/sci/ - Science & Math

Facehugger time.

"Alien life form. Looks like it's been dead a long time. Fossilized. Bones are bent outward, like he exploded from inside."

>>15769881
This reminds me of some movie

We're coming back in 2034

Titan radar image

>>15769866
RIP NASA
Those crushed lizards were unique, now they're going to need to fill out so much paperwork

How do they even do this? Luna can't even put a lander on the moon and here they are returning samples billions of miles away.

>>15769994
Who's Luna

>>15769967
Did they ever explain the enormous black and white angular object sitting on Titan's surface?

I love it so much when I play catch up by replying to a live thread I missed only to realize that it already staged
It may even be be my favorite thing, not sure

>>15770005
i see you like staging

>>15769963
Titan needs a dedicated orbiter immediately. The lander will provide huge data dumps but at a relatively microscopic scale compared to the whole moon. An orbiter would support the lander both by providing high resolution mapping of the globe and by acting as a data relay to enable the lander to fly to any location at any latitude on Titan, including the poles (where line of sight communication with Earth isn't achieveable).

>>15770018
Why would Superheavy keep firing those three Raptors after Starship has already separated? I understand running them while Starship is doing the hotstaging, but running them during the flip seems wasteful unless they flip the booster way faster than this animation shows.

>>15770024
I guess it's safer/easier to keep them running just in case they can't relight them for the flyback.

Why is NASA so crazy about asteroids all of a sudden
>DART
>OSIRIS-APEX
>PSYCHE

>>15770029
they’ve always been, especially when you throw in comets to this list
t. have been turboautistically following space flight since the early 2000s

>>15770029
Relatively low Delta V to get to them, if you're willing to go slow. And since everyone at NASA is on the Federal teat, they're fine with that.

>>15769866
Thanks OP. Nice work and nice digits

>>15770018
The booster would fuck off way faster than that last time someone factchecked that

https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=19293.0

>>15770029
>All of a sudden
Planetary defense got a big boost in the 90s and NASA realized that outside the meteorites and some Arecibo radar blasts very little was known about asteroids. DART was actually a compromise because people wanted to use SLS for an asteroid redirect mission (it was successfully argued down to a probe mission). An asteroid/NEO catalog mission never got funded (despite lobbying by the b612 foundation). Lucy and Psyche were actually competitors with a Venus mission -- once again Venus lost and for the cost of it NASA thought it could get two asteroid missions. That was before JPL screwed up and Psyche ended up costing NASA a second Venis mission

>>15770153
>DART was actually a compromise because people wanted to use SLS for an asteroid redirect mission
well I liked DART, but now I want to know what a 50 ton tungsten rod would have done to an asteroid

>>15770153
im starting to think space programs are a joke

>>15770163
That's apu

>>15770168

>>15770073
WE ARE GOING

>>15770002
Aliens haven't invented color tv yet

>>15770018
engine exhaust is not as destructive or dangerous as most people think. hot-staging will be fine.

Welcome to /sfg/

How tough are ya?

>>15770192
The call of the void but with me needing to stick my hand in the forbidden flame

>>15770002
The what?

>>15769866
what are the fish and wildlife implications of this

>>15770192
what a strange video to prove that with. I've personally witnessed amateur rockets eat their way through sheet metal launch pads. sure the staging ring built thicker, but it's still untested in that regard.

>>15770206
>”ASTEROID CHUD SAMPLES SMASHIN INTO THE GROUND ARE TURNING THE FR*AKING LIZARDS STRAIGHT!”

https://twitter.com/ChristianDebney/status/1706286711725330716

https://vimeo.com/837576224

https://twitter.com/m_tijn/status/1706027964381425808

https://twitter.com/3DDaniel1/status/1706047340568527155

>>15770024
To turn around quickly with gimbal and immediately do boostback.
The cgi is wrong

https://www.spacexstats.xyz/#launchhistory-per-year

>>15770246

>>15770249

>>15770252

>>15770246
Why is there a color for "Used Falcon 9" but it isn't used?

>>15770252
Not even gonna be close. 2035 and it will be the greatest achievement in spaceflight ever.
Objectively greater than Apollo 11 and people will say Elon scammer was late.

>>15770252
>>15770255
None of these are happening

>>15770259
yes, and then say it was obvious all along
people flip from "its impossible" to "its obvious" without missing a beat

>>15770261
t.FAA

>>15770192
Agree. Rocket exhaust can do very little against steel. For example all the rebar during the static fire survived, while the concrete was blown off.

>>15770019
why isn't line of sight communication with the poles possible? Anyway maybe Enceladus orbilander will be able to act as a relay for some time.

Last thread anons were talking about mass produced probe busses and some said there would need to be too many variants to make sense. I disagree.
You only need one bus variant, with a small catalog of "finishing" components. "Finishings" include things like RTG vs solar panels, incident heat management, the physical size of the solar arrays, science package, and so forth. The probe bus can be designed such that all of the finishings can be swapped at any time without doing any changes to the bus. The bus has all power management, computation, navigation and propulsion systems built in. All finishings are oversized for most applications, because mass autism is strictly prohibited. Yes your lunar orbiter will have an antenna that would allow kb/s data transfer out to Uranus, get over it.

>>15770137
All these giant concept rockets imply engines with insane chamber pressures to be as tall as they are while still being capable of lifting their own mass.

>>15770316
We're looking at about 600 bar for the Hypernova.

>>15770316
After on orbit refueling and construction is mastered, it is only a matter of time before in-flight refueling and construction becomes the norm

Bejings local government fostering commercial space activities, Space Force takes control of an old weather satellite
----
https://spacenews.com/beijing-to-foster-commercial-space-and-satellite-constellations-as-key-future-industries/
> Beijing to foster commercial space and satellite constellations as key future industries
> HELSINKI — Beijing’s municipal government intends to support commercial aerospace and satellite constellations and applications in a plan to promote industries of the future.
> The commercial space plan calls for the acceleration of the development and production of medium and large commercial rockets, 3D printed rockets, high-thrust, reusable full-flow staged combustion cycle rocket engines, and recoverable commercial payload spacecraft.
> Landspace, iSpace, Galactic Energy, Deep Blue Aerospace and Space Pioneer are a number of the leading commercial launch startups with headquarters or other facilities in the city. GalaxySpace, Minospace, Smart Satellite and HEAD Aerospace are among the satellite-focused commercial companies, variously engaged in satellite communications, small satellite manufacturing, synthetic aperture radar and other remote sensing satellites.
>China’s commercial launch companies are experiencing a breakthrough year in 2023, following the opening of portions of the space sector to private capital in 2014. CAS Space,Galactic Energy, iSpace, Expace, Space Pioneer and Landspace have all reached orbit so far in 2023.
> These include first commercial liquid propellant launch successes, achieved by Space Pioneer and Landspace. GalaxySpace meanwhile launched its first stackable, flat-panel communications satellite in July.
---
https://spacenews.com/space-force-gets-another-weather-satellite-from-noaa/
> Space Force gets another weather satellite from NOAA

>>15770312
oh yeah something like trims for car manufacturers
most of the car is the same components and thus gets benefits from scale and mass manufacturing

>>15770312
the counterargument would be that for different missions the requirements would be so different that you might as well build a different spacecraft.

>>15770207
With direct impingement, sure. At no point will any Raptor engine plumes directly impinge any steel, though. The water cooled plate puts water between the steel and the exhaust, and the launch table will only see impingement from dispersed and air-mixed exhaust gasses as the vehicle climbs and the width of the exhaust column at the height of the launch table expands. In the latter case, that effect caused no erosion during Saturn V launches and will cause no erosion during Starship launches.

>>15770325
for example?
just put largely the same suit of sensors and then maybe add some custom ones if you actually need them, but design them to fit the cheap, mass manufactured probe bus

>>15770312
it's funny because space companies already subconsciously get this. this is just rockets. maybe your payload needs an extended fairing or additional strap on boosters, but we're not designing a brand new rocket for your probe.

>>15770320
>Space Force gets another weather satellite from NOAA
does this run afoul of international treaties?

>>15770245
makes some more sense

>>15770246
Falcon had a failure this year?? what?

>>15770334
They must be counting IFT-1

>>15770328
there would be significant differences between a Jupiter and Saturn craft.For example the Saturn craft would need a mmrtg while Jupiter craft not. The thermal conditions would be different as well. The instruments might have to be different depending on what you want to look at.

OSIRIS continues on to another satellite, China launched its third human spaceflight mission on this day 15 years ago
----
https://www.space.com/osiris-rex-next-step-visit-asteroid-apophis
> After NASA's epic OSIRIS-REx capsule landing success, spacecraft heads to asteroid Apophis on new mission
> This second asteroid quest will see the OSIRIS-APEX spacecraft (as it's now known) sidle up to an infamous near-Earth object.
> The NASA probe that delivered precious samples of the space rock Bennu to Earth is now on an extended voyage to study an infamous near Earth asteroid.
> Bennu is a carbon-rich, B-type asteroid, but Apophis is an S-type, or "stony" asteroid composed mainly of silicate and nickel iron. These relics of that primordial era are common in the inner solar system and could yield untold secrets of the origins of the planets and the processes that led to their formation.
----
https://www.space.com/39251-on-this-day-in-space.html
> On This Day In Space: Sept. 25, 2008: China launches its 3rd human spaceflight mission
> On Sept. 25, 2008, China's space program launched its third human spaceflight mission, Shenzhou 7.
> They spent three days in orbit and conducted the first ever spacewalk for the Chinese space program.

>>15770316
True. Many don't appreciate the basic scaling law of propellant mass vs engine attach area

>>15770305
It's too shallow of an angle. Titan's atmosphere is like 1000 km tall and is more than twice as dense as Earth's at sea level, it gets in the way and prevents communication unless Earth is like 30 degrees above the horizon or something, idk. If there's a communications window at all, it would be during the peak of summer at the north pole on Titan, and would only last a short time.

The Enceladus Orbilander would spend a year and a half orbiting Enceladus and sampling its water plumes, which stretch into space, before landing on the surface for a two-year mission to study materials for evidence of life. The mission, with an estimated cost of $4.9 billion, could launch in the late 2030s on a Space Launch System or Falcon Heavy with a landing in the early 2050s

>>15769866
Day after day the sciencegolems are performing the most retarded mental gymnastics whenever a new delay, blunder, or rocket launch postponement is announced. You eat right up as if it was hot cum. This has been going on for years now, decades really if you account for the boomers and gen x golems who were sold these space dreams in the 70's and 80's. Those idiots too believed they would be jetting through the galaxy at any moment now in their own personal spaceshit with their robowaifus meeting all kinds of exotic aliens along the way. They too were sure it would happen in their lifetime. Many of those losers are still alive today and the only thing they got was CGI and studio props like the Star Wars franchise and Star Trek.

The reality is it's just bread and circuses to keep you golems waging for a science fiction future that doesn't exist because the earth is flat and stationary.

>>15770349
>estimated cost of $4.9 billion
>on a Space Launch System
so a $900 million mission? not too pricey

>>15770199
I looked at Krystal porn and didn't fap

>>15770319
In-orbit refueling won't let you build rockets 3x as tall as Starship. The math is pretty simple, if you wanted a methalox rocket 3x the height of Starship it needs to either flare at the base to 3x the tank diameter to pack in enough engines, or each engine needs to have 3x the thrust, meaning 3x the chamber pressure unless you're greatly sacrificing Isp. Switching to hydrolox at the same chamber pressure as Raptor would allow a much taller rocket, but still not THAT tall, and besides, good fucking luck getting a hydrolox engine that runs at multiple hundreds of bar of pressure to work.

>>15770325
In the concept I'm talking about, everything that would need to be different for different destinations is swappable, while everything that can be the same every time, is the same every time. Startrackers are the same across the board, as are thrusters, reaction wheels, batteries, electric heaters, etc. Power supply is swappable because the power management system is universal: whatever makes the power, it gets handled by an identical power supply block which keeps the batteries charged & systems running.

>>15770199
I used to watch ISS webcasts before SpaceX was on anyone's radar.

For me, it's the deep space communication relay starship variant. These general purpose starships will be RTG-powered signal re-emitters, chucked into various orbits and lagrange points in the solar system. Plenty of room onboard for scientists and glowies to plug their shit in too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv8C9x_Mbt8

>>15770373
>RTG-powered
certainly not

>>15770330
exactly.
>>15770337
that would be retarded, so you're probably correct
>>15770338
Jupiter's probe is identical to Saturn's except it has the XL solar array module while Saturn's has the Am-241 RTG module. Both spacecraft use the same internal electronics heater but Saturn's probe runs its heater an increased fraction of the time due to being further from the Sun.
Meanwhile the Venus probe is identical to the first two except it uses the M sized solar array and has the passive cooling package installed (wraparound reflective insulation with a high emissivity passive radiator on one side).
The Mercurcy probe on the other hand is identical except for including both the active cooling package (everything in the passive package plus a small heat pump to increase the radiator efficiency) and the SEP module (a bolt-on krypton ion thruster with propellant tank and associated electronics). The SEP mpdule is tied into the passive & active cooling systems too.
Hopefully this illustrates the concept better.

>>15770378

>>15770349
Or it could launch on Starship with a big kick stage in 2030 and arrive at Saturn in 2036.

>>15770381

>>15770373
You'd only ever use RTG beyong Jupiter's orbit. Even at Jupiter you get more watts/kg with solar than RTG, and while nobody's gonna let you launch dosens of tonnes of highly radioactive material at once, they won't care at all about launching dozens of tonnes of solar panels.
Also there's no reason to waste entire Starships on this. Just use Starship to launch and to throw the relays at their targets, then reuse them. A fully fueled Starship can send 150 tonnes direct to Jupiter after all, plenty of mass margin for a beefy satellite propulsion system for braking into orbit and stationkeeping for a couple decades.

>>15770387

>>15770401

>>15770402

>>15770404

>>15770404
SeX is burning through cash

>>15770405

>>15770406
Someone at SpaceX understands that debt today costs less than saving money and spending it in the future, after inflation.

When is this two more weeks period going to end?
I just want to see more cool spaceship flips and acrobatics, and the beetles do too, I asked them.

>>15770444
135 days

>>15770451
that can be extended if the FAA and FWS see fit to do so and if the government shuts down thats like 2 weeks more possibly

https://twitter.com/NatReconOfc/status/1706339165711827452

>>15770019
every major solar system body needs a dedicated orbiter. HiRISE and LROC have spoiled m- i mean set the mapping standard we must reach.

>>15770465
I guess building 3 identical telescopes and sending them to 3 different targets can't be that difficult

>>15770460
That's a big fukken dish

>>15770029
>Why is NASA so crazy about asteroids all of a sudden
>sudden

Before the Trump admin gave it a purpose SLS was going to be used for a manned NEO asteroid mission.

The #countdowntovulcan campaign began months ago.
Where are we now?

>>15770319
Kek

>>15770506
classic example of a guy who gets all his aerospace information from forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com

>>15770460
ANT PENISES THRU A MILE OF CONCRETE

>>15770510
I think hes joking muhnigga

>>15770465
>>15770470
Optical imaging on Titan is hard because of the haze. It can really only work in the near/mid infrared, beyond the range of LROC or HIRISE. There the resolution is worse and the sun is fainter, it's fainter again because of the distance. It's an example of why building identical instruments isnt always a good idea.

>>15770518
but you can still take pictures of the other moons and the rings and Saturn

>>15770518
just build a number of different imagining systems into each probe, you still get useful data and more importantly, you get the benefits of mass manufacturing
you don't seem to understand how important scale is for cost purposes

>>15770503
Waiting for them to fix the Centaur upper stages after the anomaly

>>15770545
But that increases the bloat, and the bandwidth needed. Extra payload is extra fuel and the bus gets more expensive. There is no point sending an expensive infrared instrument to Mars, because it's actually needed for Titan.
>you don't seem to understand how important scale is for cost purposes
You don't save costs by building redundant hardware. Building 10 imagers is cheaper than 10 times the cost of building one. But 10 still costs more than 9.

>>15770532
But the objective was to map Titan.

>>15770545
Just make it modular enough to swap out different instrument packages

>>15770192
how close to that exhaust jet could you get without being sucked into it?

>>15770625
why would exhaust jets such in

>>15770637
because it entrains air next to it and drags along adjacent air.

>>15770465
yes, and I say that while fully understanding the technical challenges.

>>15770558
High resolution infrared imaging of Mars would provide valuable data, actually. In fact that's true of every object.
To map Titan from orbit you'd want to look at the IR wavelengths plus use that radar mapping tech that lets you see features as small as houses.

>>15770576
This is correct. You already have a universal bus which provides X amount of power. Build a universal IR instrument and plop it onto the bus for whatever probes you want to put IR vision onto.

>>15770637
venturi effect

>>15770672
When are we gonna get some proper fackin off roaders on other celestial bodies?

>>15770642
so it would push adjacent objects laterally not in

>>15770669
Can't wait for Europa Clipper's infrared imager to reveal Europa's secrets

>To map Titan from orbit you'd want to look at the IR wavelengths plus use that radar mapping tech that lets you see features as small as houses.
What Cassini did

>>15770694
It does both.

>>15770697
Why?

>>15770363
>and out of all of them, the only rocket to successfully deliver anything to orbit at a lower price per kilogram than Falcon 1 is fucking Rocket 3
This actually somewhat vindicates Astra. They just fucked up with that upper stage design flaw.

>>15770153
REEEEEEE I WANT MY VENUS MISSIONS

Whats been happening since the FWS said they could take 135 days to complete? Ive been going through exam week so havent had time to check anything

>>15770669
>High resolution infrared imaging of Mars would provide valuable data, actually.
No one is denying that, but it's mass and it's power and it's data, and that was just one example. It is extra cost. If you treat the all the instruments on a flagship in the same way then a mission gets bloated before it even begins. There are many situations which require niche solutions. Instruments need to be driven by scientific requirements.

>>15770702
Venturi effect

>>15770696
Cassini had radar from the 90s. Our current radar mapping tech level is much more advanced, provides higher resolution data.

>>15770751
elaborate

>>15770762
actually it's quite simple

Get

>>15770710
Nothing, come back in 2 weeks

Deep Space Transport LLC

https://x.com/vickicocks15/status/1706398001260851210
Not sure if this got posted but here it is. Its the FCC license not FAA or FWS so still no launch

>>15770708
Rocket 3 having better cost/kg payload was more than overshadowed by the abysmal success rate, but you knew that.
Also yeah Venus is a shitty colonization target but come on it's RIGHT THERE man, put some fucking probes in that atmosphere. Not shitty two hour lifetime probes either, I'm talking about a Cassini class probe except it's floating at a range of altitudes in the Venusian sky for a decade instead of just orbiting. Oh, and put a few microphones on it too, both for scientific data (thunder and active volcanoes are both loud & currently unconfirmed on Venus) and for public outreach (comfy breeze ambiance nice).

>Shuttle delays killed Skylab
I will never forgive NASA

>>15770790
it's over

>>15770790
It doesn't mean much of anything. Other than someone expects SpaceX to continue Starship program next year too, which is not news.

>>15770790
Holy shit that's bad

>>15770723
>mass
Already not a problem due to Falcon Heavy & even less of a problem for future launch vehicle tech. Mass is only an issue if yoy are trying to minimize it as much as possible rather than minimizing it as much as is convenient, ie use aluminum rather than steel, but use basic construction rather than isogrid autism. A Mars orbiter upper mass limit today is over 14,000kg.
>power
With the mass limit set so high, you can afford to budget tens of kilowatts of solar array area if you need it. Furthermore, all probes already run at least a few of their experiments only part of the time, to allow their usually small power supplies to recharge their battery banks. Power is not a serious issue for orbiters given current mass constraints.
>data
High mass and power budgets allow for bigger antenna and better bitrates. Besides, look how much data Galileo gave us even with its hamstrung bitrate.

The three items above are complaints from the perspective of trying to build the minimum amount of margin into every payload, which itself is a holdover from when space launch was very mass limited and launch rate/reliability limited. This paradigm no longer exists. What you describe as bloat isn't actually a problem or even a negative aspect of this strategy. It's modularity and high margin probe design, which is good in every way.

And yes, probes will still require custom hardware, especially for more complex missions and scientific experiments. That's no reason to argue we should basically restart from scratch with every probe like we currently do.

>>15770762
Read about how the venturi effect works, it's simple and easy to understand and boils down to "the fast moving jet of air entrains the air around it to move with the jet".

>>15770786
fuck that

>don't lie to me
anybody else suspicious of the capsule design?
they just had to make the capsule look like a flying saucer?
if your priority is preservation, would there be time or energy for aesthetics? the point of this exercise is not to expose the payload to earth's own environment.. but it's also a flying saucer? really?
what else is wrong with this fucking thing? how does that fucking orange dot maintain it's color after re-entry? I don't like it

>>15770792
Hey at least we got 13 dead astronauts and a dead schoolteacher out of the deal

>>15770840

>>15770833
>the fast moving jet of air entrains the air around it to move with the jet
this is not the venturi effect

>>15770846
device was pulled approx a foot to our left, their right for a photo-op.. you can see the piled ground there.. looks about a match to the angle

>>15770840
A sphere-cone reentry body is passively stable and well understood. There's nothing about that capsule designed for aesthetics, if it looks good to you that's your problem. Also, as respectfully as I can say this, it looks nothing like a flying saucer you dipshit.

>>15770846
that's just what capsules look like. I don't know what to tell you.

>>15770840
>>15770846
I've seen this episode...

>>15770840
reentry capsules generally have that shape anon

>>15770847
so you DO know the venturi effect? or are you some third person who should avoid messing with other people's conversation

>>15770840
stop trolling in /sfg/ asshole

>>15770849
Or, it skidded due to the parachute.

>>15770859
the exhaust flow is more or less atmospheric pressure and this has nothing to do with some venturi effect

>>15770845
I was rolling for a cooked muppet

does nasa get their caulking from home depot too?
heard they have the best prices

>>15770877
I WILL give (you)s to the flat Earther

>>15769866
What could convince you to leave Earth and live and work on a moon base?

>>15770878
if earth is so flat where to the flying saucers come from? checkmate

>>15770840
reentry optimization dictates a bell/apollo/orion shape is good idk the exact terminology for that shape

>>15770886
no it dictates a shuttle shape

>>15770881
more a question of what couldn't convince me

>>15770558
you would want most instruments for most locations anyway, just send the default probe, maybe have one for inner systems and one for outer systems but thats it

>>15770881
someone promising to look after my dog

>>15770723
that specialization is what gets you 10 bil per mission and one mission per decade
extra mass is irrelevant, extra cost is neglible if you mass produce these things to drive cost down

>>15770840
Obvious flerfcel

SO ANYWAY
Looking further into Am-241 as RTG fuel and these are the stats:
>over 400 year half life
>second-least amount of associated penetrating radiation produced through decay (only Pu-238 is better)
>very common product of nuclear reactors, essentially all nuclear waste has boatloads of it
>preexisting industry for handling mass amounts of Am-241, it's used in smoke detectors
>approximately 1/5th as power dense per gram vs Pu-238, so you need 5x as much for a given power output
>Am-241 is FISSILE, unlike Pu-238. This means your RTG can ramp up its heat output if you fire a neutron gun at it, for the cost of increased penetrating radiation. Possibility of decay heat powering a sleep-mode probe until arrival, where it can increase its power supply several times over during the active mission phase?

Overall I think developing Am-241 RTG technology should be a major priority at NASA, especially given the potential for fission boosted RTG performance. This could lead to an ideal solution for melt probes sent to the icy outer solar system moons, for example. Enough heat and power to run everything right up until deploymemt on the surface, at which point fission is stimulated in the fuel elements thus ramping up the heat output and allowing the probe to penetrate the deeply subcooled water ice crust.
I also think the only reason this tech hasn't already been developed and implemented is due to mass autism, because of that 5x radioisotope fuel mass requirement.

>>15770877
Not caulking, that's just the edge of the PICA panels.
>>15770881
If someone offered it to me I would pay $30,000 out of my pocket right now to go work as a broom pusher on the Moon for a year.

so this thing just fell from outer space wrapped in plastic or what? one guy just casually picked it up while the other 2 slid the plastic under it? seems kinda heavy.. are we absolutely sure, that this thing wasn't wrapped in it's amazon china packing, and just rolled out to us? where it was unpacked at the military base, the one that restricts access.. and then had its picture taken?

>>15770886
the shape is a sphere-cone.

>>15770895
Yes. At the very least start with a shotgun approach of nearly identical prpbes to do all the target-ambiguous stuff like radar, IR, and visual mapping, magnetic field environment surveying, gravitational measurements, etc. Establish a very strong baseline of understanding before immediately diving into hyper specific research projects.

>>15770917
>sticky situation
why is the tape already attached?
photog too fast for the actor?

>>15770917
It's a space capsule, it's very light. I lifted a solid rock bigger than that thing out of a hole, yesterday, by myself, cuz I was digging a road through some woods I bought.

Mods please come give this man a vacation

>>15770930
at least it's spaceflight related schizophrenia

>>15770908
Apparently the MMRTG NASA uses only has 4kg ofPu-238 in it, so basically an Am-241 RTG of the same power output would only need to contain 20kg of fuel, which is basically nothing. Also the fuel thermal output drops 5x slower over time, so it's actually a way better power supply. Wtf we should have switched to this stuff immediately once knew we had a Pu-238 shortage.

>>15770937
I just have a very small tolerance for stupid bullshit

https://twitter.com/SciGuySpace/status/1706401128772932017

HOT OFF THE PRESS


BLORGIN CEO IS BEING REPLACED. RIP BOB SMITH

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrkySbrJbG4

>>15770951
STEP
BY
FEROCIOUS
STEP

>>15770951
Rip bozo but this is literally like a decade too late. New Shep should have been axed the SECOND Bezos took his carnival ride (really the only reason it existed in the first place) and New Glenn’s is way too far into its shitty design with oldspace oversight

Smith was a parasite that arguably set the company back 20 years lmfao

>>15770908
>>15770947
NASA is switching to real reactors anyway. Look up kilopower

>>15770951
>>>/fa/17815990

Is lunar gateway happening?

>>15770951
Considering he was universally reviled by Blue employees, this sounds like the right move. Surprised it took so long, though. I get that Bezos is less hands-on than Musk, but you'd think he'd care a bit more about his investment.

>>15770917

>>15770951
Replaced by Amazon exec that was in charge of the Kuiper terminals.

>>15770951
does BO have hope?
Just pick someone competent please Jeff I beg you, not some oldspace retard

>>15770951
Who?

>>15770973
yes. it's too big to fail

>>15770967
>kilopower
anon, I . . .

>>15770988
Jeff picked a financing guru for an equity company turned into Amazon Devices exec Dave Limp, so he's going from Amazon Kindle/Fire/Alexa and Kuiper dishes to running the rocket company that has to launch Kuiper sats.
Not going to make predictions on how he will do at BO but my contacts at Amazon were celebrating Dave's departure from Amazon because Devices got gutted under his tenure and assumed he got fired for the division's poor performance. Apparently not so.

>>15770973
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pme6SrG_-ZA

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Gateway

> For supporting the first crewed mission to the station (Artemis 3) planned for 2025, the Gateway will be a minimalistic mini-space station composed of only two modules: the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) and the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO).[41][42] Both PPE and HALO will be assembled on Earth and launched together on a Falcon Heavy in November 2024,

so the initial pieces will be HALO and PPE, Northrop Grumman is building HALO and Maxar is building PPE

https://www.spaceflightinsider.com/missions/artemis-program/lunar-gateway-halo-module-taking-shape-in-italy/

They have been welding HALO together in Italy or something, but not sure about the status, tried to google a bit, but I don't see why not

>>15771012
https://www.nasa.gov/gateway/overview

suppose the local trafficopter wasn't busy that day.. he could have just wrote "air america" across the tail and been done with it

>>15771014

this new ceo was in charge of Zoox
it's literally all ogre for BO

>>15770967
>>15771005
Kilopower ended in 2018 but NASA still has plans to do a 40 kWe reactor "in the late 2020s"
That said, a reactor isn't very well suited for the very long term orbiter probe missions we want to do because of the penetrating radiation dose rates reactors give off. This is fine on a planet or moon because you can put the ground between you and the reactor, but in orbit your only options are a lot of shielding mass or a long boom arm to put it far away from the electronics. RTGs are better for those missions I mentioned where high power isn't that beneficial but the much lower penetrating radiation dose rate is highly desireable.

>>15771014
tiny asf, still better than any launched space station to date for not being in LEO

>>15771011
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/25/blue-origin-ceo-bob-smith-out-replaced-by-outgoing-amazon-exec-dave-limp.html
> Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin to replace CEO Bob Smith with outgoing Amazon exec Dave Limp
> Smith is retiring effective Dec. 4 and will remain with the company until Jan. 2 for the CEO transition, according to notes to Blue Origin staff written by Smith and Bezos that were obtained by CNBC.
> In a statement to CNBC, a Blue Origin spokesperson praised Limp as “a proven innovator with a customer-first mindset” who has “extensive experience in the high-tech industry and growing highly complex organizations.”
> Additionally, Limp and Bezos worked closely together when the Amazon founder was still CEO. Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant and Echo smart speakers were pet projects of Bezos’, and Limp steered both of the high-profile launches.


Limp on the right

>>15771026
> Read Bezos’ message to Blue Origin employees on Monday:

>>15771029
> Read Smith’s message to Blue Origin employees:

>>15770163
>>15770170
Stupid frogposter

>>15771026
>Bob Smith replaced with Limp

Yeah, there's gonna be a few memes squeezed out of this

>>15771016
Is that "logistics module" a Dragon XL?

>>15771035

what's up with this mask on mask off shit?
this guy has a fucking mask on
the guys in the sand did not
surely they would have some kind of protocol about this?

>>15771022
man fuck neutrons, when are we going to get an efficient neutron reflective material?

>>15771043
>no masks

>>15771043
the first two people on scene had equipment to check for dangerous gasses. they cleared it, so the rest of the team didn't need it

>>15771035
>>15771041
Both of you are stupid.

>>15770312
Nah Bro, you need one type of antenna for communication inside a planet's system (moon to moon or planet to orbit) and one antenna for interplanetary communications

>>15770951
>>15771026
>>15771034
>be ceo of space company for 6 years
>put nothing in orbit
>retire

total oldspace death

Sierra Spaces raises money, Space Force awards Astroscale contract for on-orbit refueling vehicle
----
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/25/sierra-space-fundraising-nearly-300-million-at-5-billion-valuation.html
> Sierra Space raising nearly $300 million from Japanese consortium at $5 billion valuation
> Sierra Space, the subsidiary of private aerospace contractor Sierra Nevada Corporation, is finalizing a raise of nearly $300 million, CNBC has learned.
> The fresh funds come as Sierra Space focuses on getting its Dream Chaser spaceplane flying.
---
https://spacenews.com/u-s-space-force-and-astroscale-to-co-invest-in-a-refueling-satellite/
> U.S. Space Force and Astroscale to co-invest in a refueling satellite
> The Space Force awarded Astroscale U.S. a $25.5 million contract for an on-orbit refueling vehicle. The company will fund an additional $12 million for the project
> Bulson said the Space Force has not yet settled on a particular standard for refueling ports as the industry is still sorting that out. “We’d like to keep options open as long as possible so we have competition,” she said. “We feel it’s early enough in the market to go ahead and try to prove concepts out.”

UAE to fund Emirati geo-comsats, Italian SSTO startup gets seed funding
---
https://spacenews.com/uaes-5-billion-commitment-opens-doors-for-yahsat/
> UAE’s $5 billion commitment opens doors for Yahsat
> TAMPA, Fla. — Yahsat is considering expanding into new satellite markets after the UAE government made a $5.1 billion pledge to buy broadband services from the Emirati fleet operator until at least 2043.
---
https://europeanspaceflight.com/italian-launch-startup-sidereus-space-raises-e5-1m-in-seed-funding/
> Italian Launch Startup Sidereus Space Raises €5.1M in Seed+ Funding
> Sidereus Space is developing EOS, a single-stage-to-orbit rocket that the company touts as “the personal computer of launch vehicles.” The 3.5-metre tall vehicle is designed to be capable of deploying 13-kilogram payloads into low Earth orbit before returning to Earth and touching down under a parafoil, all with minimal launch infrastructure.

>>15771071
they built a lot of facilities and hired a fuckload of people
I wonder how many Limp is going to axe

>>15770985
didn't how Elon replaced the raptor execs with the guy that ran Starlink

>>15771080
>SSTO startup

>>15771016
How many windows?

>>15771029
>One penny pincher to replace the old penny pincher
So, still not planning on getting to orbit in my lifetime are you, Jeff?

>>15771022
They have no supply issues and have higher power to weight ratio, so I do think we will see them on mission even if that means a 15 meter carbon boom, booms that length aren't unheard of

>>15771064
uhh the same antenna can work for both?

>>15771076
thank you for posting these articles

>>15769866
>stupidest thread on /sci/ everyday

>>15771082
The guy with dreads? Graduated MIT 2015, went into entry level graduate propulsion components engineer position with SpaceX in 2015 and now VP of Raptor development as of 2022. Never touched Starlink based on his Linkedin. Dude went from low-level components engineer to lead engineer in 2 years. Goddamn.

>>15770024
Animation is all you'll ever see, the government is never going to permit Starship to launch, it would be to much of an embarrassment for NASA, Boeing, Lockheed & Northrup to allow SpaceX to launch a more capable vehicle for 4% the cost of SLS

>>15771113
>Dude went from low-level components engineer to lead engineer in 2 years. Goddamn.
As someone who's recently joined the workforce I'd like to know how he did that? Any guesses? Is it possible to find his graduation thesis ?

>>15770460
>making a trailer for a spysat
lmao

>>15771113
When CNBC reported that the SpaceX VP of Propulsion got fired and replaced by someone that's been with the company for 6 years, they didn't mention that someone had 6 years of experience total in the aerospace sector.

>>15771121
Also, what that some big ion engine at the end of the video?

>>15770175
>2039
Exceedingly lame and gay. I want it now. I'm not getting any younger dammit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQi-CN8Vn1w

hullo vid

>>15771113
https://web.mit.edu/sloan-auto-lab/people/JacobMcKenzie.html

He graduated in 2012?

>>15771120
Characterization of combustion knocking in turbocharged internal combustion engines.
I reckon he just has a very good head on his shoulders.

>>15771139
2015. He spent another 3 years doing automotive combustion engine research

>Graduate Student Researcher
>Sloan Automotive Laboratory - MIT
>Dec 2012 - Jun 2015 · 2 yrs 7 mos

>Graduate Student Researcher
>Biomimetic Robotics Laboratory - MIT
>Aug 2009 - Dec 2012 · 3 yrs 5 mos

new exciting nasa video posted https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bwcSTwfZ-c

>>15771120
Office politics. In some companies VPs are scapegoats, jettisoned when needed. As a two-year FNG getting the job it is pretty clear what his peers thought of the position.

>>15771113
>>15771122
BASED hahahaha

>>15771020
>Zoox
LMAOOO

https://twitter.com/SawyerMerritt/status/1706399133391605982

>>15771163
What does Hungary even do these days that warrants a visit to Tesla

>>15771049
Define "efficient".

>>15771171
If I remember correctly, they're sending a Hungarian to space, via Axiom.

>>15771171
Hungary has some sorts of repopulation effort going on. Musk went there to fuck.

>>15771181
They went to him.

>>15771181
Hi where are pakrika boobies

4 years ago, today

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1706439958972498420

>>15770791
Also as a test routine for the microphone there should be a speaker to play the Star Spangled Banner as the first music on another world.

>>15771204
Concerning

M10 was fired again
https://twitter.com/Avio_Group/status/1705160007862649336

>>15771181
>>15771192

lmao you were right

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1706440509974065336

>>15771209
I honestly can't tell if this is a joke

>>15771208
They're running, not walking away from the upper stage that failed

>>15771214
its an existential problem

>>15771214
Nah, it's a developed country problem
The millennials just aren't having kids

>>15771209
the fuck?

>>15771218
Cost of living has skyrocketed.
Everyone “investigating” the phenomenon of western population collapse are rich people who couldn’t even tell you how much a carton of eggs and loaf of bread cost. They have good intentions but they can’t see the obvious problem right in front of them.

>>15771222
this has been repeatedly proven wrong in countries with extremely generous social welfare programs begging for people to have children and they still won't do it
it's an ugly leftist lie made by walking backwards from every social problem into blaming capitalism
it's porn and it's women in the workforce

>>15771228
>it's porn and it's women in the workforce
what about estrogenic poison in the food and climate ideology?

>>15771228
People aren't going to feel comfortable settling down until they feel like they can afford a house of their own and have a stable career. Young people don't have stable careers and can't come close to affording their own homes.

>>15771228
no fault divorce, women getting custody automatically, having to give 50% of your wealth after divorce, alimony being related to some standard of living instead of actually what the kids needs to live, online dating and the corrosive effects of that on dating (women getting an inflated idea of their sexual market value i.e. conflating getting pumped and dumped by the top men with actually getting a long term relationship with said men)
with sexbots and VR partners I'm not sure what will happen to the population
maybe society needs to start having kids in creches or something using volunteers just so humanity doesn't go extinct

>>15770405
it'll be interesting to see the interior of the factory after its fully finished

>>15771235
go back to r*ddit. how many boomers had a house before having kids?

>>15771235
young people are generally having much less sex too, having stable careers and so on should not affect the probability of having relationships by itself, so there is a separate problem from your perceived cost of living and so on

>>15771235
I'm sure that sounds like a nice an clean explanation, but it's just demonstrably not true and on top of that was only ever true for exactly one generation before us and at no other point in history has been true

I shall return in two weeks.

>>15771137
so did we get a "in case things go wrong" prerecorded landing for the last part? did it really crash? are the aliens from benu here?

>>15771237
The draft, but for women. But only attractive ones. A fantasy I've had ever since I sprouted pubes.

Wait weren’t we just talking about Limp at the beginning of this month? Kek did one of you guys have some secret insider knowledge about Smith leaving or something

>>15771163
MOMMY

>>15771246
Welfare programs aren't going to get women to want to shack up with young guys without good, steady jobs

>>15771244
cost of living is extremely high though
boomers bought new cars with their part time job at 16

>>15771264
the boomer generation is such an outlier that it's not even really worth thinking about
people had dozens of kids living in abject poverty for thousands of years before boomers got the world handed to them on a silver platter

>>15771271
Baselines shifted. What's expected went up. In other words: Fuck you; pay me.

https://twitter.com/SciGuySpace/status/1706430416788287956

>made in colombia
I see.
why's that?
no public access?
no foia?

>>15771286
https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/09/bob-smith-is-finally-gone-from-blue-origin-his-replacement-comes-from-amazon/
> Jeff Bezos finally got rid of Bob Smith at Blue Origin
> To put things politely, Smith has had a rocky tenure as Blue Origin's chief executive. After being personally vetted and hired by Bezos, Smith took over from Rob Meyerson in 2017. The Honeywell engineer was given a mandate to transform Blue Origin into a large and profitable space business.
> He did succeed in growing Blue Origin. The company had about 1,500 employees when Smith arrived, and the company now employs nearly 11,000 people. But he has been significantly late on a number of key programs, including the BE-4 rocket engine and the New Glenn rocket.
> As a space reporter, I have spoken with dozens of current and former Blue Origin employees, and virtually none of them have had anything positive to say about Smith's tenure as chief executive. I asked one current employee about the hiring of Limp on Monday afternoon, and their response was, "Anything is better than Bob."
> Originally a computer scientist, Limp began his career at Apple in the mid-1980s and served as director of the North and South American PowerBook division. He has also worked in venture capital and as chief strategy officer of Palm before joining Amazon in 2010.
> At Amazon, Limp had a high-profile job overseeing the development of the company’s consumer electronic devices, including the Kindle, Fire TV, and Echo, as well as the Alexa voice assistant. Some of the shine on Limp's star seemingly wore off in recent years, as Alexa has been perceived to be a "colossal failure" by some accounts and, partly at least, led to Amazon shedding 10,000 jobs.
> Limp has some space experience, as his division also oversaw the development of the Project Kuiper megaconstellation, a competitor with SpaceX's Starlink Internet service that seeks to deliver high-bandwidth Internet from low-Earth orbit.

>>15771242
Most of them.

>>15771293
The last high profile Applefag at a space company was personally responsible for Rocket 3's poor upper stage design. Blorp is finished.

>>15771293
> He did succeed in growing Blue Origin. The company had about 1,500 employees when Smith arrived, and the company now employs nearly 11,000 people

I think I too could be quite successful in employing a bunch of people if Bezos would throw a billion dollars a year at me.

>>15771293
BO needs the X treatment

>>15771296
I was reading an article about Limp recently and I actually think he’s a pretty smart guy, he’s just had shit luck. It Bezos gives him free reign he (might) be able to right the ship. We shall see
Very unfortunate last name he has though

>>15771317
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Pound

>>15771293
>> Limp has some space experience, as his division also oversaw the development of the Project Kuiper megaconstellation
>4 years
>havent launched a single satellite

Another excellent hire Jeff. What a disappointment BO has been man.

>>15771331
>can only buy launch contracts from companies that don't launch

what can ya do

>>15770947
>Wtf we should have switched to this stuff immediately once knew we had a Pu-238 shortage.

NASA

Not After Speedy Action

>>15770947
Don’t you need Pu-238 just to get americium

When Eric Berger speaks, I listen.

>He arrives at Blue Origin with a lot of work to do. The company has major programs, including the heavy-lift New Glenn rocket, the Blue Moon lunar lander, and the Orbital Reef space station in the development phase. He must balance these initiatives with the company's ongoing work to scale production of the BE-4 rocket engine as well as the New Shepard suborbital spacecraft.

Lmao, holy shit what a plate

americum

>>15771369
New Shepard will be the litmus test. If Limpy keeps it alive he is officially a retard and there is no hope for Blue Origin

>just fire up a breeder reactor and make some fissiles whats the big deal

uhhh maybe theres a reason why they have no Pu238 and they can't run breeder reactors anymore?

>>15771380
yeah a bad case of gay

>>15771367
I should get a burger

>>15771293
>> Originally a computer scientist, Limp began his career at Apple in the mid-1980s and served as director of the North and South American PowerBook division.
>as chief strategy officer of Palm before joining Amazon in 2010.
>> At Amazon, Limp had a high-profile job overseeing the development of the company’s consumer electronic devices, including the Kindle, Fire TV, and Echo, as well as the Alexa voice assistant

Either he has the worst luck in the world, or he is great at picking positions that were not long for this world.

>>15771101
I am going to put a Starlink on the roof of my van, I will not put a five meter diameter antenna on the roof of my van

>>15771293
>"Anything is better than Bob."
OUCH

>>15771439
>I will not put a five meter diameter antenna on the roof of my van
yes you will

>>15771367
when did he speak

>its no longer a render
seattle... austin... where will the third starlink factory go up at?

>>15770327
what's the launch table doing up there at stage separation?
please respond

>>15771457
Probably Florida to get down transportation costs, that is where the next Starbase location will be. Florida is pretty friendly to space companies too

>>15771471
you might be right. oneweb makes their satellites in florida so there's already an available workforce there.

>>15771466
the best part is all the parts

>>15770327
OK we're talking about hot staging here though

>>15771452
Just yesterday on NSF

>>15771471
spacex never should have put starbase in boca chica. florida would've been a much better choice.

https://twitter.com/SpaceAbhi/status/1706474225962529219

> This feat will never be duplicated again in our industry. No idea how he pulled it off!:

>>15771492
They are going to launch from both
As the impact and importance of Starship becomes clear, I hope the obatructioniat bullshit at boca chica gets fixed

>>15771495
Its the Texan gov's fault for not keeping environmental radicals and obtrusive federal agencies in check.

>>15771496
its federal government, not state level

>>15771493
What feat? Going from 850 people to 10,000 people and launching fuckall to orbit?

>https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/09/space-force-chief-foresees-role-in-protecting-commercial-satellites/
another surface level article with no insight. might as well as read wikipedia.

>the weak should fear the strong

>>15770332
Why would it?

>>15771163
why did they take a photo of his wife?

>>15771337
only design spacecraft that don't go into space

>>15771369
How's he going to get all that shit into space?

>>15771493
>website CEO put in charge of space company, not out of personal passion but for nebulous "leadership" and "customer-first"
It's over, blue origin will never orbit.

>>15771482
>NSF
No, thanks. I'm not gay.

>>15771524
kek

>>15771503
>STEPHEN CLARK
Just check who wrote it.

>>15771369
And he also has Kuiper looming over him; yes that's technically Amazon, but they need about a fukcgnjozqdzillion launches by like, last year.

And eventually figuring out orbital refuelling, because apparently Blue Moon actually requires that too... and, huh, Blue Moon is 100% hydrolox retardation - with the added spice of trying to achieve zero boiloff for long term storage. Why the fuck are they doing that again?
>inb4 ISRU memery
it's oldspace 'tism, has to be.

>heh, we won't launch with SpaceX, that will show that stupid guy who smokes pot what's up
>WTF SPACEX IS LITERALLY A MONOPOLY NATIONALISE IT NOW DADDY BIDEN

>>15771450
You are wrong. Commsats need multiple antenna anyway to do more than one thing at once

>>15771499
Texas is an independent nation

>>15771228
It's those damn kids and their rock music and tattoos, and the dungeons and dragons, and nintendo's, I tell you!

>>15771209
Isn't Orban the president? Who's this lady

>>15771590
He's the Prime Minister. President is mostly a ceremonial role in countries with parliamentary systems.

>hydrolox tism hydrolox tism
Does anyone else miss the days when /sfg/ could have an intelligent discussion about spaceflight and not just quack memes back and forth?

>>15771586
Even when Elon tries to escape California by moving to Texas, Californians follow him and move to Austin

>>15771163
So he's switching to Progressive?

>>15771573
Was ULA part of the consortium working on Blue Moon? If so they're not completely hosed, Shelby was the only thing holding them back from working on hydrolox d*pots.
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHcJgHNRqLs

>>15771602
We already had the intelligent discussions about Hydrogen and decided it was garbage outside of a handful of niche applications (starship also obsoletes a bunch of these). Now go home oldspace shill.

>>15771634
for me? its starship velociraptor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2n_Ae9DGC0U

>>15771602
Yes, anon, I too miss the autistic screeching about solar and nuclear power that you thoughtlessly refer to as “discussion”.

>>15771611
>FULL FLO STAGED COMBUSTION

>>15771653
>>15771637
>intelligent
>not autistic
Where and who the fuck do you think you are? If you come here to discuss spaceflight you are both dumb and autistic. Its fucking 4chan any way you slice it, idiots can still be very much correct but were all still autistic idiots here nonetheless. Dont try and fucking deny it YOU KNOW ITS TRUE YOU HIGH AND MIGHTY FAGGOTS ARE WHATS RUINING THIS GENERAL

>>15771644
Lol, when did Melody get an anime?

>>15771684
i would pay for a melody anime

>>15770898
How much of that stems from clean room autism? I get that some instruments are very sensitive and you don't want someone's stray pube on it, but I think the emphasis on trying to prevent any bio contamination is an unnecessary burden on the budget and schedules of deep space missions. I don't think the Search for Life™ is all that important or that it should continue to be the basis of future missions. We should focus on resource identification and ISRU tech and them maybe well stumble upon some fossil in a Martian strip mine.

>>15770686
Planetes and Vinland Saga happens in the same timeline, you can't change my mind.

>>15770922
Ahh the low tech kerbal method to farm science

>>15771680
Thanks for your opinion

>>15771716
KILL YOURSELF NOW RETARD YOURE NO BETTER THAN ANY OF US

>>15770405
Does the grass plot boomer ever stop by to check up on his land?

>>15771718
Ogey

>>15771492
For all its faults boca Chica still was a good choice. There was more bureaucratic mess at Florida and probably other factors that slowed testing. Keep in mind there was starships being built at both sites at one point so there had to have been a good reason for Texas

>>15771680
>>15771718
relax fren

I have just accepted a role at Rocket Lab. Are you proud of me, frens?

>>15771781
quick start leaking launch dates to us

>>15771781
What ever you do avoid fucking Trisha

>>15771781
Indifferent. Even if you leaked stuff I probably wouldnt care because its RL. Nothing exciting going on there that hasnt already been done 200 times by SpaceX

>>15770390
but has anyone consulted the FWS about this?

>>15771792
Who? Tell me more.

>>15771803
i'll tell you tomorrow

>>15771293
>I asked one current employee about the hiring of Limp on Monday afternoon, and their response was, "Anything is better than Bob."

>>15771710
all part of Azumanga Diaoh cinematic universe

>>15771293
>Being so indecisive that literally a random number generator could do better than you

Imagine being so secretive the entire world thinks you did jack shit for twenty years except launch a suborbital carnival ride while being repeatedly harassed by ULA (and their military backers) for a working rocket engine. What the FUCK was going on over there? In the time it took to put out one working production BE-4 SpaceX had gone through FOUR different engine architectures plus variants

The OsirisRex sample has successfully been moved from Utah to the cleanroom at JFC where over the next 10 days the contents will be removed from the holding canister.

Guess who celebrated by having two slices of cake at lunch.

>>15771860
Blorp never had a schedule or a deadline they couldn't push so they got stuck in the indecisive waffling phase of engineering. Elon's mania about personally retiring on Mars is what keeps SpaceX on track.

>>15771228
nah a normal woman will prefer raising kids at home to wasting away in some pointless office

men have higher aversion to having kids. In part because of the weak wages and in bigger parts since the courts are so hostile to men. Divorce laws are still stuck in the 19th century where m'ladys honor was soiled by bastard children and she is essentially reduced to an outcast without change for cash aside from whoring

>>15771942
That dishonor existed as a mechanism to stop women from whoring around. It was the lynchpin of the entire institution of marriage.

>>15771237
>humanity doesn't go extinct
demographic doomers have to be the most obnoxious types besides flat earthers. No, humans can never go extinct from not having kids, its base programming hardwired to the monkey brain. There will always be parents wanting kids

what will happen though is overpopulated nations going through a phase where there are less kids and more elderly. Complete nothingburger as its a self correcting cycle. Only ones shitting their pants about that is the bloated welfare state and all the leeches it attracts. From neets to single mothers to rapefugees to state guaranteed retirees

>>15771228
>>15771233
>>15771222
There's no single reason
There's a hundred of reasons that each on their own have really small (if any) measurable effect, but they add-up and synergize

Besides, they don't actually want to fix it because low population fixes problems with environment and depleting resources.
You don't have to do anything and problem is fixing itself - it's brilliant.

>>15771637
>*quack quack*

>>15771944
>implying women have not been sleeping around since the cave days
there rose tinted nostalgia glasses for idealized past is going to be the real death of civilization

>>15771948
a large population is much better for fixing those problems due to there being more smart people to fix them
technology is how you fix the problem, depopulation is how you stagnate
sure, humans will survive, will the current nation states survive? how about the standard of living?

>>15771954
of course they did, but there was consequences and a much larger taboo not to and the wife couldn't just take half your shit and the kids

>>15771899
Unironically, would Elon go crazy on the 6 month voyage to Mars where he essentially has nothing to do or any projects to work on and twitter has at least a minute of time lag between each action? Or will he just autistically play video games and read books and be fine? Or he just manically keeps pointing out some ugly interior design on the Starship and force his crew to disassemble and reassemble critical components during the trip?

>>15771994
maybe remotely just administrate the companies he runs, quite a lot you can do even if you aren't on the site, ask people to walk around while streaming for example

>>15770192
Why don't rocket nozzles have that movable exhaust thing?

Unclear how and in what situations US military arms would defend starlink, Foust article about BO CEO change (nothing new really but there is a comments section if you are interested in that)
----
https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/09/space-force-chief-foresees-role-in-protecting-commercial-satellites/
> Space Force chief says commercial satellites may need defending
> "It would stand to reason that same philosophy would extend into space."
> In a modern war, "there are going to be commercial entities, commercial organizations, commercial capabilities and assets that get caught up in the conflicts," Saltzman said. "Space is no different than sea lanes. It’s no different than civilian airliner traffic in Europe right now. The US has a long history of saying we’re going to protect the things that we need to be successful. So it would stand to reason that that same philosophy would extend into space, and I have no reason to believe that that will be different.”
> Space Command is currently led by US Army Gen. James Dickinson. In July, Dickinson basically punted on a similar question about defending commercial satellites from a foreign attack.
> "I do have a mission area protecting and defending, and that's widely known, assets on orbit," he replied. "But to be honest with you, those have to be directed to me by, you know, my boss, and my boss's boss, eventually if that were to happen."
---
https://spacenews.com/blue-origin-ceo-smith-to-step-down/
> Blue Origin CEO Smith to step down
> “When I joined Blue, we had very, very little revenue,” Smith said at the June conference. “Now we have hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue as well as billions of dollars in orders, so we’re in a very good position.”

NASA asking for ISS deorbiting space tug - proposals, A South African billionaire took hominin fossil fragments into suborbital hop,
----
https://www.space.com/nasa-international-space-station-tug-deorbit-ideas
> NASA wants more 'space tug' ideas to deorbit the International Space Station in a fiery finale
> A spaceship will safely bring down the U.S. segment of the ISS after the program concludes in 2030.
> The agency plans to use a U.S. Deorbit Vehicle (USDV) to safely steer the International Space Station (ISS) into Earth's atmosphere. (White House officials previously called this vehicle a "space tug.") If all goes according to NASA's plan, after the ISS program concludes, flights and commercial research will proceed on industry-led space stations, which are now in their early stages of development.
---
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4657/1
> Honoring and dishonoring the dead in outer space
> On September 8, Timothy Nash, a South African billionaire, flew to the edge of space in a Virgin Galactic suborbital spacecraft, the VSS Unity. Virgin Galactic began operating tourist flights in earnest this past summer and Nash participated in the company’s most recent excursion. Nash’s flight was not without scandal, however. Accompanying him on his extraordinary journey were two fragments that were biologically and historically significant. One of them was the thumb bone of a Homo naledi. The other was a collarbone fragment of an Australopithecus sediba. Both specimens have been considered as potential ancestor species to modern humans, Homo sapiens, with Homo naledi living approximately 300,000 years ago and Australopithecus sediba living closer to 1.5 million years ago.
---

Perseverance sets record on autopilot distance, Article about "Asteroid Autumn" talking about the upcoming Psyche launch and Lucy flyby of Dinkinesh and the possible government shutdown affecting those
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https://www.space.com/perserverance-mars-rover-boulder-field-maneuvers
> NASA's Perseverance rover sets record for longest Mars drive on autopilot
> The rover's autopilot even guided it through boulders not seen by orbiting spacecraft.
> NASA's Perseverance rover, along with its automatic navigation system, just set a record on Mars by maneuvering right through a particularly hazardous patch of Martian land. In turn, this impressive trip saved scientists weeks of precious time during which they can now do more science.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTNRc2N1vbg
---
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4658/1
> A capsule’s fall marks the start of Asteroid Autumn
> The landing, just a couple days after the autumnal equinox, kicked off what NASA has dubbed “Asteroid Autumn.” The OSIRIS-REx samples are one of three events related to new or ongoing asteroid missions that the agency is highlighting through November.
> The next is scheduled for October 5, when a Falcon Heavy rocket is scheduled to lift off from the Kennedy Space Center carrying Psyche, another asteroid mission that will travel to the metallic main belt asteroid of the same name. On November 1, NASA’s Lucy spacecraft, launched in October 2021 will fly by another main belt asteroid, Dinkinesh, on its way to the Trojan asteroids that lead and follow Jupiter in its orbit around the Sun.
> Psyche was scheduled to launch in August 2022, but was delayed because of issues testing the spacecraft’s flight software, a symptom of more fundamental issues with the management of programs at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory uncovered by an independent review board (IRB) last fall.

>>15772046
comment on the space review article regarding probe missions

>>15769866
Day after day the sciencegolems are performing the most retarded mental gymnastics whenever a new delay, blunder, or rocket launch postponement is announced. You eat right up as if it was hot cum. This has been going on for years now, decades really if you account for the boomers and gen x golems who were sold these space dreams in the 70's and 80's. Those idiots too believed they would be jetting through the galaxy at any moment now in their own personal spaceshit with their robowaifus meeting all kinds of exotic aliens along the way. They too were sure it would happen in their lifetime. Many of those losers are still alive today and the only thing they got was CGI and studio props like the Star Wars franchise and Star Trek.

The reality is it's just bread and circuses to keep you golems waging for a science fiction future that doesn't exist because the earth is flat and stationary.

Speculation about recent Chinese spaceplane flights being about deploying ASAT
----
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4656/1
> Hiding in plain sight: Is China’s spaceplane a co-orbital ASAT in disguise?
> On August 4, 2022, a Chinese reusable autonomous spaceplane was launched into orbit from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on a Long March 2F (CZ-2F/T) rocket. Several weeks later, on August 26, a second spaceplane launched on a suborbital flight. Although the suborbital flight was relatively short, the orbital spaceplane flew a mission that lasted 276 days before returning to Earth on May 8, 2023. During its flight, the spaceplane, known as Shenlong, released an object that moved in coordination with its orbit.
> Given China’s motivation to compete with the US in space capability, it is likely that China’s recent launch of its spaceplanes was a direct response to the X-37B flights—a way to maintain competition with a space power like the US.
> A co-orbital ASAT refers to a type of kinetic physical counter-space weapon. Kinetic physical counter-space weapons require a projectile or another orbiting object to disrupt the targeted satellite. Co-orbital ASATs require the ability to adjust their orbits to move close to their targeted satellites. Within a close distance, a co-orbital ASAT could disrupt, damage, or destroy the satellite through various means.
> The RPOs and secondary object released from the spaceplane do not automatically equate to a co-orbital ASAT platform. However, it does prove that China has the technological capability and understanding to establish co-orbital ASAT platforms.
> The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) views space as a military domain and considers China to be in a space race with the US. Because space is a military domain, China is developing counter-space capabilities to “deny and degrade a potential adversary [the]use of space.”

>>15772008
It's heavy

>>15771222
>>15771228
>>15771237
>>15771948
>There's no single reason
There literally is one and it's called urbanization. Our king back when we still had one said something along those lines, can't find the proper quote:
>The Bulgarian urban female is the biggest enemy of the state. The peasant woman will gladly have 10 children, some of which would become soldiers. But the urban one will only be interested in her own vanity and at most have 1-2 children, all spoiled.
Keep in mind that was before WW2, and after the war everyone got their own apartment, a job, and food was plentiful, unlike other soviet shitholes. Yet the birth rates still went to shit, pic rel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhh8wHhQ3QI

>>15772079

>>15772081

>>15772083
kek

>>15771172
Something that can reflect ~90% of incoming neutrons with an area density of between several kilograms and several hundred grams per square meter.

>>15771205
Make it play "final countdown"

https://twitter.com/stoke_space/status/1706628765257007349

> Some more pictures to put a wrap on Hopper. Onward and upward!

>>15772087
dios mio...

>>15772095

>>15772097

>>15772098

>>15772095
Hullo had made a video on it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V6lfs7xFJM

https://twitter.com/BocasBrain/status/1706460470037901616

> OLIT1 reconstruction with rebar rod slingers, THE CRATER !
Beautiful work !

Is this guy a worker?
I wonder how close they were to having to scrap the whole orbital launch mount

>>15772106

>>15772109

https://twitter.com/SenBillNelson/status/1706375215901520252

> Progress to the pad! All four RS-25 engines now added to our Artemis II @NASA_SLS Moon rocket. Harnessing the knowledge learned from #Artemis I, teams at Michoud Assembly Facility are working to fully integrate and secure all the engines onto the @NASAArtemis II core stage to prepare the mega rocket that will help send astronauts around the Moon.

>>15772113

>>15772115

>>15771359
No, any uranium or plutonium fueled reactor will produce the precursors to Am-241 as well as Am-241. Like I said, it's present in all irradiated nuclear fuel. The stockpile of waste probably contains hundreds of kilograms of the stuff, even very old waste will still have most of its Am-241 content due to the >400 year half life.

>>15771380
You don't need a breeder to make Am-241, it's produced inside reactors using low enriched fuel and even natural uranium fuel. Anything with U-238 and neutron flux will make Am-241.

>>15771581
Inteeplanetary relays don't do that. They collect data from the probe, then send it to Earth. Continuous uplink/downlink is nice to have but not required.