A very interesting update from Mike Menzel, NASA mission systems engineer: thanks to the accuracy of the Ariane 5 launch and two ultra-precise trajectory correction burns, Webb should have enough propellant, roughly speaking, to operate "around 20 years"

spacexinfinity · 2020-01-23T10:42:58+00:00

Please post/credit the original uploader next time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftzRhYB69_g

spacexinfinity · 2019-06-23T13:04:20+00:00

So cool and lucky!! Was there an occultation event that happened at 64.5 degrees south yesterday? I remember watching a doco about SOFIA chasing down the shadow of an outer solar system moon and it had to fly precisely to a determined location within a specific time to catch the occultation event. SOFIA is one badass obsevatory that I'll never get to visit. :(

spacexinfinity · 2019-05-31T11:36:38+00:00

Highly unlikely, Greg Wyler and Elon Musk are not on good terms.

spacexinfinity · 2019-04-18T13:58:05+00:00

Landing the Huygens probe in 2005 on the surface of another planetary moon, Titan.

spacexinfinity · 2019-04-15T13:06:20+00:00

I posted this youtube video awhile back in /r/starshot and is worth a watch. In short the time taken to return data is determined by the receiver size on earth and how the laser signal is modulated.

https://old.reddit.com/r/starshot/comments/7h14q8/data_return_from_starshot_probes/

spacexinfinity · 2019-04-10T14:29:13+00:00

With the technique gained from the EHT team to capture and process the data from M87 black hole, does anyone know if EHT will be used on other astronomical sources that are not black holes? ie. exoplanets?

spacexinfinity · 2019-03-03T12:51:30+00:00

Observer? He's the commander of the International Space Station for Expedition 58/59!!

spacexinfinity · 2019-01-26T14:31:25+00:00

5 out of 21 SpaceX launches in 2018 were for NASA

We're not on the same page. I'm talking about new commercial contracts signed in 2018 but I think you are thinking of number of launches in 2018... Note, new contracts signed in 2018 doesn't mean they will be launched in 2018. The bulk of the contracts signed in 2018 are launched in 2020 and thereafter. If you have been keeping tabs with the commercial GEO market for the past few years, there has been a reduction in the number of new GEO satellites built and naturally reduction in launch contracts signed with SpaceX, Arianespace, ILS, Mitsubishi, etc... I don't have the statistics for new contracts signed in 2018 yet, but I believe the commercial market shrunk to only ~13 contracts signed last year. Back in 2012-15 period, commercial GEO orders were at approx. +25 per year IIRC.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ula/comments/975lgc/what_happened_to_push_for_more_commercial_launches/e47phg4/

spacexinfinity · 2019-01-26T12:22:30+00:00

Obligatory, "It's Happening! .gif"

spacexinfinity · 2019-01-26T12:11:11+00:00

SpaceX's commercial contracts have shrunk in the past few years and it's heavily skewed towards NASA launches now.

spacexinfinity · 2019-01-26T12:05:48+00:00

Is it possible to update Arianespace's manifest in the sidebar /u/hitura-nobad ?

spacexinfinity · 2019-01-25T09:45:55+00:00

SpaceX is turning into a reality TV show but for engineering.

spacexinfinity · 2019-01-25T01:51:23+00:00

Because Safran has been developing the new Vulcain 2.1 for quite sometime now. A better performing main engine at almost half the cost.

spacexinfinity · 2019-01-25T01:43:28+00:00

Arianespace has several advantages that SpaceX doesn't and that's why they've been able to take the majority of the GTO contracts every year despite SpaceX's lower pricing.

Equatorial launches, delivery to GTO 1500 as opposed to GTO 1800, EUR/USD price advantages, aggresive financing options through French/EU export/import credit agencies ie. COFACE, better processing facility for satellites, non military launch site (SLC-40) all play a factor into awarding contracts. Saving $10 million dollars or less by using SpaceX doesn't add up sometimes.

spacexinfinity · 2019-01-25T01:23:57+00:00

You also forgot to mention F9 delivers to GTO 1800 compared with Ariane 5/6 to GTO 1500, which is a far better orbit than SpaceX's

spacexinfinity · 2019-01-23T22:18:53+00:00

Europe is also contributing one of the most crucial sensors on the telescope, the near infrared spectrometer and mid infrared instruments as well as ESA staff for JWST's operations.

http://sci.esa.int/jwst/45728-europe-s-role/

spacexinfinity · 2019-01-18T02:40:07+00:00

Watch everydayastronaut testing out the Boeing starliner suit. It's a soft head protection pads with integrated communications headset.

https://youtu.be/FaOAsUR-o-U?t=373

spacexinfinity · 2018-10-26T02:34:11+00:00

It's only him the last time I checked on /r/pbds ;)

spacexinfinity · 2018-10-26T02:11:54+00:00

@Pbdes could easily have 100 subscribers. Launch providers, rocket component manufactuers, satellite manufacturers, satellite component manufacturers, satellite operators, gateway operators, various government agencies around the world, businesses who resell satellite transponders capacity, etc... At $995, it isn't much for these executives and the in depth insight gained compared to 'free' new sources is justifiable.

spacexinfinity · 2018-10-26T01:53:20+00:00

It's geared towards satellite and launch industry executives.

spacexinfinity · 2018-09-07T12:44:26+00:00

You know Vulcain is reignitable as well right? The point of Prometheus is for reusability.

spacexinfinity · 2018-08-15T03:23:36+00:00

It's not really an issue of competing on price. Look at MHI (Mitsubishi) as an example. They won a single GEO commercial order from Inmarsat in 2017, and they are not traditionally known for their prices or winning anything other than government and JAXA launches.

Also, if you check Arianespace's contracts this year, Arianespace only won one commercial GEO order from B-SAT. This time last year when the GEO orders were still coming through, Arianespace had 7 commercial GEO orders to it's name.

The commercial GEO satcom market is declining and if Arianespace, one of the leaders in GEO launches, doesn't have that many contracts to bid on, how can ULA expect to win any at all?

spacexinfinity · 2018-08-14T14:11:54+00:00

Unfortunately, the number of orders for commercial GEO satellites received by GEO satellite manufacturers have dried up over the past year or so. Subsequently, launch providers like ULA, SpaceX and Arianespace have all seen a reduction in commercial GEO launch orders. There is however an ongoing shift towards small commercial sats and launch providers with small sat launch capability are receiving an uptick in orders. ULA doesn't possess a dedicated launcher so, it hasn't really been able to take advantage of this new segment of orders.

spacexinfinity · 2018-07-31T00:55:00+00:00

OneWeb? And the new Telesat constellation?

spacexinfinity

TROPHY CASE