My 2 cents worth:...The better design approach would have been to implement a separate uplink channel on the Fregat/MDU itself, which would also be useful for LEO missions. Without this separate uplink channel, the mission was effectively killed when the Fregat/MDU failed to make its first burn.
But after 60 years of advanced rocket science, how does one get stuck in low earth orbit?
Quote from: HIPAR on 11/11/2011 01:28 pmBut after 60 years of advanced rocket science, how does one get stuck in low earth orbit?I imagine you do it in a similar manner to the CONTOUR spacecraft, which managed to blow itself apart while trying to leave Earth orbit.
Quote from: aquanaut99 on 11/11/2011 12:08 pmQuote from: Blackstar on 11/11/2011 11:42 amPoppycock.Nobody died.Try to keep things in perspective.Nobody died due to the financial crisis either. Do people always have to die for something to be a disaster?You're right. Please feel free to panic and scream in fright.
Quote from: Blackstar on 11/11/2011 11:42 amPoppycock.Nobody died.Try to keep things in perspective.Nobody died due to the financial crisis either. Do people always have to die for something to be a disaster?
Poppycock.Nobody died.Try to keep things in perspective.
Ted Molczan conjecture on Ph-G recent mean motion slight decreasehttp://satobs.org/seesat/Nov-2011/0110.html
I'm disappointed after I'm said today that the only Kub-Kontur station at Baikonur that could transmit commands to Phobos-Grunt, had been pillaged as early as in 2007. I also held a hope for IP-5 "Saturn" which they promised to outfit with Spektr-X device, but they are saying it can only serve as downlink.It turns out, Baikonur is really unable to send any commands to the probe, and only can sweep the sky with "Daisy" antenna at IP-1.
Quote from: input~2 on 11/11/2011 01:47 pmTed Molczan conjecture on Ph-G recent mean motion slight decreasehttp://satobs.org/seesat/Nov-2011/0110.htmlI'm wondering if residuals of 3-axis control thruster firings are sufficient to account for this modest altitude increase or if we're talking about a propellant leak.
btw. How mush Cesium was on this probe, and is packaged such that it will survive (not disperse) reentry? Are we talking the equiv. of a smoke detector, or something more sinister?
Quote. Even if by the time they sort things it's too far out of plane or too low to make a proper trans-Mars injection, it would still be a functional spacecraft ....alternate mission like visiting a near earth asteroid.if you believe in stuff like this I have a bridge I could sell you ...
. Even if by the time they sort things it's too far out of plane or too low to make a proper trans-Mars injection, it would still be a functional spacecraft ....alternate mission like visiting a near earth asteroid.
Quote from: kevin-rf on 11/11/2011 12:30 pmbtw. How mush Cesium was on this probe, and is packaged such that it will survive (not disperse) reentry? Are we talking the equiv. of a smoke detector, or something more sinister?Looking around, the MIMOS II Mossbauer spectrometer appears to have 300 µci of Co-57, which, if I've got the right specific activity, corresponds to 0.037 micrograms of Co-57, or a cube 0.016 mm on a side. I don't think we're talking about a major radiological catastrophe here.
Quote from: HIPAR on 11/11/2011 01:28 pmBut after 60 years of advanced rocket science, how does one get stuck in low earth orbit?Because rockets are still built by humans.
Quote from: Antares on 11/11/2011 03:20 pmQuote from: HIPAR on 11/11/2011 01:28 pmBut after 60 years of advanced rocket science, how does one get stuck in low earth orbit?Because rockets are still built by humans.Well, they're built by humans, launched, and then you have no way to fix them after they leave the ground. It's the whole "this system has to work flawlessly the first time with no hope of mechanical repair and only slight hope of programming repair, oh and it was made by humans" thing that hurts.~Jon
Well, they're built by humans, launched, and then you have no way to fix them after they leave the ground. It's the whole "this system has to work flawlessly the first time with no hope of mechanical repair and only slight hope of programming repair, oh and it was made by humans" thing that hurts.~Jon