https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/1072551776673501186
The FOMS Space Facility for Orbital Remote Manufacturing (SpaceFORM) experiment, supported by the ISS National Lab, NASA, the Small Business Innovation Research program, and private funding, is scheduled to launch on SpaceX CRS-17. SpaceFORM, which is covered by an issued U.S. patent, is capable of producing up to 50 km of optical fiber in a single flight.
Thorlabs in orbit: Space station hosts optical fiber experimentQuoteInside that 21-inch-by-18-inch-by-11-inch box is a self-contained factory using the near-weightlessness of space to pull high quality optic fiber from highly technical glass....As Saad talked about the project last week on the upper floors of Thorlabs' headquarters on Sparta Avenue, more than 250 miles higher still, astronauts were installing the third box in a series of four that make up this stage of experiments.The third box was delivered to the ISS on Dec. 8, aboard the SpaceX-16 mission and returns to Earth early next year when the docking vehicle leaves the station. A fourth box will be delivered aboard SpaceX-17, due to launch in March.Saad heads up the Thorlabs team that is working with a team from a California-based company, Made in Space, which is providing the mechanics of the glass-pulling "factory" in the box....The glass being used in the ISS experiments is made from a group of fluoride compounds.The difference between glass fiber made from silica and fiber drawn from fluoride is the wavelengths of light that can be transmitted along the fiber....Saad said the first two flights of the production box on ISS did not produce any fiber because of mechanical issues....The result was blobs of glass, rather than strings of glass.In this third box, the glass is pulled along and it's hoped strands of fiber will result. The box has three "pre-forms," specific size, shape and weight pieces of pure glass, which can be pulled into a total of 1.5 kilometers (0.93 miles) of optic fiber....
Inside that 21-inch-by-18-inch-by-11-inch box is a self-contained factory using the near-weightlessness of space to pull high quality optic fiber from highly technical glass....As Saad talked about the project last week on the upper floors of Thorlabs' headquarters on Sparta Avenue, more than 250 miles higher still, astronauts were installing the third box in a series of four that make up this stage of experiments.The third box was delivered to the ISS on Dec. 8, aboard the SpaceX-16 mission and returns to Earth early next year when the docking vehicle leaves the station. A fourth box will be delivered aboard SpaceX-17, due to launch in March.Saad heads up the Thorlabs team that is working with a team from a California-based company, Made in Space, which is providing the mechanics of the glass-pulling "factory" in the box....The glass being used in the ISS experiments is made from a group of fluoride compounds.The difference between glass fiber made from silica and fiber drawn from fluoride is the wavelengths of light that can be transmitted along the fiber....Saad said the first two flights of the production box on ISS did not produce any fiber because of mechanical issues....The result was blobs of glass, rather than strings of glass.In this third box, the glass is pulled along and it's hoped strands of fiber will result. The box has three "pre-forms," specific size, shape and weight pieces of pure glass, which can be pulled into a total of 1.5 kilometers (0.93 miles) of optic fiber....
Maybe three ZBLAN experiments will be on SpX-17 then...Quote from: gongora on 12/26/2018 07:07 pmThorlabs in orbit: Space station hosts optical fiber experimentQuoteInside that 21-inch-by-18-inch-by-11-inch box is a self-contained factory using the near-weightlessness of space to pull high quality optic fiber from highly technical glass....As Saad talked about the project last week on the upper floors of Thorlabs' headquarters on Sparta Avenue, more than 250 miles higher still, astronauts were installing the third box in a series of four that make up this stage of experiments.The third box was delivered to the ISS on Dec. 8, aboard the SpaceX-16 mission and returns to Earth early next year when the docking vehicle leaves the station. A fourth box will be delivered aboard SpaceX-17, due to launch in March.Saad heads up the Thorlabs team that is working with a team from a California-based company, Made in Space, which is providing the mechanics of the glass-pulling "factory" in the box....The glass being used in the ISS experiments is made from a group of fluoride compounds.The difference between glass fiber made from silica and fiber drawn from fluoride is the wavelengths of light that can be transmitted along the fiber....Saad said the first two flights of the production box on ISS did not produce any fiber because of mechanical issues....The result was blobs of glass, rather than strings of glass.In this third box, the glass is pulled along and it's hoped strands of fiber will result. The box has three "pre-forms," specific size, shape and weight pieces of pure glass, which can be pulled into a total of 1.5 kilometers (0.93 miles) of optic fiber....I'm not sure the 3-D printing thread is really the place for this stuff, I don't think any of them are 3-D printers. Do we have another thread for in-space manufacturing, or maybe the optical fiber experiments could use their own thread?
These promising results led to the development of POC’s Orbital Fiber Optic Production Module, which is scheduled for launch to the ISS on SpaceX’s Commercial Resupply Services (CRS)-17 mission in 2019.
https://ria.ru/20190115/1549361597.htmlGoogle translate:Quote"The launch of the Dragon cargo ship is scheduled for March 16," the agency’s source said.
"The launch of the Dragon cargo ship is scheduled for March 16," the agency’s source said.
New FCC filings:0023-EX-ST-2019 - CRS-17 Dragon Tracking (Starts 4/12/19)0026-EX-ST-2019 - Arabsat 6A Falcon Heavy Launch (Starts 3/7/19)0028-EX-ST-2019 - Arabsat 6A recovery filings for both landing zones and the droneship (Starts 3/7/19)
So I was looking at the updated list of available cores on Reddit and I realized I have no idea which core could be used for CRS-17. So far, NASA seemed to allow a reused booster only if it had just one LEO NASA mission under its belt. But all currently available boosters are either already assigned to other missions or have done 2+ launches.Some possibilities and thoughts:-There could be a new core heading to McGregor any day now since SpaceX hasn't produced a new core in the last 7 weeks or so (2 months to prepare the core for CRS-17 might be tight, though)-Maybe there already is a new core for CRS-17 somewhere but we somehow missed it (not very likely)-CRS-17 will use a booster that's already been used twice (B1048 flew on two LEO missions and has been moved to the Cape some time ago, so it could work)-CRS-17 will use the DM-1 booster (would require a fairly quick turnaround + it's risky with all the DM-1 delays)To me, B1048.3 seems like the most likely option. What do you think?
I'd guess it was probably meant to be 50.2, but no chance of that now. I'd say 51.2 is a strong possibility, since I think a ~2 month turnaround isn't outside of the realm of possibility (the record low turnaround time (72 days) was on CRS-15). Otherwise, it's probably going to be a new core. But could be a 3rd flight. That's really up to NASA.
How badly damaged is B1050?Is it retired, or will it undergo extensive maintenance for a potential reflight?
I've assumed that the impact from tipping over caused internal structural damage that wasn't visible from the outside. It cracked the interstage open like an egg, so I can imagine that kind of stress wasn't kind to the tankage. Also half of the engines were immersed in salt water for a couple of days.
