I would think the main advantage to a free flyer would be a possibility of no microgravity or vibration. This would require a low power em drive that runs near constantly to precisely counter air drag.I am surprised to see so little interest in SpaceX's Dragonlab. Maybe the Draco's would require larger fuel tanks,but I think they could do an adequate job of countering drag to provide a near perfect weightless environment.
A free flying Orbital Cynus is the prime candidate for this....There are a lot of choices for orbit choices, but being close to ISS has a few positives. The space lab could visit ISS for servicing that only a human can do. Supply vehicles could ride share on ISS supply missions, eg mount TRV in Dragon trunk.
Quote from: Roy_H on 05/15/2016 04:01 pmI would think the main advantage to a free flyer would be a possibility of no microgravity or vibration. This would require a low power em drive that runs near constantly to precisely counter air drag.I am surprised to see so little interest in SpaceX's Dragonlab. Maybe the Draco's would require larger fuel tanks,but I think they could do an adequate job of countering drag to provide a near perfect weightless environment.Cost of Dragon lab is probably biggest obstacles. One set of experiments needs to cover the complete mission costs. Being able to deliver new experiments to orbiting lab allows initial mission cost to be share by dozens of experiments over years.
The Electron is capable of 400kg to LEO (180km?), a low orbit is quite acceptable as mission will only last days.
Quote from: TrevorMonty on 07/22/2016 07:28 pmThe Electron is capable of 400kg to LEO (180km?), a low orbit is quite acceptable as mission will only last days.I think you're about 200kg over, but yeah.
This article is about concept of robotic (unmmaned) space stations (RSS) mainly in LEO. Far as I know its not related to any commercial ones in development.http://www.thespacereview.com/article/3548/1SSL have been working towards a RSS in GEO, they call it Persistent Platform. There is lot to be said for RSS in LEO or SSO. He pointed out the new small LVs are ideal for delivering payloads in these orbits. The likes of Electron with Curie 3rd stage would be ideal, would still need the ORV.
Quote from: Roy_H on 05/15/2016 04:01 pmI would think the main advantage to a free flyer would be a possibility of no microgravity or vibration. This would require a low power em drive that runs near constantly to precisely counter air drag.I am surprised to see so little interest in SpaceX's Dragonlab. Maybe the Draco's would require larger fuel tanks,but I think they could do an adequate job of countering drag to provide a near perfect weightless environment.Huh? The Dracos thrust is too high. They are worse than drag alone
Man tended free flyer a small station that with the docking systems off ATV and two logistics modules , ISS node 4 and a long duration service module.Growing protein crystals and doing long duration experiments without the astronauts bumping around is the market .
Quote from: Jim on 05/15/2016 06:45 pmQuote from: Roy_H on 05/15/2016 04:01 pmI would think the main advantage to a free flyer would be a possibility of no microgravity or vibration. This would require a low power em drive that runs near constantly to precisely counter air drag.I am surprised to see so little interest in SpaceX's Dragonlab. Maybe the Draco's would require larger fuel tanks,but I think they could do an adequate job of countering drag to provide a near perfect weightless environment.Huh? The Dracos thrust is too high. They are worse than drag aloneNot Super Dracos, standard Dracos. They would not have to operate continuously, pulsed mode is fine. Dracos can produce very short pulses. Imagine the payload to be a box in the capsule. Once in orbit it would be released and the spacecraft would use its thrusters to keep the box floating free in the center of the cabin. It would be allowed to drift some, but not far enough to be in danger of contacting a wall before corrective action is made by the spacecraft to re-center the payload.
Quote from: Roy_H on 09/11/2018 06:10 pmQuote from: Jim on 05/15/2016 06:45 pmQuote from: Roy_H on 05/15/2016 04:01 pmI would think the main advantage to a free flyer would be a possibility of no microgravity or vibration. This would require a low power em drive that runs near constantly to precisely counter air drag.I am surprised to see so little interest in SpaceX's Dragonlab. Maybe the Draco's would require larger fuel tanks,but I think they could do an adequate job of countering drag to provide a near perfect weightless environment.Huh? The Dracos thrust is too high. They are worse than drag aloneNot Super Dracos, standard Dracos. They would not have to operate continuously, pulsed mode is fine. Dracos can produce very short pulses. Imagine the payload to be a box in the capsule. Once in orbit it would be released and the spacecraft would use its thrusters to keep the box floating free in the center of the cabin. It would be allowed to drift some, but not far enough to be in danger of contacting a wall before corrective action is made by the spacecraft to re-center the payload.Standard Dracos have a thrust of 440 Newtons how powerful are the thrusters on the Cygnus?