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Space Pete
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« Reply #225 on: 02/18/2012 05:22 PM » |
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Some cool Cygnus images from the aforementioned presentation.
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Robotbeat
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« Reply #226 on: 02/19/2012 08:11 AM » |
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Some cool Cygnus images from the aforementioned presentation.
Looks like they have a lot of hardware pretty far along already, even the first "enhanced" Cygnus started! That's very good.
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Ronsmytheiii
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« Reply #227 on: 02/19/2012 04:18 PM » |
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Some cool Cygnus images from the aforementioned presentation.
Looks like they have a lot of hardware pretty far along already, even the first "enhanced" Cygnus started! That's very good.
Well the "enhanced" or PCM+ is only a third band added on, so I assume it would not require any major changes for the Thales Alenia tooling. The long pole will probably be the bus modifications to support the Ultraflex arrays. Cygnus is designed to have most of its major systems in the bus to get it to act as a bus to support multiple different configurations (pressurized cargo, large unpressurized cargo ORU's, and cargo return versions)
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Robotbeat
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« Reply #228 on: 02/20/2012 04:37 AM » |
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Some cool Cygnus images from the aforementioned presentation.
Looks like they have a lot of hardware pretty far along already, even the first "enhanced" Cygnus started! That's very good.
Well the "enhanced" or PCM+ is only a third band added on, so I assume it would not require any major changes for the Thales Alenia tooling. The long pole will probably be the bus modifications to support the Ultraflex arrays. Cygnus is designed to have most of its major systems in the bus to get it to act as a bus to support multiple different configurations (pressurized cargo, large unpressurized cargo ORU's, and cargo return versions)
I wasn't saying it's incredibly hard for them to make the extended version (compared to the original), just good that they have hardware starting to come together several future flights in advance. Regarding the rest of your post... I'm really interested in how much control authority the Cygnus bus has... Could it act as an ARDV (well, berthing instead of docking) for Node 4, for instance?
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Space Pete
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« Reply #229 on: 02/21/2012 10:36 PM » |
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Updated 2012 COTS & CRS Schedules
February 2012
Today, Orbital updated its 2012 COTS and CRS operational schedules. Gone is our colorful Development and Flight Milestones chart, now that we're in the homestretch to our four major milestones for the year, which are as follows:
May - Antares First-Stage Static Fire Test at Wallops
June - Antares Test Flight for COTS
Third quarter - COTS Demonstration Mission*
Fourth quarter - CRS Mission #1*
*Orbital's operational dates are subject to coordination with NASA's ISS cargo delivery schedule
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manboy
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« Reply #231 on: 02/26/2012 01:51 PM » |
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Progress Update on Orbital's Cygnus and ISS Cargo Resupply Activities
February 2012
Frank Culbertson, Orbital's Senior Vice President and head of our human space systems business, gave a presentation to the FAA's Commercial Space Transportation Conference in Washington, DC on February 16 with an update on our Cygnus and ISS Cargo Resupply Activities. His presentation, which contains some new photos and updates, is posted below.
http://www.orbital.com/Antares/files/Culbertson_FAA_Conference_2012.pdf
Thanks for the link Pete 
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raketen
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« Reply #232 on: 03/18/2012 12:38 PM » |
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The PCM also appears to have been stretched by roughly 1/3 of its previous length.
Yes that would be the PCM+ configuration, with an extra band added to add more pressurized volume/cargo lift. This configuration depends on the introduction of the Castor XL upper stage for performance increase. The first flight of Castor 30 XL will be on Taurus II flight 5, or OSC CRS flight 3.
I have seen quotes of the Enhanced Cygnus mass of about 6.5 mt which includes 2.7 mt of payload. I assume that Cygnus would do all the orbital maneuvers from the Antares insertion point of 200 km. But if I look at the capabilities of Antares 130 to 200 km and ISS inclination (using Castor 30XL), its capability is about 5.5 mt (see attached plot from Orbital's Antares brochure). What am I missing?
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edkyle99
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« Reply #233 on: 03/18/2012 04:00 PM » |
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The PCM also appears to have been stretched by roughly 1/3 of its previous length.
Yes that would be the PCM+ configuration, with an extra band added to add more pressurized volume/cargo lift. This configuration depends on the introduction of the Castor XL upper stage for performance increase. The first flight of Castor 30 XL will be on Taurus II flight 5, or OSC CRS flight 3.
I have seen quotes of the Enhanced Cygnus mass of about 6.5 mt which includes 2.7 mt of payload. I assume that Cygnus would do all the orbital maneuvers from the Antares insertion point of 200 km.
But if I look at the capabilities of Antares 130 to 200 km and ISS inclination (using Castor 30XL), its capability is about 5.5 mt (see attached plot from Orbital's Antares brochure).
What am I missing?
There were plans a year or more ago for an "Enhanced" Taurus 2 projected to lift 6.6 tonnes to LEOx51.6deg, but those plans appear to have been shelved, or at least placed on the back-burner for the time being. It would not surprise me, though, if similar growth options aren't still under consideration. - Ed Kyle
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baldusi
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« Reply #234 on: 03/19/2012 02:44 PM » |
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The May 2011 Briefing stated that Taurus IIe (now Antares something), would do 6tonnes to 52d x 200km.
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simonbp
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« Reply #235 on: 03/22/2012 06:04 PM » |
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<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/tw7_QIw5Btw&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/tw7_QIw5Btw&rel=1</a>]]>This video appears to show a Cygnus using an inflatable heat shield to recover the pressurized section. Any more info on that?
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mr. mark
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« Reply #236 on: 03/22/2012 06:30 PM » |
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I'm really loving this video. This is where NASA research combined with the private sector can result in breakthroughs in technology. Let's hope that future Cygnus modules can utilize this for return cargo.
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douglas100
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« Reply #237 on: 03/22/2012 09:15 PM » |
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Inflatable heat shield technology was flight tested 12 years ago with only partial success. See: http://www.esa.int/esapub/bulletin/bullet103/marraffa103.pdfIt was also part of Spacehab's proposed ARCTUS vehicle. I imagine it could be applied to Cygnus, HTV or even ATV if there were a pressing need for it, but a lot of development work will still be needed.
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simonbp
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« Reply #238 on: 03/23/2012 05:00 PM » |
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Inflatable heat shield technology was flight tested 12 years ago with only partial success. See: http://www.esa.int/esapub/bulletin/bullet103/marraffa103.pdf
The program in question (at NASA Langley) has successfully tested a suborbital shield much more recently (IRVE II in September 2009) and will test another vehicle (IRVE 3) later this year at much higher entry velocities. It's pretty low-key (and low-budget) for a NASA development program, but they seem to be making great incremental progress with it. The specific vehicle that the video shows is a Cygnus PCM with an IRVE-style heatsheild deploying from the PCM/SM interface after separation. I'm not sure how that would work, but that's what the video shows. They also had what appeared to be a low-speed wind tunnel model of this configuration sitting on the table, so it's more than just a video. The key would be for whomever actually looks at Cygnus manifests to keep an eye out for "IRVE-n" sometime after 2014, where n>4, as IRVE-4 is still suborbital and planned for 2014.
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Robotbeat
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« Reply #239 on: 03/23/2012 05:59 PM » |
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It'd be great for Mars EDL... It'd allow a fully-fueled Mars Ascent Vehicle to be landed on the surface ready to go.
The IRVE doesn't look terribly reusable... Could it be reused?
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