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SpaceX Facilities and Fleets / Re: SpaceX Texas launch site Discussion and Updates - Thread 12

« Last post by EL_DIABLO on Today at 09:17 am »

I think they're taking it from the river, I vaguely remember some documents about that.

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Commercial Space Flight General / Re: Firefly Aerospace

« Last post by FutureSpaceTourist on Today at 08:40 am »

https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/1623118631893712897

Firefly Aerospace's Bill Weber says in a small launch vehicle panel at #smallsatsymposium they're preparing for an Alpha launch for a responsive space mission in May; after that, perform launches every two months.

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Sierra Space Dream Chaser Section / Re: Sierra Space Dream Chaser DISCUSSION Thread (was SNC)

« Last post by Lampyridae on Today at 08:20 am »

Somewhat off-topic (since this obviously wouldn't apply to Dream Chaser in any case, but would've been relevant to other Commercial Crew entrants like Dragon and Starliner that use more traditional capsules): if I'm reading this correctly, would this preclude an Orion- or Soyuz-style "tractor" abort motor tower that covers the windows with a fairing during early launch phases? A natural reading of "available through all flight phases" would suggest as such, but perhaps there is other context that excludes launch phases from this definition.

I am not sure but the requirement is the following:

The spacecraft shall provide windows that are available for use by the crew through all phases of flight that provide direct, non-electronic, through-the-hull viewing and the unobstructed fields of-view necessary to perform crew viewing tasks. [R.CTS.177]

The rest of the text is the rationale for the requirement. I am not sure if the ascent would require an unobstructed view in order to perform a crew viewing task. It's not clear to me what is a crew viewing task and if there is such a task on ascent.

The QueSST doesn't have forward cockpit windows either.

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SpaceX Missions Section / Re: SpaceX Manifest Discussion Thread

« Last post by GewoonLukas_ on Today at 07:58 am »

Not that it needed any confirmation but SpaceX removed the top insert of 39A's strongback (and this can be seen done this morning on SCL) which means it's being converted to Dragon configuration. Next launch from there is Crew-6

Sounds like LC-39A will be occupied until mid-April:

Said they're planning April 8, after the two NASA ISS missions.  Reach orbital slot a couple weeks after launch.  Viasat-3 EMEA on ULA in September.

Crew-6 → CRS-27 → ViaSat-3 Americas

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SpaceX Super Heavy/Starship (BFR/BFS) - Earth to Deep Space / Re: SpaceX Starship : Texas Prototype(s) Thread 24 : Discussion

« Last post by Oersted on Today at 07:50 am »

For me, if it gets to staging that will be a big success.

Ocean soft landing would be unbelievably amazing.

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Live Event Section - Latest Space Flight News / Re: NASA Administrator to Make X-Plane Announcement at Reagan National Media Event

« Last post by edzieba on Today at 07:45 am »

Is there a more comprehensive overview of the XVS system design available? It appears to already be conducting some image fusion (4K XVS cam + fuselage fill from FVS cam) but it's not clear if this is just bog-standard video feed mixing or if there is reprojection occurring to account for local geometry, and if the image is static on the display or parallax corrected to account for viewer head movement.
There are existing aircraft vision systems that perform both these functions feeding a head-mounted display, but not as safety critical systems (used as a substitute for a NVS monocular/binocular and to 'view through' the aircraft fuselage looking down) and as far as I can tell XVS has only been evaluated for use at altitude where parallax is only a small factor rather than ground level and near-ground where it is significant.

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Historical Spaceflight / Re: CORONA Reconnaissance Satellite

« Last post by LittleBird on Today at 07:45 am »

I finally remembered where I learned that, a documentary I saw in the 1990's, which I think was called 'Secret Satellite' on Channel 4 here in the UK.
That documentary talks about the early balloon efforts, touches on the U-2 and then goes onto Corona.

This version:
... has a different voiceover than I recall, perhaps the one I saw (voiced by British actor William Franklin if I recall correctly) had been edited?

Enjoyed that. Maybe Channel 4 just couldn't pass up the chance to have an actor forever associated with the phrase "Schhh ... you know who" narrate a doc about the NRO ;-)

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Historical Spaceflight / Re: The many versions of Nova and Advanced Saturn

« Last post by LittleBird on Today at 07:41 am »

1962. Magazine page and a summary.

PS: I also enjoyed reading Chapter "12.SATURN,1959...", page 224 et al, in "LIQUID HYDROGEN AS A PROPULSION FUEL, JOHN L.SLOOP, 1945-1959" from The NASA History Series. "Sloop" is actually in some memos I read. No ARAGO though.

Sloop was a major source for the much more recent  Dawson Taming Liquid Hydrogen book, one wonders if the Aerojet LH2 programme was still secret in late 70s when Sloop's book was written.

I'm willing to bet you won't find Arago in anything other than USAF documents. I'd be interested to be proved wrong.

I'm also curious as to whether names "Space Launching System", "BC 2720" etc, and/or "Phoenix" ever turn up outside contemporary USAF docs, except in v high level ones like the Novemver 1961 memo you found, and of course recent histories like Spires. 

It was striking that the 1959 NASA briefing you posted above had no mention of USAF/Aerojet LH2 work at all.

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Historical Spaceflight / Re: The many versions of Nova and Advanced Saturn

« Last post by LittleBird on Today at 07:32 am »

Does it give any other primary source info like an endnote for this ?

Sutton cites references 3, 6, 11 & 12 at the beginning of the Titan section of Chapter 7.

Thanks. From other info on web Ref #3 looks like a nice book, and was also a source for Astronautix so may well have contributed to what was written there about LR87 and its LH2 version.

Sutton also appears to have strong ties to Aerojet-I'm convinced.

Sutton was one of the key people in the development of ablative reentry technology. I helped him re-publish a history article on that.

I think that is George W Sutton: https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/abs/10.2514/3.62196

whereas the book is by George P Sutton: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/george-sutton-other-father-american-rocketry-180976306/ and https://www.aiaa.org/docs/default-source/uploadedfiles/aiaa-news/family-obituary---george-p-sutton.pdf

Obituary for George Paul Sutton

1920-2020

GEORGE PAUL SUTTON, former Chief Scientist of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
(DARPA) and Executive Director of Rocketdyne, whose seminal book on rocket propulsion guided rocket
scientists across nine editions and multiple generations, passed away peacefully due to natural causes
on October 15, 2020, in Los Angeles.

Sutton’s book, Elements of Rocket Propulsion – first published in 1949 and updated continuously with a
second printing of the 9ᵗʰ edition due out in December 2020 – has informed, maddened and inspired
rocket scientists and aerospace engineers. SpaceX engineers tell stories of their CEO admonishing them,
“Don't tell me it cannot be done. George Sutton says it can be done!”

Sutton’s achievements crossed industry, government, and academia. In industry, he started as a
development engineer of rocket propulsion at Aerojet, and advanced to become the Executive Director
of Engineering at Rocketdyne, a department with 2,000 engineers, technicians, and support personnel.
Although most of his engineering work focused on liquid propellant rocket engines, he also worked on
solid propellants and their rocket motors at the Rocketdyne facility in McGregor, Texas.

In government, Sutton worked in the Pentagon as the Chief Scientist and Deputy Director of DARPA.
There he started the development of several large liquid propellant rocket engines for eventual
applications in long range ballistic missiles. He served for 11 years for the Scientific Advisory Board of
the U.S. Air Force. He was awarded the Air Force’s Silver Civilian Medal for his contributions.

[...]

who I really feel I should have heard of-this site continues to teach me a lot.

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SpaceX Super Heavy/Starship (BFR/BFS) - Earth to Deep Space / Re: Elon Musk, 6 February 2023: "Mars in 20 years"

« Last post by Lampyridae on Today at 07:24 am »

"Hopefully, humanity will reach Mars in 20 years"

1. He's being cynical in a "fusion is always 20 years kind of way"
2. He's simply looking forward to the progress of spaceflight and hoping we don't blow ourselves up
3. He's referring to Mars colonisation, as in by regular Joes

Personally I wouldn't read too much into off-the-cuff tweets of a man who works wayyyy too hard.