The Coming ExoMars 2020 Decision
Next week will be very interesting to watch. Keep an eye out for any and all decisions coming out of Lucerne, Switzerland.
Saturated IMU Blamed for Schiaparelli Crash
After some investigation, a saturated IMU was blamed for causing the crash of Schiaparelli.
First Rocket Lab Launch Delayed to 2017
Electron is to one-month increments as Falcon Heavy is to six.
Episode T+30: SpaceX Nearing Falcon 9 Return-to-Flight
All signs point to SpaceX nearing a return-to-flight mission for Falcon 9. I discuss what to watch for in the months ahead, and read some email.
Episode T+29: Commercializing the NASA Exploration Roadmap
Following up on last show’s topic, there are signs that NASA may be moving away from Orion in the future. I discuss how I see NASA modernizing their exploration roadmap, politically, in the next administration.
Frank DeMauro on the Switch from Antares to Atlas V
Chris Gebhardt of NASASpaceFlight talked with Orbital ATK’s Frank DeMauro about the switch from Antares to Atlas V for OA-7.
Photos of ITS Composite Tank En Route to Sea Tests
Photos and videos were posted on the SpaceX subreddit of the ITS composite tank as it headed out to the destructive sea testing that we heard about from Elon Musk himself.
FAA Clears Environmental Concerns Surrounding SpaceX West Coast Landings
Signed about a month ago, this report from the FAA states that they’ve cleared the environmental concerns surrounding Falcon 9 landings at Vandenberg. Great timing, as SpaceX should be back up and flying soon.
Alternative NASA Exploration Crew Vehicles
This is going to be an extremely interesting transition period. More of a “Let’s modernize this roadmap,” instead of a “Tear it all up!”
SpaceX External Cargo Manifest and the Missing NanoRacks Airlock
Chris Gebhardt of NASASpaceFlight wrote up a rundown of external cargo for SpaceX CRS flights 10 through 20. The NanoRacks airlock isn’t mentioned anywhere, which is counter to what Mike Johnson talked about in my interview with him.
Orbital ATK’s Next-Generation Launcher
How Orbital ATK got to where they are today, what makes their next rocket so appealing, and how things might play out in the future.
Next Antares to Fly on Atlas V
This is an interesting development that could point a few directions.
Next Cygnus to Fly on Atlas V
This is an interesting development that could point a few directions.
Bridenstine’s Comments on the Moon
This is very relevant to this week’s episode. It’s becoming increasingly obvious that the Moon has much more political capital than Mars, and I would not at all be surprised to see a focus on the Moon over the course of the next administration.
Episode T+28: The Future of NASA and the Moon
NASA released an RFI for small scientific payloads bound for the lunar surface, meant to “address strategic knowledge gaps” associated with human missions to the Moon. I talk about how this could indicate a shift of the SLS/Orion roadmap, and how NASA may be focusing on lunar surface missions in order to build more political capital for the program of record.
What’s Next for SpaceX
We should get some closure in the next few weeks on the AMOS-6 front. They’re getting started with static fires and testing in McGregor again, which means the investigation is entering the wrap-up and sign-off phases. The return-to-flight mission seems to be Iridium NEXT out of Vandenberg, with a flight out of 39A in mid-December.
Lunar Commercial Cargo Lite
A commercial cargo-style program for getting payloads to the Moon would be wonderfully interesting. It would be well-timed to be used as NASA participation in the Moon Village idea that is talked about within ESA (and pretty much everywhere but the US).
Thanks to October Patrons
Thanks to my patrons for the month of October. If you’re getting some value out of what I do here and want to send a little value back to help support Main Engine Cut Off, head over to Patreon and donate as little as $1 a month—every little bit helps.
SpaceX Buries Anomaly Update
Friday afternoon before a holiday: the time to bury press releases. I’m not sure why SpaceX buried this particular update since the news is encouraging.
Post-EM-1 Mobile Launcher Revamp
Chris Bergin of NASASpaceFlight, with an encyclopedic post about the work that will need to take place—between EM-1 and 2—to revamp the Mobile Launcher to support the Exploration Upper Stage.