Space Stuff and Launch Info

[berkeman]

Leveling off at 46,000 feet before launch...

 

[hutchphd]

six minutes now

 

[berkeman]

Safe landing. Great.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Did anyone notice that the spaceplane doesn't seem to have a front wheel? They appear to use something more like a skid plate. My first thought was it reduces weight.

 

[berkeman]

Yeah, I guess they have to use the rear wheel brakes to control the low-speed steering?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Yeah, I guess they have to use the rear wheel brakes to control the low-speed steering?

Apparently so. But if you don't really need it, why build it? They only need steering for 30 seconds or so. I think beyond that it could all be done with air surfaces.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Heh, they might also be using the skid pad as an additional brake.

 

[dlgoff]

Are there any replay videos of this flight? I some how missed it.

 

[Motore]

Are there any replay videos of this flight? I some how missed it.

Post #780

 

[dlgoff]

Post #780

Yes, I watched that, but that's not a replay video.

 

[dlgoff]

Post #780

Okay, I guess that does show what happened.

 

[hutchphd]

Yes, I watched that, but that's not a replay video.

Did anone else feel this was closer to Evel Knievel at the Snake River than Yuri or Alan?? Maybe that's the point, but it all seemed just a little "off" to me...I guess I,m showing my age.

 

[berkeman]

Well, thankfully this mission was more successful than that failed "jump" by Evel.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Did anone else feel this was closer to Evel Knievel at the Snake River than Yuri or Alan?? Maybe that's the point, but it all seemed just a little "off" to me...I guess I,m showing my age.

Haha, I know what you mean. But this isn't Evel Knievel. These guys are doing it right. I think the biggest notable differences between this and a NASA operation are the reduced scale, and they are only providing what amounts to a thrill ride.

 

[berkeman]

Does anybody know what the contingencies are for failed mission landings? Are there other airstrips in the area that can be used as alternates for glided landings? How long of an airstrip does the lander need? Does the craft have the capability to dump its rocket fuel if needed to lighten before an emergency landing?

 

[mfb]

What would be the scenario where they need to go to a different landing site farther away? Release is just ~15 min before landing, so they can make sure the weather conditions will be fine.

I liked the coverage, just the constant comparisons to Apollo 11 were annoying. This was not another Moon landing event. Not even close.

 

[dlgoff]

Does anybody know what the contingencies are for failed mission landings? Are there other airstrips in the area that can be used as alternates for glided landings? How long of an airstrip does the lander need? Does the craft have the capability to dump its rocket fuel if needed to lighten before an emergency landing?

In October 2010, the 3,000 m (10,000 ft) runway at Spaceport America was opened, with SpaceShipTwo "VSS Enterprise" shipped to the site carried underneath the fuselage of Virgin Galactic's Mother Ship Eve.

compliments of this google search:
https://www.google.com/search?q=vir...AEAoAEBqgEHZ3dzLXdpesgBCMABAQ&sclient=gws-wiz

I guess this came from this Wikipedia page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Galactic

 

[Office_Shredder]

Did anone else feel this was closer to Evel Knievel at the Snake River than Yuri or Alan?? Maybe that's the point, but it all seemed just a little "off" to me...I guess I,m showing my age.

The only point of this stunt was to sell space tickets. It's just a show. People already go to space on a regular basis.

 

[Baluncore]

FlightAware tracking.

The mother ship.
RUTAN 348 White Knight Two (quad-jet) (WHK2)
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/VGX3/history/20210711/1430Z/9NM9/9NM9

The spaceship. Aircraft tracking speed and altitude fail above 900 mph or 60,000 ft.
RUTAN 339 Space Ship Two (single-Rocket) (SS2)
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/VGX1/history/20210711/1441Z

Spaceport America; Arrivals and Departures.
https://flightaware.com/live/airport/9NM9

 

[berkeman]

The only point of this stunt was to sell space tickets. It's just a show. People already go to space on a regular basis.

True, but I think we have to give the guy credit for risking his own life to help make that happen.

 

[Office_Shredder]

True, but I think we have to give the guy credit for risking his own life to help make that happen.

To be clear, I am not opposed to stunts. Virgin galactic was a huge struggle for him to get operational, and if he wants to throw himself a party more power to him.

 

[Baluncore]

True, but I think we have to give the guy credit for risking his own life to help make that happen.

It takes many steps to create and fund a safe industry. I don't think height is the long term aim. Height is a step needed for funding, by flying the affluent early passengers.
It will all change again when one can buy an orbital flight.

 

[mfb]

You can buy orbital flights.
Axiom sells Crew Dragon seats to fly to the ISS for $55 million each. First flight early 2022. You can also buy a full Crew Dragon flight. Inspiration4 in two months will be the first of these flights.

 

[mfb]

DearMoon application sneak peek
One million applications for 8 seats - not even NASA's astronaut selection is that selective. No decision yet, but presumably the candidates featured in that video are still in the race.

----

More mystery around the upcoming Blue Origin flight (July 20). The original winner moved to a later flight, citing unspecified "scheduling concerns". What unexpected event could make you miss that opportunity? Combined with no announcement of who won, people wonder if someone didn't want the publicity. But then... why did they bid in the first place? It was obviously going to be a big media event.

Now the seat went to Oliver Daemen, son of a Dutch investment banker. The two Bezos brothers fly, and they invited Wally Funk, who likely would have been an astronaut in the 1960s if NASA would have allowed women to fly at that time. The flight will set new records for both the youngest (18) and oldest (82) person in space.

----

July 21 the Nauka module will be launched to the ISS, one of its last big components. It also comes with the European Robot Arm, which will help on the Russian side of the ISS.

July 30 Boeing will repeat the uncrewed flight test of Starliner.

 

[mfb]

upcoming Blue Origin flight

Launch in about one hour.

Official livestream
Everyday Astronaut coverage
NASASpaceflight coverage

Edit: Success.

 

[bob012345]

It is interesting that there are now two completely different sub-orbital spaceflight experiences available to the public. Both are based on approaches to space taken over fifty years ago with some modern upgrades. I don't know if the public realizes that some of the X-15 flights actually reached space and thus those pilots were really the first American astronauts. Also, Neil Armstrong was an X-15 pilot.

 

[NTL2009]

Does anyone know how much hydrogen the Blue Origin flight required? I haven't found any references to the tank sizes, consumption, or anything other than a lot of attention to it not using a carbon fuel. But of course, most hydrogen is produced from hydrocarbons. I've found some numbers for the conversion factors, but I still haven't found the amount of hydrogen consumed.

Mods - if this should be it's own topic, I'll delete and move it.

 

[mfb]

BE-3 has a maximal thrust of 490 kN and a burn time of 140 s, and while I don't find the I_sp it should be somewhere in the 350-450 range as it ascends through the atmosphere. With the worst case assumption it would consume 490 kN * 140s / (3500 m/s) = 20 t of fuel, out of that ~2 tonnes of hydrogen. In practice the engine might throttle down as the rocket gets lighter, and its I_sp gets better, so it might only need 1.5 tonnes or so.

 

[SashaM]

For example, space company SpaceX has set itself the goal of colonizing Mars for the continued existence of mankind. Associated not only with Elon's dream, but also with the small reserves of the Earth. Perhaps our children will be able to see the Earth from Mars in a couple of ten years.

 

[NTL2009]

BE-3 has a maximal thrust of 490 kN and a burn time of 140 s, and while I don't find the I_sp it should be somewhere in the 350-450 range as it ascends through the atmosphere. With the worst case assumption it would consume 490 kN * 140s / (3500 m/s) = 20 t of fuel, out of that ~2 tonnes of hydrogen. In practice the engine might throttle down as the rocket gets lighter, and its I_sp gets better, so it might only need 1.5 tonnes or so.

Thanks. This being a physics forum, I was thinking someone might estimate the amount by calculating mass, time, and required thrust. I was surpised I couldn't just find a number, given all the space geeks out there. I'll do some calcs later using your estimate.