfer, but that the upper stage (SN28) will probably suffer a failure of some kind during reëntry, either being destroyed or deviating far from its targetted splashdown-zone.

It's safe to say that successful reëntry is unlikely on IFT-3. Here's why:

The Starship upper stage will be the largest reëntry-vehicle ever built.

This reëntry profile (a belly-first reëntry with four fins used for stability) is unique and has never been done before. Starship's belly-first orientation is inherently ærodynamically unstable, which is why it needs constant corrections from the four fins. It could get trapped in a nose-first or tail-first orientation, both of which might be more stable. Else, a loss of control would just result in endless tumbling.

We've already seen heatshield-tiles falling off during IFT-1 and IFT-2. In fact, more fell off the latter than the former due to higher ærodynamic pressures and engine vibrations.

A failure during reëntry would be consistent with the general pattern of testflight-failures established so far. Essentially, each flight is a failure, but less of a failure than the previous one.

Honestly, I don't know what could happen to the first stage booster (B10). SpaceX knows how to do boostback-burns and propulsive landings. It's seemingly just a matter of preventing the vehicle from blowing itself up. Engine reliability will probably determine the booster's success.

It'll be interesting to watch nonetheless.

The fate of the Artemis Programme now depends on the success of these test flights and in SpaceX rapidly developing and utilising this reüsable launch-system. Development has been ongoing for over five years now, and the vehicle has yet to reach orbit. The landing of astronauts on the Moon is scheduled for September 2026. How likely is it that SpaceX will have humans on the Moon in just two and a half years from now?

We love you, Neil.

The surface of Pluto, painted by James Hervat for Astronomy magazine in the 1970s

Chesley Bonestell, 1975.

Space shuttle concept art from Rockwell International, late 1970s.

“We’re incredibly lucky to be able to be working where we are, up above the Earth, and being able to see our planet from that vantage point.” -Laurel Clark, STS-107

Remembering Col. Frank Frederick Borman II (March 14, 1928 – November 7, 2023), who passed away earlier this week at the incredible age of 95.

What an incredible life he had. Frank was the commander of Gemini VII and Apollo 8 and one of the first humans to fly around the moon. Until his death, he was the oldest living American astronaut—now his best friend Jim Lovell, who is 11 days younger, holds the distinction.

Frank’s beloved wife Susan, to whom he was married for over 70 years, passed away in 2021 and they are survived by their two sons.

Frank will be remembered as one of NASA’s best and brightest. He was known to be direct and to-the-point with a sharp sense of humor to match.

Every December 24th, I listen to Apollo 8’s Christmas Eve broadcast from lunar orbit in 1968, which included the crew’s recitation from Genesis and Frank’s message to the world: “Good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas —and God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth.” I’ll do so again this year with a little sadness and a lot of gratitude to Frank and his extraordinary life.

"When you're finally up at the moon looking back on earth, all those differences and nationalistic traits are pretty well going to blend, and you're going to get a concept that maybe this really is one world and why the hell can't we learn to live together like decent people." Frank Borman (1928-2023)

Meet the Four Artemis Astronauts Who Will Fly Around the Moon

Today, we revealed the four astronauts who will fly around the Moon during the Artemis II mission, scheduled to launch in 2024. Get to know them:

Christina Koch

Meet the first member of our Artemis II crew: mission specialist Christina Koch. Koch visited the International Space Station in 2019, where she participated in the first all-woman spacewalk with Jessica Meir. She began her NASA career as an electrical engineer at Goddard Space Flight Center.

Jeremy Hansen

Representing the Canadian Space Agency is Jeremy Hansen from London, Ontario. Col. Hansen was a fighter pilot with Canadian Armed Forces before joining the Canadian Space Agency, and currently works with NASA on astronaut training and mission operations. This will be Col. Hansen’s first mission in space.

Victor Glover

Victor Glover is our Artemis II pilot. Glover is part of our 2013 class of NASA astronauts and was the pilot for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission. He’s logged 3,000 flight hours in more than 40 different aircraft.

Reid Wiseman

...and rounding out our Artemis II crew: mission commander Reid Wiseman. Wiseman lived and worked aboard the International Space Station as a flight engineer in 2014. He also commanded the undersea research mission NEEMO21, and most recently served as Chief of the NASA astronauts.

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1978 Concept art for Rockwell International’s Star Raker, a space plane proposal to meet NASA’s need for reusable craft designed to operate in the outer atmosphere. It would have flown at Mach 7.2, and would be able to perform four missions a day, like solar sattelite repair in the outer atmosphere. 

The thing about civilization is, it keeps you civil. Get rid of one, you can’t count on the other. THE EXPANSE (2015-2022)

Jared Harris as Anderson Dawes in The Expanse s01e06

From the film Ad Astra

BOBBIE DRAPER in The Expanse Season 6 Episode 6 “Babylon’s Ashes”

A solar cycle: a montage of 10 years worth of x-ray images taken by the ようこう (Yōkō 'sunbeam') sun-observation satellite.

The Sun undergoes a cycle of magnetic activity with a period of about 11 years. At solar maximum, solar observatories see more sunspots on the Sun's surface. Solar flares and coronal mass ejections are bigger and more frequent, triggering auroræ in Earth's skies, interfering with some types of radio communication, and irradiating deep space hardware. The Sun's magnetic field also undergoes a polarity inversion during solar maximum, when the north and south magnetic poles on the Sun swap (this happens again 11 years later in the next maximum). By contrast, the solar minimum has very few or no sunspots and the Sun is generally calm; a good time for deep space missions.

The last solar maximum was in February 2014. The last minimum was December 2019, marking the transition from cycle 24 to 25 (records began in 1755). The next maximum is predicted for the second half of 2025.

The first test flight of the Apollo Lunar Module in Earth orbit launched from Cape Kennedy launch complex 37B aboard Saturn IB SA-204R on January 22, 1968.

Here, we see LM-1 being loaded into the spacecraft adapter that would protect it during launch. The nose cone (at right, under a protective blue cover) would go on top.

The unmanned LM-1 flew without several systems (like landing gear) that it wouldn't need for the test and the windows in front were covered with aluminum plates. After testing of the descent and ascent stage engines, the two sections of LM-1 burned up in the atmosphere on re-entry.

Mission Specialist Sally Ride sits in aft flight deck mission specialists seat of STS-7 Challenger during deorbit preparations.

Date: June 24, 1983

NASA ID: STS007-31-1603

Astronaut Eugene A. Cernan's view from and of the Gemini-9A spacecraft during his extravehicular activity (EVA). Taken during the 32nd revolution of the 72-hour, 21-minute spaceflight.

"'What a beautiful spacecraft,' said Gemini IX pilot Eugene Cernan during his two hour, eight minute spacewalk. He took this wide-angle photograph looking back at the window where command pilot Tom Stafford was watching."

"Northwestern Mexico as seen from the Gemini-9A spacecraft during its 32nd revolution of Earth. The large penisula is Baja California. The body of water at lower right is the Pacific Ocean. The land mass at upper left is the State of Sonora. The Gulf of California separates Sonora from the peninsula."

Date: June 5, 1966

NASA ID: S66-38032, S66-38044, S66-38046, S66-38047, S66-38048, link, S66-37989, S66-38048, S66-38049, S66-38050, S66-38051, S66-38055, S66-38068, S66-38070

Buzz Aldrin’s space selfie from the Gemini 12 mission and Andy Saunders’s remastered version of the same image.