Showing posts with label SpaceX. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SpaceX. Show all posts
Monday, February 22, 2010
Falcon 9 Photos are in!
I have only had two readers and those accidental, but for you my accidental readers I post this link. Someone has been able to get some nice shots of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket vertical at launch complex 40. It looks very lovely with the Dragon test article sitting atop. I wonder how they will eventually get astronauts into the capsule.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Falcon 9 Vertical
The first flight ready Falcon 9 rocket from Space Exploration technologies is now vertical at the cape! The link I provided does a much better job than I could explaining all the details. SpaceX should have a static fire complete in the next week or so. That is of course baring any set backs. Exciting stuff. We are inching closer to that unknown date when that beautiful bird finally flies. I hope SpaceX publishes some video of the roll out. Geeks like me love that stuff. A nice night shot at the pad would be welcome as well.
Friday, February 12, 2010
New room and hardware delivered
Tranquility is officially attached to the International space station! I stayed up last night watching Canada Arm2 slowly arc from the Endeavor's payload bay to the common berthing mechanism on Node 1. Beautiful stuff.
In other wondrous news. SpaceX has now moved all the necessary pieces of the Falcon 9 puzzle to the cape launch complex 40. Let the assembly begin. The inaugural launch should be showing up on a monitor near you (and hopefully me) sometime in the next 1 to 4 months. I wish they could be a little more specific. Actually they are. They report launch 1 - 3 months after hardware integration is complete, but they completely neglect to project how long that integration might take.
In the mean time head over to Russel Blink's Photo stream on flickr an see if you can figure out just what Armadillo Aerospace is up to with it's trusty pixel craft. From the looks of it, they have modified the craft from an alcohol / lox rocket to a methane / lox configuration. The give-away is the new application of insulation on all four propellant tanks. Methane is cryogenic. Alcohol is not. They also added more robust landing gear. My assumption is that Armadillo is under contract with NASA to demonstrate a methane powered lander and is looking to pixel to fulfill that requirement while they use their modular vehicles for in-house differential throttling and multi-engine work.
In other wondrous news. SpaceX has now moved all the necessary pieces of the Falcon 9 puzzle to the cape launch complex 40. Let the assembly begin. The inaugural launch should be showing up on a monitor near you (and hopefully me) sometime in the next 1 to 4 months. I wish they could be a little more specific. Actually they are. They report launch 1 - 3 months after hardware integration is complete, but they completely neglect to project how long that integration might take.
In the mean time head over to Russel Blink's Photo stream on flickr an see if you can figure out just what Armadillo Aerospace is up to with it's trusty pixel craft. From the looks of it, they have modified the craft from an alcohol / lox rocket to a methane / lox configuration. The give-away is the new application of insulation on all four propellant tanks. Methane is cryogenic. Alcohol is not. They also added more robust landing gear. My assumption is that Armadillo is under contract with NASA to demonstrate a methane powered lander and is looking to pixel to fulfill that requirement while they use their modular vehicles for in-house differential throttling and multi-engine work.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Why we need a successful Falcon 9 Launch soon
The real excitement in the face of Obama's budget changes at NASA is the opportunity for privet companies to fill the void with launch services and destinations. The premier destination at the moment is obviously the International Space Station or ISS, but with two successful pathfinder projects on orbit, there is little reason to doubt that Bigelow aerospace will be able to build it's own working space station for hire.
What is not as clear is whether there will transportation available to get to either location. The big source of excitement under NASA's new direction is the possibility that America may get a transportation solution soon in the form of a COTS D option in SpaceX's contract. Many pardons to the other companies looking at various solutions to deliver crew to orbit, but Space Exploration technologies is the only serious player at this point. No one else has demonstrated a wish to do more than get funding for studies at this point. Not that I doubt Boeing's or Orbital's ability only that they have not demostrated a willingness to forge ahead with or without a solid contract from NASA. SpaceX on the other hand built from day one with goal of transporting astronauts. They are quite simply our current best hope, not just because they already have hardware, but because as a company they are committed.
Now here is the rub. While it is fun to hear Elon Musk make bold claims as to what his company is capable, they have zero launch history on their proposed rocket. I have every reason to believe that they will succeed but it is hard to get a nation and funding behind you when you only have calculations and ground tests to point to. I am an engineer and mathematician. I believe the calculations and SpaceX has no bigger fan, but it is time to do away with that nagging feeling of "what if it does not work." As NASA plans out it's (and our) future it would help if they had something from the commercial sector to hang their hat on.
A successful Falcon 9 launch would shush the naysayers (although I am sure some will still play the safety card early and often) and instill a sense of excitement in the public, those that pay attention at any rate. I am sure that the COTS D option or some equivalent will follow a successful launch within a few months. Unless of course they send up an other round of bidding, which in my view would be a waste of time.
I am sure SpaceX realizes what is riding on their maiden launch and are doing their very best to balance timeliness with being fully prepared. Failure would be an anchor we don't need. But failure would allow for a confident turn around to the next launch. Here's to a quick and successful launch. All the best to SpaceX and Falcon 9
What is not as clear is whether there will transportation available to get to either location. The big source of excitement under NASA's new direction is the possibility that America may get a transportation solution soon in the form of a COTS D option in SpaceX's contract. Many pardons to the other companies looking at various solutions to deliver crew to orbit, but Space Exploration technologies is the only serious player at this point. No one else has demonstrated a wish to do more than get funding for studies at this point. Not that I doubt Boeing's or Orbital's ability only that they have not demostrated a willingness to forge ahead with or without a solid contract from NASA. SpaceX on the other hand built from day one with goal of transporting astronauts. They are quite simply our current best hope, not just because they already have hardware, but because as a company they are committed.
Now here is the rub. While it is fun to hear Elon Musk make bold claims as to what his company is capable, they have zero launch history on their proposed rocket. I have every reason to believe that they will succeed but it is hard to get a nation and funding behind you when you only have calculations and ground tests to point to. I am an engineer and mathematician. I believe the calculations and SpaceX has no bigger fan, but it is time to do away with that nagging feeling of "what if it does not work." As NASA plans out it's (and our) future it would help if they had something from the commercial sector to hang their hat on.
A successful Falcon 9 launch would shush the naysayers (although I am sure some will still play the safety card early and often) and instill a sense of excitement in the public, those that pay attention at any rate. I am sure that the COTS D option or some equivalent will follow a successful launch within a few months. Unless of course they send up an other round of bidding, which in my view would be a waste of time.
I am sure SpaceX realizes what is riding on their maiden launch and are doing their very best to balance timeliness with being fully prepared. Failure would be an anchor we don't need. But failure would allow for a confident turn around to the next launch. Here's to a quick and successful launch. All the best to SpaceX and Falcon 9
Monday, February 1, 2010
First Rant
Hello folks,
I scan the news everyday to see what is coming and going on in space exploration. Today the answer is "not much". This is thanks to a new white house budget proposal that would completely put the breaks on project constellation, a project formed with the goal of returning us to the moon by 2020. It appears that this is not going to happen.
Now as always my hat is off to NASA. They have caught the short end of a flailing stick ever since the the last of the Saturn V rockets were mothballed by a short sighted Nixon. It is amazing to see the successes that NASA has been able to produce amid ridiculous requirements and changes foisted on them yearly by a fickle government.
I am not saying that the new plan of fostering commercial alternatives, international partnerships and new technologies is a bad plan. It can be quite exciting. The major flaw with it, however, is that we already have a plan. A plan that was going to take sixteen years to realize. That plan was not perfect either, it came at the expense of fostering private industry as a stand-alone option, but it was still doable and even laudable. What is more, we are already part way done.
NASA needs a goal, a tangible and measurable goal. They need the freedom to accomplish the goal that they are assigned before being set haring after the next shiny target. In 2004 George Bush gave them one, a base on the moon. The new mandate seems to be that NASA needs to return to it's status as a cash cow.
On the flip side I am happy for companies, like Spacex, Orbital Sciences, Bigelow Aerospace, and the Boeing Company. I would be happy to see them branch into orbital crew services, but NASA does not need a budget increase to accomplish that. Not if Constellation is getting killed. SpaceX needs $300 - $400 million to develop and test a launch escape system. Boeing would probably need $1billion. This of course if they are given a COTS like contract structure that passes some risk to the company.
I expect we will get some kind of mixed bag of policies once Congress sinks there teeth into the budget. They will try to find a way to maintain a bloated shuttle workforce during a time when there is no shuttle. I hope that the result is less messy than it looks like right now. Most of all I hope that one day NASA gets some kind of autonomy and goal protection between changing administrations.
I scan the news everyday to see what is coming and going on in space exploration. Today the answer is "not much". This is thanks to a new white house budget proposal that would completely put the breaks on project constellation, a project formed with the goal of returning us to the moon by 2020. It appears that this is not going to happen.
Now as always my hat is off to NASA. They have caught the short end of a flailing stick ever since the the last of the Saturn V rockets were mothballed by a short sighted Nixon. It is amazing to see the successes that NASA has been able to produce amid ridiculous requirements and changes foisted on them yearly by a fickle government.
I am not saying that the new plan of fostering commercial alternatives, international partnerships and new technologies is a bad plan. It can be quite exciting. The major flaw with it, however, is that we already have a plan. A plan that was going to take sixteen years to realize. That plan was not perfect either, it came at the expense of fostering private industry as a stand-alone option, but it was still doable and even laudable. What is more, we are already part way done.
NASA needs a goal, a tangible and measurable goal. They need the freedom to accomplish the goal that they are assigned before being set haring after the next shiny target. In 2004 George Bush gave them one, a base on the moon. The new mandate seems to be that NASA needs to return to it's status as a cash cow.
On the flip side I am happy for companies, like Spacex, Orbital Sciences, Bigelow Aerospace, and the Boeing Company. I would be happy to see them branch into orbital crew services, but NASA does not need a budget increase to accomplish that. Not if Constellation is getting killed. SpaceX needs $300 - $400 million to develop and test a launch escape system. Boeing would probably need $1billion. This of course if they are given a COTS like contract structure that passes some risk to the company.
I expect we will get some kind of mixed bag of policies once Congress sinks there teeth into the budget. They will try to find a way to maintain a bloated shuttle workforce during a time when there is no shuttle. I hope that the result is less messy than it looks like right now. Most of all I hope that one day NASA gets some kind of autonomy and goal protection between changing administrations.
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