There’s going to be a bit of a delay before I post part two of my series about Bigelow’s chosen trajectory. I got an email from one of my sources at LM with a higher resolution version of their ground track trace, but it appeared to be different from the one shown in the Lockheed paper on L2. They may have changed the trajectory slightly for one reason or another. I want to make sure I have the latest info before I post anything and embarass myself.
Also, if they did change it, I’ll need to go back and reanalyze things a bit. The ground track he showed me makes things better for some areas, but worse for others…
~Jon
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Jonathan Goff
President/CEO at Altius Space Machines
Jonathan Goff is a space technologist, inventor, and serial space entrepreneur who created the Selenian Boondocks blog. Jon was a co-founder of Masten Space Systems, and the founder and CEO of Altius Space Machines, a space robotics startup that he sold to Voyager Space in 2019. Jonathan is currently the Product Strategy Lead for the space station startup Gravitics. His family includes his wife, Tiffany, and five boys: Jarom (deceased), Jonathan, James, Peter, and Andrew.
Jon has a BS in Manufacturing Engineering (1999) and an MS in Mechanical Engineering (2007) from Brigham Young University, and served an LDS proselytizing mission in Olongapo, Philippines from 2000-2002.
Latest posts by Jonathan Goff (see all)
- NASA’s Selection of the Blue Moon Lander for Artemis V - May 25, 2023
- Fill ‘er Up: New AIAA Aerospace America Article on Propellant Depots - September 2, 2022
- Independent Perspectives on Cislunar Depotization - August 26, 2022
How serious is Lockheed Martin about this manned Atlas V in your opinion? Have they given any indication who is going to build the capsule?
Proton,
Everything I’ve seen or heard from the guys at LM indicates that they’re very serious about this. They’ve been moving forward with human rating, and as I understand it are currently trying to find a company (or possibly more than one) who wants to develop a capsule to launch on their booster. I’ve heard that they’ve talked with several groups (SpaceX, RpK, SpaceHab, SpaceDev, Excallibur Almaz), but as far as I know they haven’t selected anyone for sure.
I also don’t know what their schedules are for sure. All I know is that they’ve had good external reviews (and reviews with Bigelow), and that they’re moving ahead on this. I wish them luck!
~Jon
You would think NASA might perk up a bit and smell the coffee. With further budgetary pressures on the horizon launch alernatives should be sought out and an adjustment of monetary priorities on the actual space exploration hardware instead of launch hardware. Political sustainability seems to me to be as important as economic sustainability yet are not mutually exclusive.
Look forward to your personal analysis always a pleasure.
Joseph