Scott Carpenter, Second American To Orbit Earth, Dies
I genuinely think that astronauts (and I mean those of all nationalities - I know they have different terms but I don't see the need to list them) are genuine heroes.
Sure, they get to experience something that's almost unique, and they get to see and do things that most people will never have - so there's definitely sufficient reward for them implicit in the work itself, let alone the motivations (such as advancing science) that drive these people.
Still, they make a huge sacrifice. For the duration of their active career they're putting their life on the line and spending most of their waking hours on a mission that is hazardous to their health. It's unsustainable for them, and that's why an astronaut's career tends to be rather short. The price they pay will be on them for the rest of their life.
I wish I could have been an astronaut, and I'm sure it's the dream of millions of people around the world. They do valuable work that advances us as a species, and in return they get to experience things that are literally out of this world. Some (most?) of them go on to a career of bringing those experiences back to this world, in the form of education and advocacy of science and technology. That latter adventure is probably as important and as rewarding as the one that took them on a precarious mission on a feeble bit of metal to a place (slightly) beyond the reach of the nurture of the planet that raised them.
In my opinion astronauts deserve all the praise they get and then some. They are heroes and pioneers, and hopefully they'll be remembered by the generations that reap the benefits of their groundwork in this fledgling field. They make huge sacrifices in order to take small steps forward for all of us.
edited 10th Oct '13 5:40:16 PM by BestOf
Quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur.Definitely. I'm aiming to do my best to support their stuff from the engineering side, but I could never do any kind of long term mission and as such really respect the courage and commitment they show in volunteering to be strapped into a tiny box inches from the most hostile environment known with limited food, water, and air and with little to no chance to fix anything that goes seriously wrong.
edited 11th Oct '13 12:02:50 AM by jaustin89
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"An Extra Vehicular Activity or EVA is when your Kerbals trust their lives to the chewing gum, duct tape, and prayers that comprise their (mostly) airtight suit, and exit the capsule to go enjoy a space walk."
While this is about Kerbal Space Program, it's not too inaccurate for early suits.
Off topic: SNL take on NASA shutdown
Warning: does not work outside US.
on a tablet, can't find the direct link, sorry
edited 13th Oct '13 1:32:11 PM by KnightOfNASA
How much does it cost to run a website really? I need their articles for a paper ;___;
Aaanyway, Juno managed to pull off its Earth flyby at last - meaning that it's halfway through the voyage to Jupiter at the moment. Even with 98% of their employees put on furlough, NASA still means business. Mad respect for the steely-eyed missile men.
One day, we will read his name in the news and cheer.Space X's VTVL rocket Grasshopper makes a 744m test.
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edited 14th Oct '13 6:01:46 AM by Achaemenid
Schild und Schwert der ParteiWatching science fiction become science fact: priceless.
Now we just need to land this thing on an alien world and demand that they take us to their leader. Seriously though, does anyone else have that feeling in the back of your head that a flying saucer capable of VTVL is somehow more plausible than a (relatively) thin rocket?
But that's a story for another time.@Kostya
In terms of fuel, yes, in terms of time, hell no. SpaceX clearly feel the advantages of reusability and rapid reuse outweigh the disadvantages of increased to fuel costs.
The older rockets simple let their discarded stages burn up or crash into the ocean, meaning they could only be used once. The shuttle SRBs had to be fished out the sea by specially designed ships, refurbished, and refilled, whilst the fuel tanks disintegrated over the Indian and Pacific oceans. By contract, the ultimate aim of the Space X reusable rocket launching system is to develop a multistage system that can return the first stage to the launchpad in minutes and the second stage within 24 hours, with both stages being ready to fire again within "single-digit hours".
Just about the only space project that promises something more time efficient that that is the REL Skylon
, which is a hell of a lot more ambitions and hasn't even built a prototype engine yet.
Could well be cheaper too, as recovery costs will be far less.
Vetical Takeoff Vertical Landing
edited 14th Oct '13 10:30:43 AM by Achaemenid
Schild und Schwert der ParteiThe time efficiency thing is a good point, but could just as easily be addressed by adding a parachute system robust enough to land it passively. There's just no way an active landing like that will ever be more efficient overall on any planet with a half decent atmosphere.
I have a feeling they're using this as an early test bed for a lunar lander, getting the software and stuff working, otherwise it just doesn't make sense.
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Wouldn't that still entail having to go all the way downrange to pick the thing up? Not to mention, you're completely at the mercy of the wind when parachutes are involved.
I think the basic idea of SpaceX's plan is that eventually the benefits of re-using launch stages will outweigh the costs of the extra fuel and recovery.
EDIT: The idea is that they're going to try to use it to drive the costs of launching LEO satellites. The plan is to try to recover the first stage on the next flight of their Falcon 9
rocket in February.
edited 14th Oct '13 11:02:11 AM by Achaemenid
Schild und Schwert der Parteiedited 14th Oct '13 11:00:36 AM by Meklar
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Whether it actually does save money is a bit of a wait-and-see thing for now though. The reasoning for why this system is better than just dropping bits off or using parachutes seems solid at least. They only need to pay for the gas needed to refuel the rocket, and much less on any trucks or ships that would be needed to recover it otherwise. On top of the saving from reusing material instead of letting it burn up in reentry or fall into the sea.
Something to do with needing to tip the rocket at some point and wings not being very aerodynamic for a vertical takeoff?
edited 14th Oct '13 11:05:15 AM by AnSTH
But that's a story for another time.

It doesn't seem to be a slingshot, in short. A dust-cloud-clump couldn't even manage brown dwarf mode when it started to gain enough spin to do interesting things with...
edited 9th Oct '13 4:30:16 PM by Euodiachloris