Space Launches, Landings & Destinations v4

[The Anti-Targ]

This is good and all, but all that money is really not all that much money. If very rich people want to promote STEM learning then they should be using their power and influence to demand fully funded public schools (globally) that provide good facilities and equipment, good pay and conditions to attract people to the teaching profession, have lower student:teacher ratios, decent housing and access to nutritious food. And pay their own workers a decent income with decent benefits so at least their kids will have a decent chance at a good education.

AS well as donating to clubs and societies dedicated to promoting STEM learning.

[SpaceChampion]

Quote

NASA's FY 2002 budget request includes a $27 million increase in STEM education budget. Blue Origin just donated $19 million to 19 non-profit groups for the express purpose of STEM education - after you consider other things that the agency is on the hook for, the gift is of approximately equal value. An hour later Blue Origin made another, immense donation to the Smithsonian - $130 million of which goes to the Air & Space Museum to support STEM education.

http://nasawatch.com/archives/2021/07/nasa-ignores-an.html

 

[SpaceChampion]

A friend sent this documentary he filmed for National Geographic years ago about Wally Funk.

http://spaceksc.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-myth-of-mercury-13.html

There wasn't an actual Mercury 13 program to select female astronauts, but it's become a myth:

Quote

Funk was one of a group of woman aviators who were invited around 1960 by Dr. William Randolph Lovelace II to undergo some of the same tests taken by the Project Mercury astronaut candidates in late 1958.

Over the decades, Dr. Lovelace's research was largely forgotten until a film producer named James Cross made a documentary about the group, whom he dubbed the “Mercury 13.”

According to an October 23, 1998 Orlando Sentinel article:

It was Cross who dubbed the women “The Mercury 13,” although they were never actually affiliated with NASA.

The documentary began a mythology that the women were part of a secret NASA program that was stopped by unnamed nefarious forces simply because “they” didn't want to see a woman go to space.

 

[ithanos]

Seems cliche to say it but I wish nothing but a successful flight for the crew onboard Blue Origin New Sheppard NS-16!  

[Loge]

7 minutes ago, ithanos said:

Seems cliche to say it but I wish nothing but a successful flight for the crew onboard Blue Origin New Sheppard NS-16!  

Ain't no such thing as a crew there. Only passengers. 

[ithanos]

43 minutes ago, Loge said:

Ain't no such thing as a crew there. Only passengers. 

Then its an elevator ride, with a view. My sentiment is, I hope its a safe trip.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

So everything went off without a hitch. That capsule seems awfully small though for four people to float around in.

[SpaceChampion]

 

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

28 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

So everything went off without a hitch. That capsule seems awfully small though for four people to float around in.

Particularly if someone loses their breakfast.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

1 hour ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

Particularly if someone loses their breakfast.

Imagine trying to get that refund.

[SpaceChampion]

 

[Free Northman Reborn]

Just a reminder of comparative scale here:

SpaceX Starship on the left, Blue Origin’s New Shepard 2nd from the left.

 

[The Anti-Targ]

Blue origin: the smallest AND the one that most looks like human male genitalia in a state of arousal.

I wonder if Bezos knew exactly what he was saying when he said Amazon employees paid for this flight?

[SpaceChampion]

The judgment in the protest from Blue Origin of the Lunar Lander development contract might be coming soon, and most of the speculation from journalists who have heard whispers expect bad news for Bezos.  He also seems to be expecting bad news, because he lobbed a Hail Mary with a letter to NASA with a sudden offer to pay himself for the first $2 billion+ if Blue Origin and the National team are awarded a contract for the development of a 2nd lunar lander prototype.  The original bid was for $6 billion.

This is really unprecedented, and people are scratching their heads on whether it is even legal.  Former NASA Deputy Admin Lori Garver says it can't be ignored but the contract should not be reopened because it would overturn all procurement contract law with the bad precedent that if you lose a bid you can just bid something else after the fact while freezing the government from taking action when considering your protest.  She suggested the offer should be considered for a follow-on competition, the Lunar Exploration Transportation Services program (the program to actually use the landers in the Artemis program).  The development contract which SpaceX won is to pay for the modifications of Starship, and is designed to lead directly to LETS.  So in essence, Blue Origin and any other competitor for LETS would have to pay wholly for their own development and try to win the contrast at much risk at the later exploration stage.

Reminder -- SpaceX lunar lander payload capacity: 100 tonnes
vs.             -- The National Team's payload capacity to the moon: 850 kg.

I think Blue Origin should pay the whole $6 billion development cost themselves or design a cheaper and more capable lander based on New Glenn.  Get the BE-4 engines working ASAP or it's all moot.  The National Team's bid is a dead-end development pathway, with vastly less payload capacity than Starship.  Blue Origin needs considerable attention to revamp it's internal culture, otherwise any money given to it is a waste.  The richest man in the world can pay for all that himself so stop being a crybaby about it.

[SpaceChampion]

Oh, I forgot to mention earlier the contract for Europa Clipper was awarded to SpaceX to launch on Falcon Heavy.  The SLS block 1 cargo variant was intended to launch it originally, but it seems NASA realized spending billions to upgrade SLS for a single launch was not a wise use of funds.

Quote

LOS ANGELES, July 23 (Reuters) - Elon Musk's private rocket company SpaceX was awarded a $178 million launch services contract for NASA's first mission focusing on Jupiter's icy moon Europa and whether it may host conditions suitable for life, the space agency said on Friday.

The Europa Clipper mission is due for blastoff in October 2024 on a Falcon Heavy rocket owned by Musk's company, Space Exploration Technologies Corp, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA said in a statement posted online.

 

[ithanos]

14 hours ago, SpaceChampion said:

The judgment in the protest from Blue Origin of the Lunar Lander development contract might be coming soon, and most of the speculation from journalists who have heard whispers expect bad news for Bezos.  He also seems to be expecting bad news, because he lobbed a Hail Mary with a letter to NASA with a sudden offer to pay himself for the first $2 billion+ if Blue Origin and the National team are awarded a contract for the development of a 2nd lunar lander prototype.  The original bid was for $6 billion.

This is really unprecedented, and people are scratching their heads on whether it is even legal. 

This was my thought when I first heard about this.

14 hours ago, SpaceChampion said:

Reminder -- SpaceX lunar lander payload capacity: 100 tonnes

vs.             -- The National Team's payload capacity to the moon: 850 kg.

Had to read to this twice before kg registered,

[A wilding]

13 hours ago, SpaceChampion said:

Oh, I forgot to mention earlier the contract for Europa Clipper was awarded to SpaceX to launch on Falcon Heavy.  The SLS block 1 cargo variant was intended to launch it originally, but it seems NASA realized spending billions to upgrade SLS for a single launch was not a wise use of funds.

I was about to post that myself. What got me was the clinching factor for the decision. Apparently it was not the fact that the SpaceX option is an order of magnitude or so cheaper, despite the fact it will be a Falcon Heavy and that the need to give the payload a big boost means that they won't be able to recover any of the cores. It was down to them discovering that the shaking of an SLS payload on launch is significantly greater than was being admitted to, and the Europa Clipper would not have coped with it.

You have to wonder whether the SLS is ever going to get off the ground (sorry) now.

 

[SpaceChampion]

4 hours ago, A wilding said:

You have to wonder whether the SLS is ever going to get off the ground (sorry) now.

I'm been doubtful it would ever since it was announced.  They wanted to use all this technology with Space Shuttle "heritage", and then broke that rationalization with changing it so that every part is new development.

Blue Origin does seem to have a fire under it's belly now.  But their successes if they have any won't be in time 2024 landings.  I wish they'd get on with it and stop trying to derail their chief competitor who is actually accomplishing what is needed.

 

[SpaceChampion]

Meanwhile rumour is Musk is calling all hands on deck for the orbital launch attempt of Starship

While Musk is always in a rush, at a guess this might have to do with launching something to orbit before NASA finishes the Lunar Landing development contract protest review.  Something like 200 employees from Florida and California are converging on Starbase to lend them hands.  I'd expect they're working there in shifts 24/7.

Booster 3 (formerly BN3 -- i wish Elon would stop changing the designation system!) is not going to be used for the orbital attempt as previously planned.  I suppose they found another step they needed to do first.  Booster 4 will be the one paired with Starship SN20 for a full stack launch.

Booster 3 did undergo a static fire last week with 3 engines for 2 seconds, and Musk talked about doing another one with 9 engines,  but the same source above says all work on Booster 3 has stopped.

We'll see what happens in 10 days.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

On 7/27/2021 at 1:24 PM, SpaceChampion said:

Meanwhile rumour is Musk is calling all hands on deck for the orbital launch attempt of Starship

While Musk is always in a rush, at a guess this might have to do with launching something to orbit before NASA finishes the Lunar Landing development contract protest review.  Something like 200 employees from Florida and California are converging on Starbase to lend them hands.  I'd expect they're working there in shifts 24/7.

Booster 3 (formerly BN3 -- i wish Elon would stop changing the designation system!) is not going to be used for the orbital attempt as previously planned.  I suppose they found another step they needed to do first.  Booster 4 will be the one paired with Starship SN20 for a full stack launch.

Booster 3 did undergo a static fire last week with 3 engines for 2 seconds, and Musk talked about doing another one with 9 engines,  but the same source above says all work on Booster 3 has stopped.

We'll see what happens in 10 days.

What is Bezos attempting to accomplish.  SpaceX has performed again and again.  Blue Origin hasn’t made it to orbit yet.  Why would NASA go with Blue Origin?