Quote from: jongoff on 08/20/2019 07:25 amIt's good to see ULA being able to announce customers for Vulcan."Being able to", as in: someone was stopping them before?
It's good to see ULA being able to announce customers for Vulcan.
U.K. announces plans for its first Moon rover. The announcement came at New Scientist Live. It’s travelling on the Astrobiotic lander Here’s the official announcement video:{snip}
Quote from: Star One on 10/17/2019 08:06 pmU.K. announces plans for its first Moon rover. The announcement came at New Scientist Live. It’s travelling on the Astrobiotic lander Here’s the official announcement video:{snip}I suspect that the walking robots will need paws. Pointed legs will sink into the dust trapping the rover.Test by waling the robot over sand.
Vulcan’s first flight will conduct a FRF, Flight Readiness Firing on the pad, but will likely not repeat it on subsequent missions
Quote from: A_M_Swallow on 10/18/2019 05:20 amQuote from: Star One on 10/17/2019 08:06 pmU.K. announces plans for its first Moon rover. The announcement came at New Scientist Live. It’s travelling on the Astrobiotic lander Here’s the official announcement video:{snip}I suspect that the walking robots will need paws. Pointed legs will sink into the dust trapping the rover.Test by waling the robot over sand.Lunar regolith is actually very densely compacted, I think a walking rover without paws would probably be fine. I'd be concerned about dust in the joints, but that's also solvable with some form of protective cover if they're smart about it.~Jon
Lunar spacecraft startup Astrobotic completed structural model testing of its Peregrine lander, which verified the lander can launch and carry payloads. Astrobotic's first mission to the Moon's surface is set to launch on a ULA Vulcan rocket in July 2021:
Our Peregrine lunar lander successfully completed structural model testing, marking a major development milestone toward its maiden voyage and lunar landing in 2021!These tests qualify the integrity of the Peregrine lander’s structure and its ability to survive launch while carrying payloads from 16 customers. The test campaign was completed using the Peregrine Structural Test Model (STM), a one-to-one scale representation of Peregrine that was assembled at Astrobotic’s new lunar logistics headquarters in Pittsburgh. Testing was conducted over 2 months at the Dayton T. Brown, Inc. commercial test facility in Bohemia, NY. The campaign proved that Peregrine can withstand the flight environment of United Launch Alliance (ULA)’s Vulcan Centaur, the launch vehicle for the mission.“This is a major step towards verifying the Peregrine design, and I’m really proud that our team was able to meet aggressive schedules while operating under the strict safety protocols required during the pandemic,“ Sharad Bhaskaran, Mission Director.Moving forward, the STM will be used for Peregrine Mission One landing stability testing and future mission configuration studies. Flight structure manufacturing for the mission will begin this fall.
Quote from: Marcia SmithBruno: first Vulcan certification flight is Astrobotic, Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser is second. Have sold more than 30 Vulcan missions already. Asked what happens if Astrobotic not ready next yr, Bruno said they can slot in one of the others and maintain certification schedule.https://twitter.com/SpcPlcyOnline/status/1338558300829470720
Bruno: first Vulcan certification flight is Astrobotic, Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser is second. Have sold more than 30 Vulcan missions already. Asked what happens if Astrobotic not ready next yr, Bruno said they can slot in one of the others and maintain certification schedule.
https://twitter.com/emrekelly/status/1339640993306566659QuoteULA CEO Tory Bruno during a telecon with reporters: Vulcan rocket is currently slated to fly its first mission (Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander) in Q4 of 2021. Blue Origin-supplied BE-4 engines should arrive by summer.Back in February 2020 Blue Origin said the BE-4s would arrive by the end of 2020.
ULA CEO Tory Bruno during a telecon with reporters: Vulcan rocket is currently slated to fly its first mission (Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander) in Q4 of 2021. Blue Origin-supplied BE-4 engines should arrive by summer.
A nice shot of our #Peregrine lunar lander STM - Peregrine is set to land scientific instruments, items from the general public through our #MoonBox program, and more to the Moon in late 2021.With 7 countries and 17 different customers on board, our #Peregrine lunar lander is on track to be the first American lander on the #Moon since the #Apollo missions - more than 50 years ago! Take a peek at the test model...
The mission patch for @astrobotic's Peregrine Mission One (PM1), launching to the Moon on a ULA Vulcan rocket later this year:
SAT-STA-20210208-00018
Astrobotic's first lunar mission, Peregrine Mission 1, appears to be targeting December to launch on ULA's inaugural Vulcan rocket, per an FCC filing.The filing includes a mission profile, saying it will last between 17 and 78 days: https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/ib/forms/reports/swr031b.hts?q_set=V_SITE_ANTENNA_FREQ.file_numberC/File+Number/%3D/SATLOA2021051200065&prepare=&column=V_SITE_ANTENNA_FREQ.file_numberC/File+Number h/t @wikkit @FccSpace