Quote from: AmigaClone on 12/14/2025 05:36 amQuote from: Comga on 12/14/2025 04:13 amWhile there is a hiatus in Progress and Soyuz launches, be it 4 months, a year, or the remaining life of the ISS, NASA and its “western” partners can maintain the ISS themselves, using what they have, which is mostly from SpaceX.No NASA logoed Progress on Chinese launchers No Rube GoldbergNo Lego RocketsNo fantasy hardware neededUsing purely existing or equipment in development before 1 November 2025 the long-term crew for the ISS would be reduced to 4 when the newest Soyuz has to return.Avoiding that situation was the primary reason I suggested perhaps investigating what it would take to modify a Dragon to dock on the Russian side.Using certain docking ports on the Russian side would also make the idea of trying to use a Dragon to control the roll slightly less difficult.Are the Russian ports APAS-95? If so, NASA has an existing design for the IDA, which can be attached to an APAS-95 port to turn it into an IDS port. The two US IDSS docks use IDAs. There are a number of major issues to resolve to actually use this approach, so it is probably infeasible.
Quote from: Comga on 12/14/2025 04:13 amWhile there is a hiatus in Progress and Soyuz launches, be it 4 months, a year, or the remaining life of the ISS, NASA and its “western” partners can maintain the ISS themselves, using what they have, which is mostly from SpaceX.No NASA logoed Progress on Chinese launchers No Rube GoldbergNo Lego RocketsNo fantasy hardware neededUsing purely existing or equipment in development before 1 November 2025 the long-term crew for the ISS would be reduced to 4 when the newest Soyuz has to return.Avoiding that situation was the primary reason I suggested perhaps investigating what it would take to modify a Dragon to dock on the Russian side.Using certain docking ports on the Russian side would also make the idea of trying to use a Dragon to control the roll slightly less difficult.
While there is a hiatus in Progress and Soyuz launches, be it 4 months, a year, or the remaining life of the ISS, NASA and its “western” partners can maintain the ISS themselves, using what they have, which is mostly from SpaceX.No NASA logoed Progress on Chinese launchers No Rube GoldbergNo Lego RocketsNo fantasy hardware needed
Quote from: DanClemmensen on 12/14/2025 05:45 amAre the Russian ports APAS-95? If so, NASA has an existing design for the IDA, which can be attached to an APAS-95 port to turn it into an IDS port. The two US IDSS docks use IDAs. There are a number of major issues to resolve to actually use this approach, so it is probably infeasible.https://www.russianspaceweb.com/docking.html
Are the Russian ports APAS-95? If so, NASA has an existing design for the IDA, which can be attached to an APAS-95 port to turn it into an IDS port. The two US IDSS docks use IDAs. There are a number of major issues to resolve to actually use this approach, so it is probably infeasible.
Quote from: russianhalo117 on 12/14/2025 12:16 pmQuote from: DanClemmensen on 12/14/2025 05:45 amAre the Russian ports APAS-95? If so, NASA has an existing design for the IDA, which can be attached to an APAS-95 port to turn it into an IDS port. The two US IDSS docks use IDAs. There are a number of major issues to resolve to actually use this approach, so it is probably infeasible.https://www.russianspaceweb.com/docking.htmlThanks for that excellent link. However, that page is quite dense, and I cannot figure out from it exactly how the four current VV docks on the Russian segment are configured. It appears that they are NOT APAS-95, but what are they?
but what are they?
“should”
Quote from: Comga on 12/14/2025 04:13 am“should”We are speaking of ISS deorbit. The plan is to make (approximately) half of the deorbit burn with RS, and the other half with the SpaceX deorbit vehicle.
There are only 2 more CRS2 cargo Dragons on contract (CRS-34 & -35) which have reportedly been accelerated to May and August. Ahead of CRS-33, it was stated that CRS-33 was the only planned boost trunk. In addition, 1 of the 2 missions is supposed to carry the final set of iROSA arrays which I believe is on CRS-34. Given that, I don't think there will be another boost trunk in the near term. I'd say its more likely that Cygnus fulfills this need in the near-term and I think Starliner-1 would likely demo it as well since it was a planned capability.
Quote from: AndrewM on 12/31/2025 04:23 pmThere are only 2 more CRS2 cargo Dragons on contract (CRS-34 & -35) which have reportedly been accelerated to May and August. Ahead of CRS-33, it was stated that CRS-33 was the only planned boost trunk. In addition, 1 of the 2 missions is supposed to carry the final set of iROSA arrays which I believe is on CRS-34. Given that, I don't think there will be another boost trunk in the near term. I'd say its more likely that Cygnus fulfills this need in the near-term and I think Starliner-1 would likely demo it as well since it was a planned capability.How much boost can Starliner provide? While docked to Harmony Forward it's in the right place, and its thrusters are pointing in the right direction. Total available fuel is a question. The other question is sustained thruster endurance. CRS-33 just completed a 19-minute boost. Can Starliner thruster sustain a long boost? we know there were thermal issues on CFT and we know NASA and Boeing have made modifications, so this may be a really good way to test the results.
