Space Exploration

Are NASA's future missions and budget justified?

  • It's worth the time and expenditures

    Votes: 218 65.7%

  • Complete waste of money

    Votes: 41 12.3%

  • We need to explore, but not at the current cost

    Votes: 73 22.0%
  • Total voters
    332
#5,201
#5,201
Grand Vol said:
It's groundhog day...

insiderpaper.com

First crewed Boeing Starliner flight delayed again

The first crewed launch of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station has again been delayed, according to NASA, with no new date
insiderpaper.com insiderpaper.com
Click to expand...
The ironic thing about Starliner is that, for once, it isn’t Boeing’s fault. The current issue is with an oxygen pressure relief valve on the booster which means this one is on ULA (another company that gets away with way too much of course)
 
#5,202
#5,202
Now let’s get that IFT-4 launch license so we can get Starship back into orbit and this time all the way through reentry
 
#5,203
#5,203
OrangeTsar said:
The ironic thing about Starliner is that, for once, it isn’t Boeing’s fault. The current issue is with an oxygen pressure relief valve on the booster which means this one is on ULA (another company that gets away with way too much of course)
Click to expand...
Oops. I stand corrected. Didn’t realize that there was yet another NEW leak. Helium valve flange on the Starliner Service Module. So this latest delay IS squarely on Boeing 🙄
I think Boeing most have got a special discount on a crate of damaged valves from Harbor Freight or something 😂😂😂
 
#5,204
#5,204
Rocketry is pretty much a dead end as far as space exploration/travel. Bring on the new tech already, magnetic drives or fusion thrusters or whatever.
 
#5,205
#5,205
jvol1 said:
Rocketry is pretty much a dead end as far as space exploration/travel. Bring on the new tech already, magnetic drives or fusion thrusters or whatever.
Click to expand...
I would disagree and say rather that rocketry is finally maturing. Full flow staged combustion engines like the Raptor (which continues to push the envelope to INSANE chamber pressures) l, fully reusable boosters, super chilled densified liquid propellants, and the steep decreases in price per kilogram to orbit show an industry that is finally moving from its infancy into a mature and increasingly comoditized business model.
True there are no cutting edge new propellants on the horizon for traditional chemical rockets; but the efficiency and performance improvements still to be realized on these “old” technologies are mind boggling.
You might have well have said that the automobile/internal combustion engine was at a dead end with the Ford Model T. The basic principles involved are still in use in all ICE cars today; but the development of those principles is nothing short of amazing.
 
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#5,206
#5,206
OrangeTsar said:
I would disagree and say rather that rocketry is finally maturing. Full flow staged combustion engines like the Raptor (which continues to push the envelope to INSANE chamber pressures) l, fully reusable boosters, super chilled densified liquid propellants, and the steep decreases in price per kilogram to orbit show an industry that is finally moving from its infancy into a mature and increasingly comoditized business model.
True there are no cutting edge new propellants on the horizon for traditional chemical rockets; but the efficiency and performance improvements still to be realized on these “old” technologies are mind boggling.
You might have well have said that the automobile/internal combustion engine was at a dead end with the Ford Model T. The basic principles involved are still in use in all ICE cars today; but the development of those principles is nothing short of amazing.
Click to expand...

Have you seen the specs on the Raptor V3?

Insane.

www.nextbigfuture.com

SpaceX Raptor 3 Engines and Beyond | NextBigFuture.com

The SpaceX Raptor 3 was recently test fired and reached 18% more thrust than a Raptor 2. The Raptor 2 had 25% more thrust than the Raptor 1 and it was 20%
www.nextbigfuture.com www.nextbigfuture.com
 
#5,207
#5,207
#5,210
#5,210
OrangeTsar said:
I would disagree and say rather that rocketry is finally maturing. Full flow staged combustion engines like the Raptor (which continues to push the envelope to INSANE chamber pressures) l, fully reusable boosters, super chilled densified liquid propellants, and the steep decreases in price per kilogram to orbit show an industry that is finally moving from its infancy into a mature and increasingly comoditized business model.
True there are no cutting edge new propellants on the horizon for traditional chemical rockets; but the efficiency and performance improvements still to be realized on these “old” technologies are mind boggling.
You might have well have said that the automobile/internal combustion engine was at a dead end with the Ford Model T. The basic principles involved are still in use in all ICE cars today; but the development of those principles is nothing short of amazing.
Click to expand...

We should be working on a space elevator.
 
#5,218
#5,218
hog88 said:
Agreed and it should be high on the list. Never going to be a true spacefaring species without one, just too expensive otherwise.
Click to expand...
Hate to break it to you; but a space elevator ain’t exactly going to be cheap. And its ground station will become the most coveted real estate ever known to mankind.
And I don’t even want to think about what will be required technologically for the cable to be protected from collisions with space debris in lower orbits
 
#5,219
#5,219
OrangeTsar said:
Hate to break it to you; but a space elevator ain’t exactly going to be cheap. And it’s ground station will become the most coveted real estate ever known to mankind
Click to expand...

Yep, it would be an expensive build but after that the cost of getting huge payloads into space would be cheap.
 
#5,220
#5,220
OrangeTsar said:
Hate to break it to you; but a space elevator ain’t exactly going to be cheap. And its ground station will become the most coveted real estate ever known to mankind.
And I don’t even want to think about what will be required technologically for the cable to be protected from collisions with space debris in lower orbits
Click to expand...
I don't think there has been much research into how the coriolis effect impacts buildings. yet alone something with as high of a tolerance as an elevator.

you would have to maintain a hub at the top that stays in perfect geosynchronous orbit directly over its base.
 
#5,221
#5,221
OrangeTsar said:
I would disagree and say rather that rocketry is finally maturing. Full flow staged combustion engines like the Raptor (which continues to push the envelope to INSANE chamber pressures) l, fully reusable boosters, super chilled densified liquid propellants, and the steep decreases in price per kilogram to orbit show an industry that is finally moving from its infancy into a mature and increasingly comoditized business model.
True there are no cutting edge new propellants on the horizon for traditional chemical rockets; but the efficiency and performance improvements still to be realized on these “old” technologies are mind boggling.
You might have well have said that the automobile/internal combustion engine was at a dead end with the Ford Model T. The basic principles involved are still in use in all ICE cars today; but the development of those principles is nothing short of amazing.
Click to expand...
It seems like the propellant requirement will limit the use of rockets for anything other than orbiting satellites and near earth work. Better propulsion tech is needed for moving beyond near earth work.

www.earth.com

NASA engineer creates propulsion system that defies the laws of physics

A NASA engineer claims that his company's propellantless propulsion drive system has generated enough thrust to counteract Earth's gravity.
www.earth.com www.earth.com
 
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#5,222
#5,222
jvol1 said:
It seems like the propellant requirement will limit the use of rockets for anything other than orbiting satellites and near earth work. Better propulsion tech is needed for moving beyond near earth work.

www.earth.com

NASA engineer creates propulsion system that defies the laws of physics

A NASA engineer claims that his company's propellantless propulsion drive system has generated enough thrust to counteract Earth's gravity.
www.earth.com www.earth.com
Click to expand...
That sounds pretty much in the same realm as cold fusion claims. And even if it is somehow possible, we are talking decades before it could be harnessed.
If we exclude nuclear propulsion (definitely efficient but politically untenable), the only real alternatives to chemical rockets currently available are ion gas propulsion or solar sails. They both have demonstrated ability for very low thrust applications over long time periods which is useful in interplay space. But for getting payloads off the ground and up to the five and a half miles per second velocity required to reach orbit, nothing will replace the technologies we have anytime soon.
 
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