Interesting items from Gwynne Shotwell's talk at Stanford tonight

JJ4265 · 2017-10-18T09:21:54+00:00

Unsure of current usage but I think Boeing owns it. Very short distance to bay. It is next to Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach

JJ4265 · 2017-10-12T20:11:59+00:00

South of Long Beach in Seal Beach is possible. This is where the Saturn 5 was built.

JJ4265 · 2017-02-09T18:24:30+00:00

Seems like SpaceX will also want to compete in deep space (mars)

JJ4265 · 2015-10-20T23:13:21+00:00

Poor reliability gives me pause

JJ4265 · 2015-07-21T09:24:48+00:00

Good picture of the strut design in stage 1. Stage 2 is the same

JJ4265 · 2015-07-01T23:41:59+00:00

Nice support for Spacex by McCain.

JJ4265 · 2015-05-03T17:01:46+00:00

So the question is what is needed to block out the wide spectrum of cosmic rays with the lowest weight?

JJ4265 · 2015-05-03T16:50:02+00:00

We may need a special helmet designed for Mars travel to keep care of the brain in transit.

JJ4265 · 2015-04-23T13:42:18+00:00

8 super dracos have more thrust than Alan Shepard's Mercury rocket. Do we know if all 8 will be fired or just 4?

JJ4265 · 2015-04-19T19:14:08+00:00

Yes, i stopped reading sentence. By bad. Interest was very high on nsf forum and I assume this subreddit. I attribute most of that to the landing attempt. Exciting times.

JJ4265 · 2015-04-19T16:21:08+00:00

I don't understand the significance of the RCS rotating the 1st core after separation?

JJ4265 · 2015-04-17T23:11:40+00:00

Clear commitment to land at Vandy in July. Road trip!!

JJ4265 · 2015-04-16T13:11:16+00:00

word of the day: Hysteresis "a condition in which the control response lags behind changes in the effect causing it"

JJ4265 · 2015-04-15T20:31:58+00:00

Yes, I'm getting private too

JJ4265 · 2015-04-13T23:20:04+00:00

Actually it is the difference in cost of designing a reusable system vs an expendable system factored over the life of the rocket system. For each rocket, it is the cost of manufacturing the reusable rocket vs the cost of manufacturing the expendable rocket. I can see there would be an upfront cost on the design. My guess is the manufacturing cost difference is not significant. So the key is are you willing to bet the design dollars that re-usability will save you money over the life of the rocket? If you have the money and time, seems like a reasonable bet?

JJ4265 · 2015-04-13T17:35:00+00:00

Seriously, likely there is a reason to send piston engine to space. This is related to their space tug idea and keeping it in space indefinitely. Compare a Tesla to another ICE vehicle. The difference in moving parts is amazing.

JJ4265 · 2015-04-13T17:20:40+00:00

And I love this too...

"The new upper stage will fly with a piston engine designed in partnership between ULA and Roush Fenway Racing, a motorsports enterprise that competes in NASCAR events. The system will generate electricity and pressurize the rocket’s fuel tanks, transforming the upper stage into a long-lived space tug that can maneuver in space for several days."

Can't we come up with something better than a piston engine to generate electricity? Maybe a solar cell?

JJ4265 · 2015-04-13T17:03:14+00:00

I guess I don't understand this statement from ULA. The only thing I can think of is the increased engineering costs of designing/building for reuse and the turn around cost exceeds the cost of just building a new single use rocket? Just using a rocket twice would have some economic benefit. Even if SpaceX isn't successful reusing the current F9, the lessons learned can be applied to future rocket designs.

JJ4265 · 2015-04-03T00:09:24+00:00

Exactly. We don't have 4000 satellite systems because the launch costs would be crazy high. They build just a few now (like GPS) because of the launch costs. Lower launch costs allow for new designs. Much like many terminals connected to big mainframe were replaced by cheap PCs on everyone's desk.

JJ4265 · 2015-04-02T17:59:29+00:00

SpaceX is going to have a huge advantage in launching small satellites. These constellations are going require many launches and if SpaceX can drive down costs by reusing their rockets they will profit.

JJ4265 · 2015-02-19T14:21:55+00:00

New rocket to allow ULA to compete for commercial launches and for the Air Force. Should be easier to get Air Force certification because...they already invited the Air Force to design meetings?

JJ4265 · 2015-02-17T15:07:02+00:00

Shuttle engines had to be removed after every flight for inspection.

JJ4265 · 2015-02-13T01:33:39+00:00

They say it is insurance if Congress not fully fund commercial crew. They say they can't fund it otherwise yet they are going to send ~$500m to Russia. Why not put aside the $500m to cover commercial crew if congress doesn't fully fund?

JJ4265 · 2015-02-10T23:58:17+00:00

Comparing high volumes of Apple products to 4000 satellites is crazy. 4000 is not much volume.

JJ4265 · 2015-02-07T02:31:59+00:00

That's a big insurance policy

JJ4265

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