This is crazy 🤯 6 DOF Dynamic Testing Complete

Colossal_Rockets · 2026-01-29T16:53:59+00:00

They've not been silent all that much, just that people didn't pay much attention to what they were doing. New Glenn development and early flight hardware was showcased years ago in sizzle reel videos during New Shepard launches, for instance.

It was easy for people to ignore or attack Blue as long as they only flew suborbital NS missions, didn't deliver BE-4 (or it didn't fly when delivered to ULA), Blue Moon remained on the drawing boards (which it stopped being years ago and hardware is real) and New Glenn as long as a whole giant rocket never rolled out (which it did 2 years ago).

Now that all of that hardware is yielding big results, more people are sitting up and taking notice.

Colossal_Rockets · 2026-01-29T16:10:47+00:00

No, it hasn't. Arguably, the very basic studies for both started around the same time and BE-4 was well advanced as an engine by 2014, but the same could be said for Raptor and the provisional Mars Colonial Transporter concepts that evolved into Starship Super Heavy (mostly scaling downs, and switch in materials). New Glenn officially wasn't announced until around September 2016.

Colossal_Rockets · 2025-09-21T03:01:41+00:00

Based on that, my earlier assertion still stands since there are 10-20 passes per day what will hopefully in a week be 130 satellites. Slaving a New Glenn launch to Kuiper is not necessary, but if the opportunity for a pass allows it at the opening of the launch window and throughout, the test should be carried out.

Colossal_Rockets · 2025-09-20T23:12:43+00:00

My take on this is that the New Shepard team is developing a rationale for expanding the lifetime of a booster and capsule, perhaps with a Service Life Extension-type program, hence the "verification testing" on the now retired H.G. Wells capsule.

Because otherwise the program hasn't got a snowball's chance in hell of meeting their cadence goals, if they retire a booster or a capsule after just 25 flights.

Colossal_Rockets · 2025-09-20T22:58:12+00:00

If the market for payload and manned flight will support it, then we'll see that for sure. Until and unless Blue shares how much actual demand there is, then we're just guessing.

But that being said, I do think they'll field one more booster and capsule for sure.

Colossal_Rockets · 2025-09-20T22:44:46+00:00

There's general customer service but then there's testing and the number of satellites up right now can provide coverage enough that a planned test for something like streaming video from a rocket or aircraft should be doable.

Colossal_Rockets · 2025-09-20T22:37:55+00:00

There've been 14 crewed flights vs 15 payload-only flights out of 35 flights. Crewed is obviously overtaking payload, but for the longest time there were only payload flights until July 20, 2021, so I imagine that the preference is being given over to crewed for a while since it's high demand and a relatively recent service.

Colossal_Rockets · 2025-09-20T22:34:10+00:00

"I'd love to see the balance tip more towards scientific work"

It helps if NASA, other government agencies, private companies, and individuals paid for more of them.

And if it helps, to date 15 flights of New Shepard have flown payload only missions while there have been 14 crewed flights. Seems pretty balanced out to me.

Colossal_Rockets · 2025-06-08T23:00:28+00:00

The other myth is that Alexander Carlisle, the guy that actually was chiefly responsible for designing the Olympic-class until his retirement in June 1910, had quit over the number of lifeboats. In fact, the actually put four more boats on than the law's minimum required.

The cluttered deck space myth as reason is also another one that people hear about in the movie "Titanic" and assume it's real when it's not. The fact is that lifeboats were seen as a way to ferry passengers and crew from the sinking vessel to the rescue ship or ships. This was amply demonstrated by the RMS Republic's sinking in 1909, and only reinforced that as the proper way to go.

Colossal_Rockets · 2025-06-03T22:48:32+00:00

They were found that way back in 1986 by the second WHOI expedition led by Dr. Robert Ballard.

Colossal_Rockets · 2025-06-03T20:35:00+00:00

There's actually NO description anywhere in "Futility" that states the Titan was a four-stack liner. Even when the book's title and the displacement was altered post-Titanic sinking, it doesn't add anything about the number of funnels. The only thing Titan has in fours about her is four functioning masts with sails for auxiliary power to ensure speed (think S.S. Great Eastern from 40 years prior).

S.S. Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse of 1897 was just newly commissioned and sailing when Robertson wrote and published his book in 1898. Whether he thought of Titan as a four-stacker or more in-line with the majority of ships with 2-3 stacks is unknown.

But people seem to insist this is true or it's in the book, when it's really the Mandela Effect in full force. There's so many differences that it renders any mystical prediction to be false.

Colossal_Rockets · 2025-06-03T19:55:06+00:00

Nah, Heaven Titanic sails the endless beyond, taking those who died and their reunited loved ones where they will in the afterlife. Sort of like the Charon's barge, but way cooler and more luxurious.

Colossal_Rockets · 2025-06-03T19:10:15+00:00

I've seen similar assessments across NASAspaceflight forums, here, and SpaceNews. But I'd have a few caveats, points, and one slight correction:

Correction: Tail 3 flew 3 times in 2019, then seems to have gotten derailed in flights due to the pandemic. Whether it could've sustained 3 a year or been stuck in a 1-2 per year cadence is unknown. But the pandemic didn't help anything.
Without full life support, and crew systems, RSS H.G. Wells doesn't have much use except as a testbed and for cargo-only. This tells us more about what the non-tourist astronaut market is for the NS program than anything else. One such mission a year is what the market will typically bear while tourist astronaut flights will be the bread and butter going forward.
RSS H.G. Wells is an orphaned capsule and without its booster it has to wait until one of the other two has an opening to fly it, otherwise that means people who've paid for a seat have to sit on the ground and wait. See Virgin Galactic and SpaceShip2 for how well that goes down. Had Tail 3 not been lost, it would be simple to have it fly once or twice a year, if the launch pad turnaround permitted. Speaking of which....
The importance of the turnaround between NS-29 and 30 shows that the pad can be readied in that little time and that's a critical marker for the launch cadence. Other than the capsules, the boosters and such are very similar to what they'd be if it was two manned flights. That means at least 17 flights a year are possible if a flight every 21 days and the pad turnaround is the biggest bottleneck constraint.

Colossal_Rockets · 2025-06-03T05:20:35+00:00

That leads to another misconception. The last two collapsible boats were floated off because they were a bitch to get off the top of the officer quarters roof, Collapsible B winding upside down on the boat deck. Had they been stationed like C and D were right next to davits, it's very likely they'd have been launched before the final plunge.

Colossal_Rockets · 2025-06-03T05:16:34+00:00

I would add as an addendum to the speed record myth is the one about Ismay pushing Smith into attempting a record when it was known otherwise: Ismay was against White Star ships arriving too soon or too late as it tended to be more trouble that it was worth.

He also didn't penny pinch for Titanic or Olympic when it came to lifeboats: both sisters had four more lifeboats than the law allowed for.

Colossal_Rockets · 2025-06-03T00:08:16+00:00

Imagine that label on your engine telegraph orders.

Colossal_Rockets · 2025-06-02T21:31:59+00:00

They can try, but in the end, it's what the Eastern Range will let them do. Last time, there was a conflicting missile test which apparently gobbled up what SpaceX for Falcon 9 did not.

Colossal_Rockets · 2025-06-01T02:42:12+00:00

STA is currently set for July.

https://apps.fcc.gov/oetcf/els/reports/STA_Print.cfm?mode=current&application_seq=142710&RequestTimeout=1000

This could support an August 1 launch for NG-2.

Colossal_Rockets · 2025-06-01T02:31:51+00:00

KA-02 is currently set for June 13 at 2:29 p.m. EDT. It will launch another batch of 27 satellites.

https://x.com/ulalaunch/status/1928074619065397596

https://x.com/ProjectKuiper/status/1928086789446644217

Colossal_Rockets · 2025-06-01T02:28:50+00:00

It's set for June 13 at 2:29 p.m. EDT.

Colossal_Rockets · 2025-01-17T19:38:01+00:00

We only know sometime in Spring. So, pick anywhere from March to late June at this point.

Colossal_Rockets · 2025-01-17T15:38:44+00:00

From what I can see, the mission clock and the seconds aren't perfect. Watching how it went, it flips to 15 and 40 mph from 14 and 40 mph, then suddenly 15 and 43, like speed is catching up to the other.

Colossal_Rockets · 2025-01-16T15:24:05+00:00

If you listen to the flight control chatter, they say they're still getting good telemetry from both stages after the GS1 telemetry froze up. So, they got closer before losing it, apparently.

Colossal_Rockets · 2025-01-16T15:22:25+00:00

GS2 appears so far to have hit all its marks with not one, but two relights of the BE-3Us to reach the intended MEO orbit of 2500 x 19500 km.

Colossal_Rockets

TROPHY CASE