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#40
by
woods170
on 20 Jun, 2013 06:37
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OK, so Jim is going to be right. No more SpaceX launches to the ISS in 2013. We've seen two slips now within the space of one month. CRS-3 is speedily headed for a launch somewhere in 2014.
You know you are gonna get burned at the stake for agreeing with Jim on that 
Heh! I've been burned at the stake a number of times over the years. And I disagree with Jim only about 98 percent of the time. That leaves a massive 2 percent that I actually agree with him. Should be enough...
About the delay: that's disappointing. But hey, my pet project (ERA on MLM) just got delayed an additional 4 months, so I guess I will just have to learn to live with the disappointments.
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#41
by
mlindner
on 20 Jun, 2013 07:25
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OK, so Jim is going to be right. No more SpaceX launches to the ISS in 2013. We've seen two slips now within the space of one month. CRS-3 is speedily headed for a launch somewhere in 2014.
Agreed. 
Wonder if the OMB is going to look now at the SpaceX contract and say they are over funding it, just like they did with Orbital?
The SpaceX contract is an interesting read.
Where are you reading this contract at?
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#42
by
edkyle99
on 20 Jun, 2013 16:42
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I thought the full upmass capability was not being used because Dragon was volume-limited?
The Falcon 9 v1.0 was most likely under performing.
I would not reach that conclusion from the available information. I'm not even sure that upmass capabilities for the v1.0 versions of Falcon and Dragon were ever published. The listed values always seemed linked to upgraded versions.
Since we don't have the in-house performance goal numbers, we have no way of knowing IF there was underperformance. IF there was underperformance, we have no way of knowing if it was due to the rocket or due to the spacecraft.
(I miss the old days, when NASA press kits (and even commercial launch company user guides) listed the weights of pretty much everything, fueled or not, loaded or unloaded.)
- Ed Kyle
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#43
by
Antares
on 20 Jun, 2013 17:08
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#44
by
baldusi
on 21 Jun, 2013 02:13
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I would tend to think that if F9 v1.0 was so performance limited NASA wouldn't have allowed them to carry a secondary on CRS-1.
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#45
by
Comga
on 11 Jul, 2013 15:54
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External cargo for CRS-3
It says that the launch is still "scheduled" before the end of the year.
NASA Press RELEASE 13-214
NASA's Opals to Beam Data From Space Via Laser
PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA will use the International Space Station to test a new communications technology that could dramatically improve spacecraft communications, enhance commercial missions and strengthen transmission of scientific data.
The Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science (OPALS), an optical technology demonstration experiment, could improve NASA's data rates for communications with future spacecraft by a factor of 10 to 100. OPALS has arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida from the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. It is scheduled to launch to the space station later this year aboard a SpaceX Dragon commercial resupply capsule on the company's Falcon 9 rocket.
...
"It's like aiming a laser pointer continuously for two minutes at a dot the diameter of a human hair from 30 feet away while you're walking," explained OPALS systems engineer Bogdan Oaida of JPL.
The OPALS instrument was built at JPL and is slated to fly on the Dragon capsule in late 2013. The mission is expected to run 90 days after installation on the station.
...
P.S. This level of precision of laser pointing was demonstrated in 1990.
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#46
by
mlindner
on 13 Jul, 2013 23:28
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P.S. This level of precision of laser pointing was demonstrated in 1990.
*sigh*
Things like this make me hope for the future with SpaceX and microsats + nanosats, NEED to have faster turnaround times for space technology research.
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#47
by
Robotbeat
on 16 Jul, 2013 18:02
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Sure, you could point a laser, but there's a pretty wide gap between TRL 1 and TRL 8 or 9 when it comes to implementing that in a practical communications system.
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#48
by
Jim
on 16 Jul, 2013 18:48
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Things like this make me hope for the future with SpaceX and microsats + nanosats, NEED to have faster turnaround times for space technology research.
They aren't going to help large space systems. Not everybody drives around in two seat cars.
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#49
by
Jim
on 16 Jul, 2013 18:48
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P.S. This level of precision of laser pointing was demonstrated in 1990.
where?
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#50
by
Space Pete
on 16 Jul, 2013 20:21
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P.S. This level of precision of laser pointing was demonstrated in 1990.
From a platform 400km above its target, traveling 17,500mph?
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#51
by
docmordrid
on 16 Jul, 2013 21:36
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P.S. This level of precision of laser pointing was demonstrated in 1990.
where?
IIRC the Relay Mirror Experiment. Ball Aerospace, DoD and others.
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#52
by
meekGee
on 16 Jul, 2013 23:58
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P.S. This level of precision of laser pointing was demonstrated in 1990.
where?
IIRC the Relay Mirror Experiment. Ball Aerospace, DoD and others.
Heard of this too.
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#53
by
Jim
on 17 Jul, 2013 00:03
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P.S. This level of precision of laser pointing was demonstrated in 1990.
where?
IIRC the Relay Mirror Experiment. Ball Aerospace, DoD and others.
That wasn't at the accuracy level
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#54
by
docmordrid
on 17 Jul, 2013 00:48
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It isn't a zero sum game. 23 years of ongoing development and optics advances, of which there have been many, can fix that.
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#55
by
jimvela
on 17 Jul, 2013 01:17
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P.S. This level of precision of laser pointing was demonstrated in 1990.
where?
IIRC the Relay Mirror Experiment. Ball Aerospace, DoD and others.
That wasn't at the accuracy level
We haven't stood still...
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#56
by
IRobot
on 17 Jul, 2013 06:47
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P.S. This level of precision of laser pointing was demonstrated in 1990.
From a platform 400km above its target, traveling 17,500mph?
Err.... that is actually quite simple even with amateur equipment. Just needs a very good telescope mount that can swing pretty fast. Costs less than $20k.
Check out Thierry Legault work. His mount can maintain the ISS centered for minutes (while crossing the sky).
http://www.astrophoto.fr/
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#57
by
Robotbeat
on 17 Jul, 2013 13:05
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...
...
"It's like aiming a laser pointer continuously for two minutes at a dot the diameter of a human hair from 30 feet away while you're walking," explained OPALS systems engineer Bogdan Oaida of JPL.
...
So, 10 microradians or 2 arcseconds?
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#58
by
Comga
on 17 Jul, 2013 14:30
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P.S. This level of precision of laser pointing was demonstrated in 1990.
where?
IIRC the Relay Mirror Experiment. Ball Aerospace, DoD and others.
That wasn't at the accuracy level
Whoa, whoa, people
That comment about laser pointing accuracy was a little off-topic note. The reason for the post was an on-topic discussion of the CRS-3 external payload.
And in this very unusual case, I can correct Jim. Docmordrid has noted the exact case I had in mind, RME, which was in an even lower and faster orbit than SpacePete's comparision to the ISS. It was definitely of that level of accuracy, although the exact level was classified.
But can we get back to CRS-3 now?
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#59
by
dragon44
on 17 Jul, 2013 16:08
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From a platform 400km above its target, traveling 17,500mph?
NFIRE did satellite-to-satellite and satellite-to-ground 5Gbps laser data transfers in the late 2000's.
"5.625 Gbps bidirectional laser communication at 1064 nm has been demonstrated on a repeatable basis between a Tesat coherent laser communication terminal with a 6.5 cm diameter ground aperture mounted inside the European Space Agency Optical Ground Station dome at Izana, Tenerife and a similar space based terminal (12.4 cm diameter aperture) on the Near Field Infrared Experiment low earth orbiting spacecraft. Both night and day bidirectional links were demonstrated with the longest being 177 seconds in duration. Correlation with atmospheric models and preliminary atmospheric r0 and scintillation measurements have been made for the conditions tested, suggesting that such coherent systems can be deployed successfully at still lower altitudes without resorting to the use of adaptive optics for compensation."
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/login.jsp?tp=&arnumber=5783708&url=http%3A%2F%2Fieeexplore.ieee.org%2Fxpls%2Fabs_all.jsp%3Farnumber%3D5783708
