Posted in Bigelow Aerospace, Commercial Space, ESAS, Launch Vehicles, Lunar Commerce, Lunar Exploration and Development, MSS, NASA, Propellant Depots, Space Transportation, SpaceX on Jun 28th, 2009
Ok, two weeks ago, I mentioned that the “pre-depot” dual EELV launch concept my friend had passed to me could be adapted to do manned lunar missions. Lunar missions are a lot easier to close if you assume a depot in LEO (and even easier if there’s also a small depot at L2). But it [...]
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I recently found a fun presentation on lunar excavation technologies that I thought deserved a bit wider circulation. I’ve actually been interested in lunar excavation for over a decade now (in fact, it played a role in leading me to my thesis topic, but that’s a post for another day), and I think that this [...]
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Posted in Administrivia on Jun 27th, 2009
In case some of you are wondering why I’ve managed to blog four times today, I dropped Tiff and the boys off at the airport yesterday to go spend a month with her family. I’ll be batching it for the next three weeks, then joining them either right before or right after NewSpace 2009.
My [...]
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Posted in Fun on Jun 27th, 2009
For your amusement, Ben explains:
I’ve found that the difference between “screwing around with heavy equipment” and “science” is whether or not you record the results with a high speed camera. This principal has been repeatedly demonstrated by the Mythbusters.
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Posted in Administrivia on Jun 27th, 2009
FWIW, I just noticed today that last week (on the 16th) was the four year anniversary of me starting this blog. I can’t say my readership is that high compared to some, but nearly 300,000 hits and over 600 published articles over the past four years is still pretty impressive to me. I’m not as [...]
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Posted in ESAS, NASA, Space Transportation on Jun 27th, 2009
A few years ago, I asked the question of “how many crew do you really need for a lunar program?“ The conclusion was that if you could reduce the crew requirements (at least initially), it might allow for a much more capable, affordable, and flexible architecture. And you’d eventually be back up to 4 or [...]
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Posted in Launch Vehicles, NASA on Jun 24th, 2009
With yet another episode of “let’s-just-quote-Jorge-Frank-because-he-puts-it-so-much-better-than-I-could”. In response to a comment about how the problem with Shuttle was that it tried to be everything to everyone, Jorge said:
That was an effect, not a cause. The cause was the decision to make the shuttle an operational, rather than an experimental vehicle. This was key. An experimental [...]
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Posted in Uncategorized on Jun 21st, 2009
guest blogger john hare
The multiple problems of solid rocket first stages would lead one to believe that the people that specified them would change their minds after they sobered up. That not being the case, it is somewhat interesting to think of ways to make it work anyway. The primary problems seem to be, excessive [...]
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Posted in Uncategorized on Jun 19th, 2009
guest blogger john hare
I have been reading about some of the financial numbers and technical problems of the Aries I for the last couple of weeks with more interest than usual. The idea that $8B has been spent already, and that total cost to first flight is projected to be $35B just boggles my mind. The [...]
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I noticed during the DIRECT presentation at today’s HSF public meeting, that they were asked why they would need an HLV if they had depots. Now, I didn’t hear the exact question, since I had a phone call come in just a few minutes earlier (ironically enough from one of my friends in the depot [...]
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