The Commercial - and now general space travel - Thread (No Politics Allowed)

The watches in space topic puts me to sleep, however the new technology side of space is exciting. From a chemistry channel I follow comes this new propulsion system for satellites, which I thought was very cool:


Cheers, Al

Not exactly "commercial" but NASA is planning to launch Artemis 1 in a little over a month on an unmanned mission for approximately around 1 month.
If all goes well, Artemis 2 will be a crewed mission which will include a lunar fly-by!

Atlas V launch this AM.



One day I’ll take a real camera. But this was just on my way back home from getting coffee lol.

Tried to peep that one too after dinner but it was cloudy over here on the other coast.

I'd love to see this first launch. Trouble is, it's hard to trust that Aug 29th scheduled launch date won't be delayed.

It's going to quite a show. Keep us informed 😀

Yeah, always a bit of a gamble when trying to go see a launch in person.
I was reading that they were already expecting quite the crowd as well.
No surprise though. To quote Tank from The Matrix

I should note. I am one of the founding members, and former president of E.R.P.S (Experimental Rocket Propulsion Society.) One of the Silicon Valley's premier rocket clubs. (And one of the few that do liquid fuel rockets.) We were the first group to build and fly a re-usable rocket liquid fuel peroxide rocket in the early 2000s. This was the 'K.I.S.S' (Keep it Simple, Scientist) A name I though up as a defense on how far off topic some of the members could get.

After these successful flights, one of our members and president at the time, took most of the people and founded the startup Masden Aerospace. Which is how I became president. No one else wanted the job, and I was the recording secretary. (was also the recording secritary for the local NAWCC club too (typecasting?))

A new group of younger enthusiasts have plans to re fly the K.I.S.S rocket, and would have in 2020, but the pandemic put these plans on hold.

Our club follows on from the work of the British Planetary society of the 1930s. Our mission charter specifically states that we research the use of Hydrogen peroxide rather than Cryogenics as an oxidizer. The number say that peroxide should have just enough ISP to get to LEO.
Most of the rocket boys seem to fall into the lure of the Cryogenic trap as it gives quicker results, but at much more complexity (Good for getting outside funding.)

I see Masden has taken off a bit more than they can handle. They won the lunar lander contract. for the upcoming moon missions. Not always the best thing as I heard they are in Chapter 11 (receivership) Hopefully they can recover.

I find it Ironic, that I struggled with math in school (I think mathematics is taught wrong.) and never got any degrees past a two year degree in theater arts. Somehow studying the Jaquet-Droz dolls and the complexity behind them has made me a bit of a polymath. Not something I would have chosen to do. Guess that is what happens when one stops watching TV sitcoms and starts watching documentaries like Sagan's Cosmos, and Burke's Connections. Never did get to meet Carl, But I did get to spend some time with Jame Burke.

I also have some history with the Science fiction writing community (I ran Programming at Baycon in the 1990s.) Sill do the AV at the 'Contact -cultures of the imagination' conference. This had lead to my acquaintance with some truly amazing people over the years.

All because of some swiss robot dolls built in the 1770s.

-j

You should follow @SarcasticRover on Twitter if you do not already do so.
-j

My body is ready.



I didn't really appreciate the size until now.

Not exactly space travel, per ce, but interesting nonetheless...

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/...-witness-world-s-first-planetary-defense-test

NASA Invites Media to Witness World’s First Planetary Defense Test

NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), the world’s first mission to test technology for defending Earth against potential asteroid or comet hazards, will impact its target asteroid—which poses no threat to Earth—at 7:14 p.m. EDT on Monday, Sept. 26.

Among other activities, NASA will host a televised briefing beginning at 6 p.m. on Sept. 26 from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland. APL is the builder and manager of the DART spacecraft for NASA.

This test will show a spacecraft can autonomously navigate to a target asteroid and intentionally collide with it to change the asteroid’s motion in a way that can be measured using ground-based telescopes. DART will provide important data to help better prepare for an asteroid that might pose an impact hazard to Earth, should one ever be discovered

Said asteroid:

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/asteroids-comets-and-meteors/asteroids/didymos/in-depth/

Artemis 1 scrubbed due to an issue with an engine bleed on the core stage.
Next earliest attempt will be Friday 9/2.
Bummer. But on the bright side I was already taking Friday off anyway, so maybe I'll actually be able to check it out in person.
Assuming they can get their shit together over there.

Ugh yeah hate to hear that. But at least you are still getting to experience some pretty cool things!

This is a very ambitious project, so not surprised it was scrubbed today. Lots of stuff to go wrong.

The fact that we designed, built and successfully launched 13 Saturn V rockets starting 55 years ago, and got to the moon multiple times without loss of crew or payload, was an amazing, technical feat. Von Braun knew his stuff.

It is still a huge achievement but the costs increased as every step was tested and verified - a very incremental programme. Of course the lessons learned from the Apollo 1 fire and crew loss also paved the way for improved safety on later missions and actual moon launches