Quote from: Eric Hedman on 09/28/2017 07:50 pmI know this is not all final, but I don't see any radiators on this design. Am I missing something? Other than that, this looks pretty cool.I am not a spokesperson for Axiom but I believe that the structure perpendicular to the solar array is a radiator.Image courtesy of Axiom Inc.
I know this is not all final, but I don't see any radiators on this design. Am I missing something? Other than that, this looks pretty cool.
I asked the question about the heritage of the airlock -Attached is a bottom view of the Axion commercial station showing more detail of the airlock.Image courtesy of Axiom.Direct response for Axiom:All the elements seen on our updated renderings will be new items with the exception of the cupola as shown. That may be new as well, however for the time being we’ve opted to show it as adopted from ISS. Best,XXXX
Quote from: BrightLight on 09/28/2017 05:18 pmI asked the question about the heritage of the airlock -Attached is a bottom view of the Axion commercial station showing more detail of the airlock.Image courtesy of Axiom.Direct response for Axiom:All the elements seen on our updated renderings will be new items with the exception of the cupola as shown. That may be new as well, however for the time being we’ve opted to show it as adopted from ISS. Best,XXXXNot to be unkind ... but ...Isn't the point here 1) use of mostly 'new" versions of "old" ISS components meant to mean that the "reuse" of ISS benefit is mostly in the "design value"? And that 2) the limited expand-ability of a "truss-less", radial design limits scope of application of such station(s) to that of a fraction of existing ISS capabilities? Specifically 3) the power / radiator / thermal control module (looks like the proposed (but never deployed) Russian ISS side power module) could only supply about 15% of existing ISS power systems, which is insufficient for materials / semiconductor use?And with 1), doesn't the operation of the ISS "inform" on the failings of such modules design/servicing/support, such that a very different design might be necessary to support a cost effective commercial station?And that perhaps the most valuable, salvageable asset of the on orbit ISS might be the difficult, costly to reorbit truss segments, which can be used to anchor/stabilize/dampen movements/torques/vibrations, impacting 2).How much does this reduce the "marketability" of a follow-on station's prospective tenants? Especially with 3)?The ISS already struggles with limited use based on its design, not to mention infrequent access via vehicles?
Quote from: BrightLight on 09/28/2017 05:18 pmI asked the question about the heritage of the airlock -Attached is a bottom view of the Axion commercial station showing more detail of the airlock.Image courtesy of Axiom.Direct response for Axiom:All the elements seen on our updated renderings will be new items with the exception of the cupola as shown. That may be new as well, however for the time being we’ve opted to show it as adopted from ISS. Best,XXXXNot to be unkind ... but ...Isn't the point here 1) use of mostly 'new" versions of "old" ISS components meant to mean that the "reuse" of ISS benefit is mostly in the "design value"? The rest of the response was edited.
Article in the NY Times:https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/09/style/pigs-in-spaaaaaace.html
Axiom’s station can house eight passengers, including a professional astronaut. Each will pay $55 million for the adventure, which includes 15 weeks of training, much of it at the Johnson Space Center, a 10-minute drive from Axiom’s headquarters, and possibly a trip on one of Elon Musk’s SpaceX rockets. Thus far, three entities have signed up for on-the-ground training, which starts at $1 million, Mr. Suffredini said, though he declined to name them. The inaugural trip will be only $50 million. “It’s a bargain!” “ he said.
“If you just go visit and come back, you’re not pioneering,” he said. “You’ve got to pioneer.”Pioneers include countries who have yet to send someone to space (a German organization seeking to get that country’s first female astronaut in orbit is in talks with Axiom), material-science researchers, and biologists trying to understand how the human body adapts outside earth’s atmosphere. Also, maybe, Tupperware.
“We’ve met their engineers, we’ve seen their plans, we hired domain experts that grilled them and did a deeper dive,” said Lisa Rich, a founder of Hemisphere Ventures and an early Axiom investor. “Everything came up with ‘This is a big go sign, we’ve got to get in on this.’”“At the Johnson Space Center, when Mike walks down the hall, they’re all practically saluting him,” Ms. Rich said. “He’s a legend in his own right.”
Axiom hired Philippe Starck, the French designer who has lent panache to everything from high-end hotel rooms to mass-market baby monitors, to outfit the interior of its cabins. Mr. Starck lined the walls with a padded, quilted, cream-colored, suede-like fabric and hundreds of tiny LED lights that glow in varying hues depending on the time of day and where the space station is floating in relation to the earth.
The Axiom station will still have hand holds, but thanks to Mr. Starck (who Mr. Suffredini hadn’t heard of before Axiom’s branding consultant suggested they hire him) they will be plated in gold or wrapped in buttery leather, like the steering wheel of a Mercedes.
Axiom is also in talks with a high-end European fashion house it also declined to name about custom-designing leisure suits travelers can wear once they dock. “They will be tailored to each person and can be customized with their own logo, if they want,” Ms. Rein said “It’s a very special keepsake and part of their luxury experience.”
Looks smooth, I really hope they can get off the ground More business for SpaceX & Boeing to if they do!
Quote from: Beittil on 08/15/2018 09:32 amLooks smooth, I really hope they can get off the ground More business for SpaceX & Boeing to if they do!It's long been believed that if you lower the cost of space access te market will expand significantly.For that to happen you actually have to have new customers for that capacity.These look like the first new customers (after Bigelow) to look as if they can grow the baseline traffic on a regular basis (Lots of designs can put a payload in LEO, but so far repeat business can been pretty much confined to ISS buildISS resupplyCommsat constellation launch (IE Iridium, Globalstar, Orbcomm, the only 3 who actually made it to orbit)And for serious growth you need something that wants down mass as well. It's repeat business that starts to really encourage reuse and turnaround to a schedule, the issues that made Shuttle such an anti pattern for RLV architecture at the system level.
Quote from: john smith 19 on 08/16/2018 06:40 amQuote from: Beittil on 08/15/2018 09:32 amLooks smooth, I really hope they can get off the ground More business for SpaceX & Boeing to if they do!It's long been believed that if you lower the cost of space access te market will expand significantly.For that to happen you actually have to have new customers for that capacity.These look like the first new customers (after Bigelow) to look as if they can grow the baseline traffic on a regular basis (Lots of designs can put a payload in LEO, but so far repeat business can been pretty much confined to ISS buildISS resupplyCommsat constellation launch (IE Iridium, Globalstar, Orbcomm, the only 3 who actually made it to orbit)And for serious growth you need something that wants down mass as well. It's repeat business that starts to really encourage reuse and turnaround to a schedule, the issues that made Shuttle such an anti pattern for RLV architecture at the system level.It looks like right now the only downmass required business that makes obvious sense in ZBLAN fiber optic production, as a closing business case.
HOUSTON and ODENSE, Denmark, Nov. 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Commercial space station developer Axiom Space (Axiom) and Danish Aerospace Company (DAC), creator of astronauts' wearables and other health monitoring devices, announced a collaboration to develop and test next-generation human performance monitoring and exercise technology for use in space.