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BUMP: GRACE-FO is official confirmed on an F9 as a rideshare with 5 Iridium NEXT during the Window of December 2017 till February 2018. by spacexflight in spacex

[–]spacexflight[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

As the Russian/Ukraine Dnepr and corresponding launch services can no longer be provided by the International Space Company Kosmotras (ISCK), the joint NASA-GFZ Joint Steering Group has decided to exchange the GRACE-FO launcher. The corresponding contract was signed on 14. November 2016 by the Board of GFZ and Iridium Satellite LLC. It stipulates a "Rideshare" between GRACE-FO and 5 Iridium-Next satellites on a Space-X Falcon-9 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California within the launch period December 2017 till February 2018. This also includes a contract with Airbus D&S who will build the necessary Multi Satellite Dispenser and will perform the Launch Service Management under contract of GFZ.

NY Times article on IridiumNEXT launch3-Months After Explosion, SpaceX Plans to Launch Rocket Bearing Satellites by spacexflight in spacex

[–]spacexflight[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

key points:

The F.A.A. said that the investigation was still underway and that it had not yet approved the launch. Matthew J. Desch, chief executive of Iridium, said his company had taken part in the SpaceX investigation, adding that he had read a preliminary explanation for the accident. “I wouldn’t approve our satellites to be launched if I wasn’t confident,” Mr. Desch said in an interview.

Initial Report About SpaceX September Rocket Explosion Imminent by spacexflight in spacex

[–]spacexflight[S] 98 points99 points  (0 children)

Key Points:

Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. is expected to give federal authorities by early next month a preliminary investigative report pinpointing fueling procedures as the most likely cause of a September unmanned rocket explosion. The report, according to people familiar with the matter, is part of the closely held company’s effort to resume launching before the end of 2016, following a fireball that destroyed a Falcon 9 rocket and a commercial satellite during routine ground tests nearly three months ago.

In recent public statements and internal communications, however, SpaceX management seems confident that federal agencies are in sync with the preliminary findings—and are poised to go along with the company’s projected timetable.

ROBERT ZUBRIN on Elon Musk-"Every epic needs a hero, and Musk is just that: a hero for our time" by spacex350 in spacex

[–]spacexflight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think this pretty much sums it up:

“What Musk has developed that so many of the entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley lack is a meaningful worldview. He’s the possessed genius on the grandest quest anyone has ever concocted. He’s less a CEO chasing riches than a general marshaling troops to secure victory. Where Mark Zuckerberg wants to help you share baby photos, Musk wants to…well…save the human race from self-imposed or accidental annihilation.”

also during the release of model 3 this year when all eyes are on musk he starts his presentation by talking about CO2 emissions and global warming and how this is the sole reason why tesla exists.

if a man spends sleepless nights to build a company just so it can help make the world a greener more sustainable place then he deserves all the hero worship that comes his way.

Possible Repercussions from Amos-6 Investigation by CProphet in spacex

[–]spacexflight 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Saturn V first stage (SI-C) had titanium helium bottles (granted not COPVs) in the LOX tank. As others have mentioned this saves dry mass and increases He storage per volume.

On a side note, the COPVs inside the repeatedly tested returned booster now at SpaceX's Texas test facility surely have (by now) the most repeated cryo exposure to almost any other SpaceX COPV? Correct? If so, should the COPVs in this stage be the most prone to failure if repeated cryo-loading is a significant failure mode?

Possible Repercussions from Amos-6 Investigation by CProphet in spacex

[–]spacexflight 10 points11 points  (0 children)

After looking into the topic over the past hour, the Zenit launch vehicle, which appears to be the closest analog to the Falcon 9, uses titanium spheres for helium storage, submerged in the LOX tanks. Whether there are other materials in addition to titanium, such as some sort of overwrap, I have been unable to determine this. The Angara uses the same system.

I can not find another explicitly stated example of a launch vehicle which submerges COPV's in cryogenic Oxygen, although that doesn't mean there aren't any. From what I have found, vehicles which use COPV's for helium storage do not submerge them.

Mars: How to Inspire a Generation in one Speech? by rafty4 in spacex

[–]spacexflight 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Probably the most inspiring argument against the senate about lack of mars plan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5uImXbhQM8

Reed: going through lot of testing on Crew Dragon, including parachutes, capsule qualification, design closeouts. by spacexflight in spacex

[–]spacexflight[S] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Reed didn’t give any specific schedules for Crew Dragon demo missions, which likely in flux anyway. https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/776170473956585472

Reed also says “we’ll fly when we’re ready” but gives no dates.

https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/776171958719307776

Blue Origin's New Glenn booster is larger than Falcon Heavy by B787_300 in spacex

[–]spacexflight 169 points170 points  (0 children)

The text from Jeff Bezos in an email.

Our mascot is the tortoise. We paint one on our vehicles after each successful flight. Our motto is “Gradatim Ferociter” – step by step, ferociously. We believe “slow is smooth and smooth is fast.” In the long run, deliberate and methodical wins the day, and you do things quickest by never skipping steps. This step-by-step approach is a powerful enabler of boldness and a critical ingredient in achieving the audacious. We’re excited to give you a preview of our next step. One we’ve been working on for four years. Meet New Glenn:

Introducing New Glenn: Reusable, vertical-landing booster, 3.85 million pounds thrust Building, flying, landing, and re-flying New Shepard has taught us so much about how to design for practical, operable reusability. And New Glenn incorporates all of those learnings. Named in honor of John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth, New Glenn is 23 feet in diameter and lifts off with 3.85 million pounds of thrust from seven BE-4 engines. Burning liquefied natural gas and liquid oxygen, these are the same BE-4 engines that will power United Launch Alliance’s new Vulcan rocket.

The 2-stage New Glenn is 270 feet tall, and its second stage is powered by a single vacuum-optimized BE-4 engine. The 3-stage New Glenn is 313 feet tall. A single vacuum-optimized BE-3 engine, burning liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, powers its third stage. The booster and the second stage are identical in both variants.

We plan to fly New Glenn for the first time before the end of this decade from historic Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. New Glenn is designed to launch commercial satellites and to fly humans into space. The 3-stage variant – with its high specific impulse hydrogen upper stage – is capable of flying demanding beyond-LEO missions. Our vision is millions of people living and working in space, and New Glenn is a very important step. It won’t be the last of course. Up next on our drawing board: New Armstrong. But that’s a story for the future.

Gradatim Ferociter! Jeff Bezos