Author Topic: What's Happening at Bigelow? (Read 429278 times)

M_Puckett · « **Reply #500 on:** 02/18/2011 10:58 pm »

Quote from: simonbp on 02/10/2011 04:44 pm

Quote from: kevin-rf on 02/10/2011 02:35 pm
Sigh, in my opinion the RL-10 powered S-IV was the most awesome upper stage ever. Way better than the J-2 powered version. Sigh...

?

Saturn I Block II with S-I and S-IV: 9,000 kg to LEO
Saturn IB with S-I and S-IVB: 20,800 kg to LEO

With the same first stage, S-IVB more than doubled the performance of the Saturn I. The only aspect that S-IV has better was Isp (433s v. 421s), but it's minuscule thrust meant that it really couldn't take advantage of that. There's a reason the S-IV never launched more than placeholder payloads...

I wonder how that stage would have perfommed on a Saturn V where the staging altitude was much higher and the gravity losses much, much lower.

ugordan · « **Reply #501 on:** 02/19/2011 10:53 pm »

That question crossed my mind, too.

Robert Thompson · « **Reply #502 on:** 02/21/2011 08:29 pm »

Does the Bigelow plant in Las Vegas offer tours open to the public? From what I can find, their hospitality at this time follows the Magrathean model.

Orbital Debris · « **Reply #503 on:** 02/22/2011 11:11 pm »

Sorry, no tours available to the public at this time. Mr. Bigelow has, on occasion, allowed some tours to school children, and the press, as well as other VIP's.

simonbp · « **Reply #504 on:** 02/23/2011 05:30 pm »

Quote from: Hernalt on 02/21/2011 08:29 pm

Does the Bigelow plant in Las Vegas offer tours open to the public? From what I can find, their hospitality at this time follows the Magrathean model.

Please be assured the nuclear missiles currently flying your direction are a courtesy only extended to our most persistent customers. We thank you for your interest, and we hope for your custom in any future lives.

ChefPat · « **Reply #505 on:** 02/26/2011 03:41 am »

It's not really a Bielow Update but, it's a fun exercize in math.

Engineer in Progress

e of pi · « **Reply #506 on:** 02/26/2011 04:02 am »

Quote from: ChefPat on 02/26/2011 03:41 am

It's not really a Bielow Update but, it's a fun exercize in math.
Engineer in Progress

Hey, thanks! That's my blog! How'd you stumble over it?

Robert Thompson · « **Reply #507 on:** 02/26/2011 09:29 am »

Quote from: simonbp on 02/23/2011 05:30 pm

Quote from: Hernalt on 02/21/2011 08:29 pm
Does the Bigelow plant in Las Vegas offer tours open to the public? From what I can find, their hospitality at this time follows the Magrathean model.

Please be assured the nuclear missiles currently flying your direction are a courtesy only extended to our most persistent customers. We thank you for your interest, and we hope for your custom in any future lives.

With spring break coming up, a trip to Bigelow Las Vegas would have been the very best pilgrimage available. I'm not yet sold that the New Mexico Spaceport America is quite worth a pilgrimage, but that's what I'm left with.

Jason1701 · « **Reply #508 on:** 02/26/2011 11:15 am »

Quote from: Hernalt on 02/26/2011 09:29 am

Quote from: simonbp on 02/23/2011 05:30 pm
Quote from: Hernalt on 02/21/2011 08:29 pm
Does the Bigelow plant in Las Vegas offer tours open to the public? From what I can find, their hospitality at this time follows the Magrathean model.

Please be assured the nuclear missiles currently flying your direction are a courtesy only extended to our most persistent customers. We thank you for your interest, and we hope for your custom in any future lives.

With spring break coming up, a trip to Bigelow Las Vegas would have been the very best pilgrimage available. I'm not yet sold that the New Mexico Spaceport America is quite worth a pilgrimage, but that's what I'm left with.

The Spaceport is certainly not worth a pilgrimage before it's operational!

clongton · « **Reply #509 on:** 02/26/2011 11:26 am »

Quote from: Jason1701 on 02/26/2011 11:15 am

Quote from: Hernalt on 02/26/2011 09:29 am
Quote from: simonbp on 02/23/2011 05:30 pm
Quote from: Hernalt on 02/21/2011 08:29 pm
Does the Bigelow plant in Las Vegas offer tours open to the public? From what I can find, their hospitality at this time follows the Magrathean model.

Please be assured the nuclear missiles currently flying your direction are a courtesy only extended to our most persistent customers. We thank you for your interest, and we hope for your custom in any future lives.

With spring break coming up, a trip to Bigelow Las Vegas would have been the very best pilgrimage available. I'm not yet sold that the New Mexico Spaceport America is quite worth a pilgrimage, but that's what I'm left with.

The Spaceport is certainly not worth a pilgrimage before it's operational!

Having decades of design and construction experience in both the commercial and defense worlds, I respectfully disagree. Obviously a construction site that is only getting started would have little to show, but one that is well underway can be a real treat! There is SO much to see that the general public will *never* have any idea of once the site is open for business; especially when we are talking about sites that do not offer "ordinary" buildings. To see how they are put together before all the fixturing is removed and everything is covered with the facades is something to behold!

ChefPat · « **Reply #510 on:** 02/26/2011 02:41 pm »

Quote from: e of pi on 02/26/2011 04:02 am

Quote from: ChefPat on 02/26/2011 03:41 am
It's not really a Bielow Update but, it's a fun exercize in math.
Engineer in Progress
Hey, thanks! That's my blog! How'd you stumble over it?

I did a Google Image search for "Bigelow Aerospace" & it was one of the results that popped up.
Great Blog BTW.

e of pi · « **Reply #511 on:** 02/26/2011 05:30 pm »

Quote from: ChefPat on 02/26/2011 02:41 pm

Quote from: e of pi on 02/26/2011 04:02 am
Quote from: ChefPat on 02/26/2011 03:41 am
It's not really a Bielow Update but, it's a fun exercize in math.
Engineer in Progress
Hey, thanks! That's my blog! How'd you stumble over it?
I did a Google Image search for "Bigelow Aerospace" & it was one of the results that popped up.
Great Blog BTW.

Thank you for saying so. It's nice to know that at least one of the hits I get from Google Images actually stuck around to read the page. It's also somwhat terrifying to see the 140-hit bump in just the last 12 hours from your link.

If you find that interesting, might I suggest messing around with my Transhab Module Calculator? It's designed to allow the user to do first-level approximations of modules with various parameters (mass, length, diameter, ect...) and see the possibilities inflatable modules offer. I was working on it when I stumbled over the facts that lead to that post. Actually, I was looking at that module in-depth trying to get data to check my approximation formulas at the large end of the scale.

Robert Thompson · « **Reply #512 on:** 02/27/2011 02:14 am »

A month or so ago I got to your site from Google Images (and read it). You present some decent speculation that catches the entrepreneur in a frozen frame of 'making do'. I think capturing that moment is inspiring. There's a local woman that sells sandwich-like crepes out of a tiny trailer, and she doesn't hesitate to tell you she's 'out of this, will you take that?' on your sandwich. The show must go on.

This guy has some monster 3648 x 2736 shots of the Bigelow models at ISPCS 2010.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jedibfa/sets/72157625314521760/

SpacexULA · « **Reply #513 on:** 02/27/2011 02:56 am »

Quote from: Hernalt on 02/27/2011 02:14 am

A month or so ago I got to your site from Google Images (and read it). You present some decent speculation that catches the entrepreneur in a frozen frame of 'making do'. I think capturing that moment is inspiring. There's a local woman that sells sandwich-like crepes out of a tiny trailer, and she doesn't hesitate to tell you she's 'out of this, will you take that?' on your sandwich. The show must go on.

This guy has some monster 3648 x 2736 shots of the Bigelow models at ISPCS 2010.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jedibfa/sets/72157625314521760/

Wow, that link is amazing. It really gives you an idea of scale when you look at the laptop inside the ba-330

Malderi · « **Reply #514 on:** 02/27/2011 03:49 am »

For a better sense of scale, here's Lori Garver on a recent visit to Bigelow facilities...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nasahqphoto/5417051168/

e of pi · « **Reply #515 on:** 02/27/2011 04:07 am »

Quote from: Malderi on 02/27/2011 03:49 am

For a better sense of scale, here's Lori Garver on a recent visit to Bigelow facilities...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nasahqphoto/5417051168/

Do you know what module that's a mockup of? I think it's the BA 330, but it and Sundancer have the same diameter, so without knowing how much module is behind the camera, I didn't feel able to put my finger on it. Very spacious either way, I gotta say.

docmordrid · « **Reply #516 on:** 02/27/2011 04:37 am »

I got more from the sign behind Space Complex Bravo -

Four BA-330's for a total of 1,320 m3 - not counting nodes.

2 "large size" propulsion modules with nodes, hinting at a "small size" too? Different sizes for Sundancer and BA-330?

That would explain the apparent prop bus size disparity between the two Sundancer SC Alpha model shown and previous Alpha depictions which had two BA-330's.

Malderi · « **Reply #517 on:** 02/27/2011 05:11 am »

Quote from: e of pi on 02/27/2011 04:07 am

Quote from: Malderi on 02/27/2011 03:49 am
For a better sense of scale, here's Lori Garver on a recent visit to Bigelow facilities...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nasahqphoto/5417051168/

Do you know what module that's a mockup of? I think it's the BA 330, but it and Sundancer have the same diameter, so without knowing how much module is behind the camera, I didn't feel able to put my finger on it. Very spacious either way, I gotta say.

It's from the mockups presented in this picture:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nasahqphoto/5417056094/

So it's probably the BA-330 pictured, because you can see a significant portion of a cylindrical section.

MikeAtkinson · « **Reply #518 on:** 02/27/2011 06:06 am »

The sign on http://www.flickr.com/photos/jedibfa/5146872991/sizes/o/in/set-72157625314521760/ says

"Space Complex Alpha
-690 cubic meters of pressurized volume
-one BA330 module
-Two Sundancer module
-Standard size propulsion bus
-Crew Capsule
-Crew Capacity- 12"

docmordrid · « **Reply #519 on:** 02/27/2011 06:58 am »

So one sign says a "Standard" size bus and another says "Large" size bus. Makes sense when you think about it, with the next question being "how large?". Big enough and refuelable so as to serve as a tug? That would make sense if they plan on an EML-1 facility.

Wonder exactly what is in that Aerojet contract? Hmmmm....