And here’s the megafeed of everything I’ve been doing.
Dr. Robert Zubrin, President of The Mars Society, creator of Mars Direct, and author of The Case for Mars is on the show this week to discuss Mars exploration and colonization internationally, within NASA, and at SpaceX.
I like how NanoRacks is approaching this—looking objectively at hardware that’s in use today to put things together in interesting ways.
Aside from this being an election year plea to avoid cancellation of a struggling program, I’m not sure where the idea comes from that SLS will be rid of development in the 2020s.
Getting closer to the first launch of Electron. Nice video at the link, too.
During a NASA TV broadcast today, a short video of a Dragon 2 parachute drop test was shown. Someone helpful posted a link to some screenshots over on the r/spacex thread.
This article is a great rundown of how we got to this point, with far too many acronyms and docking systems.
SpaceX posted an absolutely fantastic time-lapse video of IDA-2 being removed from Dragon’s trunk. IDA-2 is set for installation bright and early tomorrow morning (6:30 AM Eastern).
Next up, on-orbit servicing and repairs.
While the majority of this SpaceNews article by Jeff Foust is focused on Congressional wrestling over how much money Europa Clipper should receive, there are a few other tidbits of interest.
NASA selected six companies, as part of the NextSTEP program, to develop ground prototypes of deep space habitats, and the Centaur could live on as a wet workshop. Orbital ATK pushed OA-5 to late September. SpaceX landed yet another stage on the ASDS, and have up to 9 more launches planned for 2016.
Lighter structures mean more payload. More durable structures mean more reuse. There have been several rumors about BFR using composites, and this certainly points in that direction.
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One of the programs that could be affected is the one funding development of the AR1, BE-4, and ACES. Blue Origin isn’t going to stop their work on the BE-4, because that’s paramount to their own ambitions, but the AR1 work could be hit hard.
NASA’s Commercial Crew Twitter account tweeted a time-lapse video of the crew access arm and white room being lifted to the top of the tower at SLC-41.
Good rundown of SpaceX’s remaining 2016 manifest by Peter B. de Selding of SpaceNews. After a great launch and landing last night, SpaceX is planning for 9 more launches this year.
This would be a smart move for Blue Origin if and when it comes about. I’d be interested if they’d jettison the fairings (with recovery), or use a hinged, clamshell-style design that would remain attached to the booster on its way back down.
I’ve talked about AF-M315E and other greener hydrazine alternatives fairly often over the past few months. This is an industry-wide push that shows no signs of slowing down—even water-based systems are in the works.
They’re citing launch site testing and ISS scheduling as the cause for the delay, but it sort of feels like we’re not getting the whole story here.
NASA has selected 6 partners—Bigelow, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Orbital ATK, Sierra Nevada, and NanoRacks (working with SSL and ULA)—to develop full-sized ground prototypes for deep space habitats. Other than it being the same old insiders club as always, there are some cool bits in here.
Moon Express gained government approval for their upcoming mission to win the Google Lunar X Prize. And I go on a rant about artificial gravity and how NASA shrugs it off as unnecessary.