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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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Regarding the discussion about the future of Starliner, it seems like the question, "What can we do to make Starliner a commercial success?" was never in the minds of Boeing's people. It's easy to say that the CCP started way back in 2011, and there was no reason to think that way. But someone else was thinking that way. Both Sierra Space and SpaceX were looking beyond CCP.
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And so that thing stubbornly refuses to die. With its head stuck in the ground like an ostrich.
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Updates only.
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In the early 1980s, McDonnell Douglas proposed the GRM-29A (Global Range Mach-29 Aerospaceplane) as part of the Science Dawn program, sponsored by the US Air Force. This program aimed to explore the feasibility of a manned horizontal takeoff and landing Single-Stage-to-Orbit (SSTO) aerospaceplane capable of carrying a 10,000-pound payload to polar orbit for Strategic Air Command missions.

The GRM-29A was an unusually designed spaceplane, resembling the size of the B-1 swing-wing bomber. It was intended for vertical takeoff in a horizontal attitude, akin to the Harrier aircraft. With the capability to launch from up to 480 sites in the lower 48 states, it could strike anywhere in the world from orbital altitudes. The design featured a downward-pointing Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) in the nose to meet runway requirements.

However, the GRM-29A remained a design study only, as the final report on Science Realm design studies published in 1984 concluded that horizontal takeoff was an inappropriate use of rocket power. Nonetheless, the report recommended the construction and testing of metallic structural test articles. McDonnell Douglas, along with Boeing and Lockheed, built a structural test article for an SSTO vehicle as part of the Have Region initiative.

References:

- Butrica, A.J., 2003. Single Stage to Orbit: Politics, Space Technology, and the Quest for Reusable Rocketry. Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press. [Link](https://www.google.com/books/edition/Single_Stage_to_Orbit/v6eTVBEDA54C?hl=en&gbpv=0)
- [Link](https://up-ship.com/blog/?p=6004)
- [Image Reference](https://up-ship.com/apr/images/v5n2all.jpg)
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Historical Spaceflight / Re: Lunar Module in Adelaide
« Last post by fishbait on Today at 06:09 am »
Is this the one that is in storage at MAAS Sydney? It did the rounds of the states then was out the front of the MAAS Main Building in Harris Street Sydney until early 80's
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Historical Spaceflight / Re: Lunar Module in Adelaide
« Last post by Eric Hedman on Today at 05:46 am »
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https://twitter.com/Alexphysics13/status/1773163522412646870

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SpaceX's East Coast marine assets are at full thrust!

A Shortfall Of Gravitas, pulled by the Signet Warhorse III tug, marks a record time from landing to arrival back to the Cape. Atop the droneship is B1078-8 after having supported Starlink Group 6-46.

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