LostCosmonaut Posted March 21, 2018 Report Share Posted March 21, 2018 Good news on the plutonium front; http://spacenews.com/nasa-to-allow-nuclear-power-systems-for-next-discovery-mission/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoooSeR Posted April 3, 2018 Report Share Posted April 3, 2018 Quote The things you find tucked away in a derelict hangar at Edwards AFB. These two unpiloted X-34s were technology testbed demonstrators that were designed to demonstrate key vehicle and operational technologies applicable to future low-cost reusable launch vehicles. Spoiler Belesarius 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alzoc Posted April 10, 2018 Report Share Posted April 10, 2018 Bats wants to explore space too Spoiler Spoiler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostCosmonaut Posted April 16, 2018 Report Share Posted April 16, 2018 I'm guessing everyone has heard about the SpaceX party balloon by now; A lot of people (at least in parts of the internet that I frequent) did think he was crazy; Thing is, it's not actually that stupid of an idea. NASA has looked at the idea; https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20030106138.pdf And their analysis shows that a ballute can save a lot of mass when used for aerocapture from interplanetary trajectories. The second stage will be reentering from LEO, at a significantly lower velocity. The second stage already has a pretty low ballistic coefficient, so I'd guess it sheds a bunch of energy in the upper atmosphere. Adding the ballute/party balloon will let it dump even more energy high up. Also, by massively increasing the surface area, the heat flux per unit area goes down, which gets to the real reason why Musk is probably doing this; to avoid sticking a heat shield on the second stage. (There isn't really a great place to put one anyway.) Presumably, at a low speed / altitude, the second stage will ditch the party balloon and deploy regular parachutes. A re-entry capable balloon won't be cheap, but it should be a lot less expensive than a whole second stage. Bonus scene from 2010 Ramlaen 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoooSeR Posted April 19, 2018 Report Share Posted April 19, 2018 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alzoc Posted April 23, 2018 Report Share Posted April 23, 2018 Piece of a spaceX rocket found in Brittany https://twitter.com/Quemenes_Iroise/status/984775154369785857/photo/1 Spoiler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xlucine Posted May 2, 2018 Report Share Posted May 2, 2018 https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/demonstration-proves-nuclear-fission-system-can-provide-space-exploration-power Quote Demonstration Proves Nuclear Fission System Can Provide Space Exploration Power NASA and the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) have successfully demonstrated a new nuclear reactor power system that could enable long-duration crewed missions to the Moon, Mars and destinations beyond. NASA announced the results of the demonstration, called the Kilopower Reactor Using Stirling Technology (KRUSTY) experiment,during a news conference Wednesday at its Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. The Kilopower experimentwas conducted at the NNSA’s Nevada National Security Site from November 2017 through March. “Safe, efficient and plentiful energy will be the key to future robotic and human exploration,” said Jim Reuter, NASA’s acting associate administrator for the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) in Washington. “I expect the Kilopower project to be an essential part of lunar and Mars power architectures as they evolve.” Kilopower is a small, lightweight fission power system capable of providing up to 10 kilowatts of electrical power - enough to run several average households - continuously for at least 10 years. Four Kilopower units would provide enough power to establish an outpost. ... The prototype power system uses a solid, cast uranium-235 reactor core, about the size of a paper towel roll. Passive sodium heat pipes transfer reactor heat to high-efficiency Stirling engines, which convert the heat to electricity. First thought: Ramlaen, LostCosmonaut and Sturgeon 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramlaen Posted May 10, 2018 Report Share Posted May 10, 2018 LostCosmonaut 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostCosmonaut Posted May 10, 2018 Report Share Posted May 10, 2018 Another piece of evidence for Planet Nine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramlaen Posted May 11, 2018 Report Share Posted May 11, 2018 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostCosmonaut Posted May 17, 2018 Report Share Posted May 17, 2018 Yet another data point for Planet Nine; https://arxiv.org/abs/1805.05355 Ramlaen 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramlaen Posted May 21, 2018 Report Share Posted May 21, 2018 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sturgeon Posted May 23, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2018 No BFRC, odd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramlaen Posted June 6, 2018 Report Share Posted June 6, 2018 Pluto appears to have dunes of methane ice. Belesarius and LoooSeR 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legiondude Posted June 8, 2018 Report Share Posted June 8, 2018 https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/mars-nasa-announcement-latest-organic-matter-red-planet-a8388591.html Basically we found ancient space poop But it means something was around to make that, recently or in the far distant past Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sturgeon Posted June 10, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2018 On 6/7/2018 at 8:24 PM, Legiondude said: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/mars-nasa-announcement-latest-organic-matter-red-planet-a8388591.html Basically we found ancient space poop But it means something was around to make that, recently or in the far distant past Not exactly. We found organic matter, which could have been made by nonbiological processes but is indicative of life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostCosmonaut Posted June 21, 2018 Report Share Posted June 21, 2018 Falcon Heavy got another customer; http://www.losangeles.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/1557227/air-force-awards-afspc-52-launch-services-contract-to-spacex/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sturgeon Posted June 21, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2018 47 minutes ago, LostCosmonaut said: Falcon Heavy got another customer; http://www.losangeles.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/1557227/air-force-awards-afspc-52-launch-services-contract-to-spacex/ Do we think that will be launched by Falcon Heavy, or a Block 5 Falcon 9? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostCosmonaut Posted June 21, 2018 Report Share Posted June 21, 2018 These reports say Falcon Heavy; http://spacenews.com/spacex-wins-130-million-military-launch-contract-for-falcon-heavy/ https://www.floridatoday.com/story/tech/science/space/2018/06/21/spacexs-falcon-heavy-rocket-wins-air-force-launch-contract/723478002/ Ramlaen and Sturgeon 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sturgeon Posted June 22, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2018 Is that Falcon Heavy's first customer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostCosmonaut Posted June 22, 2018 Report Share Posted June 22, 2018 Just now, Sturgeon said: Is that Falcon Heavy's first customer? No, off the top of my head Falcon Heavy is already slated to fly the Air Force's STP-2 (some test payload) and Arabsat-6A. Sturgeon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sturgeon Posted June 22, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2018 1 hour ago, LostCosmonaut said: No, off the top of my head Falcon Heavy is already slated to fly the Air Force's STP-2 (some test payload) and Arabsat-6A. wow the future is now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostCosmonaut Posted June 27, 2018 Report Share Posted June 27, 2018 Big news from Saturn; https://www.space.com/41005-saturn-moon-enceladus-complex-organic-molecules.html Previously, scientists had detected only simple organic (carbon-based) compounds, each less than about five carbon atoms in size, in the plumes of Enceladus. Now, researchers have detected complex organic molecules from the moon, including some at least 15 carbon atoms in size. Considering that they previously found molecular hydrogen in the plumes, Enceladus is currently looking like the #1 candidate for extraterrestrial life (if not, it's at least tied with Europa and/or Titan). I'm not aware of any definite plans for another mission to Saturn, but an Enceladus orbiter/lander should be pretty high up. Random plug for an Enceladus mission proposal written by attractive, smart people who smell good Ramlaen 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoooSeR Posted June 27, 2018 Report Share Posted June 27, 2018 I heard about Enceladus spewing organics long time ago. It was #1 place to search for life for many years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostCosmonaut Posted June 27, 2018 Report Share Posted June 27, 2018 It's been known to have organics for a while, but so far they had only detected relatively simple molecules (ethane, propane, etc.). This is the first time they have found extremely heavy hydrocarbons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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