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https://twitter.com/ulalaunch/status/1773276600416510137

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The countdown to #TheDeltaFinale has started at Cape Canaveral for #DeltaIVHeavy to launch #NROL70 today at 1:40pmEDT (1740 UTC). This is ULA's 160th mission, our 99th for U.S. national security and 35th for the NRO. Follow along today: bit.ly/div_nrol70
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Advanced Concepts / Re: Spinlaunch on the Moon
« Last post by redneck on Today at 07:56 am »
https://selenianboondocks.com/2009/12/compound-tethers/

Decade and a half ago compound tethers were suggested. Tether with a tip speed of half of final has a secondary tether hub at the tip with similar velocity. Tips hit final velocity on one part of the circumference but reach zero relative on the opposite point. Could handle cargo without spindown/spinup.
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SpaceX Starship Program / Re: Starship specs - weight, volumes, etc
« Last post by M.E.T. on Today at 07:56 am »
Can anyone comment on the latest payload bay size?

For a long time the 1000 cubic meter “larger than a Boeing 747” pressurised volume was the stated goal. But recent specs seemed to indicate a somewhat smaller ~600 cubic meter payload bay size.

Is this expected to be temporary with the larger payload bay returning at some point in the future?  For Mars journeys (and as an initial Mars base) we want Starship’s living and cargo area to be a ~20m, 7 story building, not a just a jumbo version of a space capsule. Also necessary for launching large space telescopes and space habitats.

Any insights on this?
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SpaceX General Section / Re: Starlink : Markets and Marketing
« Last post by M.E.T. on Today at 07:50 am »
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Should those of us who like what Elon’s doing with X now post a counter to your view above? Where exactly does that take the discussion? Nowhere.

In short, personal views on Elon’s politics (so most of the last paragraph of the post) are not really helpful and just create animosity.

My apologies if that part of my post offended you. I added it only to clarify that my opinion about the Bloomberg article was not pro Elon because I like everything he does. Many (most) responses on various forums nowadays split in two camps: those who defend him no matter what, and those that attack him no matter what.
Did you have comments on the comments about the article I made?

Yes I do. I agree with the rest of your comments. Then again,  I don’t need to access a paywalled Bloomberg article/podcast to know it would be an anti-Elon hit piece.
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Other US Launchers / Re: US Launch Schedule
« Last post by Salo on Today at 07:49 am »
https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=sl-7-18
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SpaceX is targeting Thursday, March 28 for a Falcon 9 launch of 22 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Liftoff is targeted for 7:30 p.m. PT, with backup opportunities available until 11:24 p.m. PT. If needed, additional opportunities are also available on Friday, March 29 starting at 7:30 p.m. PT.

A live webcast of this mission will begin on X @SpaceX about five minutes prior to liftoff. Watch live.

This is the 15th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched NROL-87, NROL-85, SARah-1, SWOT, Transporter-8, Transporter-9, and eight Starlink missions (B1071.15). Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship, which will be stationed in the Pacific Ocean.
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SpaceX Starship Program / Re: Starship specs - weight, volumes, etc
« Last post by geza on Today at 07:10 am »
Also, they want Super Heavy to re-enter without a re-enry burn. This requirement limits also the delta-v of the booster stage.
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https://twitter.com/VickiCocks15/status/1773257750920724866

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Last night, S29's flaps were folded in, and as crews worked to chain them safely in place, Maarvin moved towards the test pad. Looks like S29's testing campaign is over and she'll be heading back to the build site, likely during the 12am to 3am closure tonight.


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Early this morning, the 2PL was moved back to the LC.
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Advanced Concepts / Re: Spinlaunch on the Moon
« Last post by Lampyridae on Today at 06:49 am »
A small array of spinlaunchers close to a lunar factory.  Would need to have more for the full output of the factory..

The towers are 25 m tall, 1.5m in diameter, about 1 cm thick aluminum.  The rotors have a radius of 25m.
These ones have 150 hp motors and launch 50 kg every two hours, 500 kg per hour for the array, ot about 2000 tonnes per year.
Spinlaunch without the box, basically.

Awesome! I like the detail of the factory. And I also appreciate the brown tones in the regolith. Too many space artists just assume that moondirt is just pure grey.

Two things come to mind:

First, though this is likely artistic licence, the spacing of the launchers so close to each other and the rest of the plant. A failure on these things is likely to be catastrophic. Close to release, a broken tip is going to hit the ground at ~2000m/s and then kick up a spray of regolith at similarly high velocities, not to mention a LOX payload rupturing. So you want a good deal of space between them. Or use fewer, beefier ones with higher mass at lower rates?

Second, aluminium might not be the best choice since it has quite a coefficient of expansion and has lifetime fatigue issues (the arms will be rotating quite fast, with a wobble when the payload has departed). On that note, I expect you'll have some really DEEP anchoring. How are tensegrity towers for this kind of application? You could make the tower a tripod, pentapod shape or whatever because you just need to clear the arm (failure modes notwithstanding).

For the last mile problem catching, you could probably use some kind of electrostatically charged net. Payload has a positive charge, and so does the net except near the middle.
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