21

Space Policy Discussion / Re: Jared Isaacman nominated as NASA Administrator

« Last post by FutureSpaceTourist on Today at 05:32 pm »

https://twitter.com/drsianproctor/status/1864354553161822601

Huge congratulations to @rookisaacman on his nomination for NASA Administrator. Jared is one of the most amazing, thoughtful, intelligent, and considerate individuals I’ve had the pleasure of working with and going to space with @inspiration4x. His knowledge, experience, and guidance will be an asset to the future of space exploration. 🚀🌍

https://twitter.com/arceneauxhayley/status/1864369608922407221

Congratulations to my friend and the commander of our Inspiration4 space mission @rookisaacman. Throughout our training and time in space, I’ve seen Jared put to the test. His decision making is thoughtful and fair, and he has an incredible way of seeing the big picture.

Jared’s passion for space exploration and his leadership on missions like Inspiration4 speak for themselves. He’s always been dedicated to advancing human spaceflight, and I’m confident he’ll bring that same commitment to this role. It’s exciting to see such a focus on the future of space exploration and dreaming big- goals that unite all of us as a country.

22

Space Policy Discussion / Re: Jared Isaacman nominated as NASA Administrator

« Last post by tea monster on Today at 05:27 pm »

I think he's going to be an interesting choice. I'm not so sure how effective he will be when he goes up against entrenched politicians rather than flight or engineering problems. You need someone who can get stuff done in the trenches on the Hill.
Hopefully he is up to that role as well.

23

Missions To The Moon (HSF) / Re: NASA's Artemis Program Updates and Discussion Thread 5

« Last post by VSECOTSPE on Today at 05:26 pm »

https://spacenews.com/trump-selects-isaacman-to-be-nasa-administrator/

This is good for Artemis in two ways.  Assuming Isaacman doesn’t go native, it ensures there won’t be a return to the bad old days of more sole-sourced, Shuttle-derived “solutions”.  And the early timing could allow any reforms to hit the ground running before the midterms arrive, opposition mounts, and Congress freezes up.

But Isaacman is an operator (Polaris Dawn, Inspiration4, and Draken Intl) and financier/banking systems expert (Shift4 Payments), not a DC policy/political whiz or aerospace systems developer.  Isaacman is such a political novice that he’ll need a lot of backing from the White House and/or someone loyal on the 9th floor yet skilled and trusted with the Hill to get anything done.  And Artemis is mostly about building stuff for years to come and desperately needs new blood with demonstrated development experience in order to get systems built and integrated.

No one could cover all those circles on a Venn diagram, but Isaacman should think carefully about his weaknesses and staff his leadership team accordingly.  And although he’ll have to rely on a certain amount of institutional expertise, he should be wary of managers selling him the institutional biases that have done so poorly for Artemis and the agency in the past.

24

Russian Launchers - Soyuz, Progress and Uncrewed / Re: Soyuz-2.1b - Kosmos - Plesetsk - 4 December 2024 (17:59 UTC)

« Last post by B. Hendrickx on Today at 05:23 pm »

The launch announcement mentions "a satellite" (singular) in the interests of the Ministry of Defense. There should be another announcement on orbit insertion somewhat later.

25

Q&A Section / Re: Can the IDSS tunnel be cleared?

« Last post by Twark_Main on Today at 05:21 pm »

Gateway will use NDS (an implementation of IDSS), and NDS has pedals that can be manually removed. However 0.8 m diameter is with the pedals already removed. With the pedals in place the passage has a clear diameter of 0.685 m.

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20110011626

Note, the SCS guide petals can be manually removed after docking to increase the passageway clearance. Section 3.11.1 provides more information on petal removal capability

3.11.1   IVA TRANSFER CORRIDOR AND AIDS

The Block 0 NDS design has SCS docking alignment petals that are fixed and cannot fold back into a stowage position for mated operations. With the SCS petals fixed in the deployed position, the NDS assembly provides an IVA transfer corridor diameter of ~27 inches as shown in Figure 3.3.2-1. The deployed petal clearance of ~27 inches (685 mm) has been evaluated as suitable for IVA Crew and Cargo Transfer Bag/Locker transfer. After the NDS is hard mated and pressurized, the SCS petals can be manually removed by an IVA crewmember to enlarge the transfer corridor diameter up to ~32 inches. However, the SCS alignment petals must be re-installed prior to vehicle undocking.

26

Russian Launchers - Soyuz, Progress and Uncrewed / Re: Soyuz-2 - Kosmos - Plesetsk - NET 4 December 2024 18:00 UTC

« Last post by Galactic Penguin SST on Today at 05:17 pm »

Liftoff confirmed for a Soyuz-2.1b at 17:59 UTC: https://tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/22578493

27

Historical Spaceflight / Re: Early European spaceflight history, manned and unmanned, about 1950-1975

« Last post by leovinus on Today at 05:15 pm »

Earlier this year, I asked ESA whether the special publication 1006 "Index of ELDO Publications"  was available as a PDF anywhere. It was not. I was told they had one physical copy but not yet digitized. Today, I see it in on SHIP at the link below which is neat. Basically, I was looking for a full list of space tug publications, MBB and HSD work, etc. This seems to be that list. While I have issues with the PDF download and have reached out to ESA to resolve that, this looks like a nice document for follow ups.

https://ship.esa.int/ISS/view.jsp?cid=ESA_SP_1006

Secondly, I thought that the archival appeal for help was interesting and deserves attention here as well. What would you like to contribute?

The ESA Archives needs your help - appeal for donations
Tue, 12/11/2024 - 08:38

Throughout 2024 the ESA Archives has been marking the 60th anniversary of the creation of ESA’s forerunners, ELDO and ESRO, with news articles and related content on this portal, and openings of digitised collections in the SHIP database.

The process of research behind this has highlighted some of the most pressing gaps in our holdings and has prompted this appeal to ESA colleagues and to the wider space community: can you help us fill them in?

We are seeking donations of material related to the European space organisations COPERS, ELDO and ESRO which operated throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, prior to the creation of ESA in 1975. So, if you worked for one of them, or worked with colleagues who did, you may have inherited documentation from this period and you might be exactly who we need to hear from!

In return, we can help you to ensure that your information is safely preserved for future generations in line with professional archival standards.

https://historicalarchives.esa.int/esa-archives-needs-your-help-appeal-donations

Finally, am still looking for old ESRO/ELDO bulletins which are not on SHIP yet it seems.

28

Russian Launchers - Soyuz, Progress and Uncrewed / Re: Soyuz-2 - Kosmos - Plesetsk - NET 4 December 2024 18:00 UTC

« Last post by Galactic Penguin SST on Today at 05:14 pm »

Judging from the general location, these NOTAMs might be related?

X4889/24 NOTAMN
Q) ULLL/QARLC/IV/NBO/E/055/540/6509N05352E208
A) ULLL B) 2412041800 C) 2412042000
E) ATS RTE SEGMENTS CLSD:
M131 NAKIR-ROGIS FL175-FL540,
N746 ATGOR-SUBEP FL265-FL540,
P35  DIDAG-ABOKI FL055-FL540,
T754 BILMI-GIGES FL055-FL540,
T761 AMEDO-ROGIS FL275-FL540,
T761 SUBEP-BILMI FL275-FL540,
T765 LIDLA-NIKDI FL055-FL540,
T821 BILMI-NAREK FL245-FL540.
F) FL055  G) FL540

X4891/24 NOTAMN
Q) ULLL/QRTCA/IV/BO/W/000/999/6435N04700E022
A) ULLL B) 2412041800 C) 2412042000
E) AIRSPACE CLSD WI AREA:
644800N0472900E-643200N0474600E-641800N0462800E-
643700N0461300E-644800N0472900E.
F) GND  G) UNL

They last till 20:00 UTC.

29

Space Policy Discussion / Re: Jared Isaacman nominated as NASA Administrator

« Last post by Helodriver on Today at 05:08 pm »

President Musk picks one of his own. 

30

General Discussion / Re: New NASA Administrator - Jared Isaacman

« Last post by punder on Today at 05:06 pm »

Well since I can't post there, I'll just say, what a great pick.

And I'm sure Elon had absolutely nothing to do with it.