What's Cool in Science This Week?

Started by bayonetbrant, January 09, 2017, 11:08:31 AM

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Sir Slash

Another American Milestone, the first country to send dummies to the moon.  :bd:  Suck on that Chi Comms!
"Take a look at that". Sgt. Wilkerson-- CMBN. His last words after spotting a German tank on the other side of a hedgerow.

steve58

Government is not the solution to our problem—government is the problem.   Ronald Reagan
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.   Thomas Jefferson
During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.   George Orwell  The truth is quiet...It's the lies that are loud.   Jesus Revolution
If you ever find yourself in need of a safe space then you're probably going to have to stop calling yourself a social justice warrior. You cannot be a warrior and a pansy at the same time   Mike Adams (RIP Mike)

Gusington

Is this next launch in prep for some kind of permanent human presence on the Moon?


слава Україна!

We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd

Pete Dero

NASA calls off Artemis 1 moon rocket launch over engine cooling issue.

Chilling the SLS rocket's engines before flowing cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen through them is a required step before the rocket can launch, NASA officials said. While three of the engines passed that test, Engine No. 3 did not, despite troubleshooting efforts.
"Launch controllers condition the engines by increasing pressure on the core stage tanks to bleed some of the cryogenic propellant to the engines to get them to the proper temperature range to start them," NASA officials said in a statement.
"Engine 3 is not properly being conditioned through the bleed process, and engineers are troubleshooting."

All four of these engines flew on NASA's space shuttle program of reusable vehicles. 

https://www.space.com/artemis-1-space-shuttle-hardware :

NASA's Artemis 1 mission to launch using space shuttle-used parts.  Components that previously flew on 83 out of the 135 space shuttle missions have been assembled into new vehicles: the Space Launch System (SLS) and its Orion spacecraft.

steve58

Quote
NASA will target Saturday, Sept. 3 at 2:17 p.m. EDT, the beginning of a two-hour window, for the launch of Artemis I, the first integrated test of NASA's Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, and the ground systems at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/2022/08/30/nasa-targets-sept-3-for-next-artemis-i-moon-mission-launch-attempt/
Government is not the solution to our problem—government is the problem.   Ronald Reagan
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.   Thomas Jefferson
During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.   George Orwell  The truth is quiet...It's the lies that are loud.   Jesus Revolution
If you ever find yourself in need of a safe space then you're probably going to have to stop calling yourself a social justice warrior. You cannot be a warrior and a pansy at the same time   Mike Adams (RIP Mike)

GDS_Starfury

on one hand awesome and on the other did it have to cost $40 billion.
Toonces - Don't ask me, I just close my eyes and take it.

Gus - I use sweatpants with flannel shorts to soak up my crotch sweat.

Banzai Cat - There is no "partial credit" in grammar. Like anal sex. It's either in, or it's not.

Mirth - We learned long ago that they key isn't to outrun Star, it's to outrun Gus.

Martok - I don't know if it's possible to have an "anti-boner"...but I now have one.

Gus - Celery is vile and has no reason to exist. Like underwear on Star.


steve58

Government is not the solution to our problem—government is the problem.   Ronald Reagan
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.   Thomas Jefferson
During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.   George Orwell  The truth is quiet...It's the lies that are loud.   Jesus Revolution
If you ever find yourself in need of a safe space then you're probably going to have to stop calling yourself a social justice warrior. You cannot be a warrior and a pansy at the same time   Mike Adams (RIP Mike)

steve58

Government is not the solution to our problem—government is the problem.   Ronald Reagan
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.   Thomas Jefferson
During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.   George Orwell  The truth is quiet...It's the lies that are loud.   Jesus Revolution
If you ever find yourself in need of a safe space then you're probably going to have to stop calling yourself a social justice warrior. You cannot be a warrior and a pansy at the same time   Mike Adams (RIP Mike)

Pete Dero

Quote from: steve58 on September 03, 2022, 02:50:34 PM
Liftoff scrubbed again...maybe until October.

https://www.foxnews.com/science/nasa-weighing-moving-artemis-rocket-off-launch-pad-second-scrub

They use decades old technology from the Space Shuttle and now they have the same problems as the Space Shuttle.

Millipede

I'm trying to recall which Shuttle launch was delayed by a fuel leak... enlighten me please.

Staggerwing

Discovery's launch in 2010 was delayed twice due to a leak, one of fuel and one of gasses used to pressurize the lines.
Vituð ér enn - eða hvat?  -Voluspa

Nothing really rocks and nothing really rolls and nothing's ever worth the cost...

"Don't you look at me that way..." -the Abyss
 
'When searching for a meaningful embrace, sometimes my self respect took second place' -Iggy Pop, Cry for Love

... this will go down on your permanent record... -the Violent Femmes, 'Kiss Off'-

"I'm not just anyone, I'm not just anyone-
I got my time machine, got my 'electronic dream!"
-Sonic Reducer, -Dead Boys

Pete Dero

Quote from: Millipede on September 04, 2022, 09:50:33 AM
I'm trying to recall which Shuttle launch was delayed by a fuel leak... enlighten me please.

1986 : https://www.history.com/news/how-the-challenger-disaster-changed-nasa (Challenger - leak in the booster - O-ring)

2009 : https://www.space.com/6837-gas-leak-thwarts-space-shuttle-launch.html (Endeavour- hydrogen leak was discovered while the shuttle's fuel tank was loading)

2010 October : https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna39768658 (Discovery - replacing fuel line seals to staunch a small leak)
2010 November : https://www.space.com/93-nasa-tracks-space-shuttle-discovery-gas-leak-faulty-seal.html (Discovery - misaligned seal on the external fuel tank - potentially dangerous leak of hydrogen gas)

Challenger should have been delayed.  If exposed to near-freezing temperatures, the O-ring lost its elasticity.  The O-ring could only work properly above 53 degrees and the temperature on the launch pad that morning was 36 degrees.

Millipede

Good catch on the Discovery & Endeavor leaks although 2 out of 135 launches ain't too bad. On the Challenger O-ring failure, that would have absolutely nothing to do with a fuel leak. I thought this was about the Artemis fuel leak but if you wish to talk about failures and/or successes of the shuttle program, okay. Was the shuttle perfect? Of course not, let's not be silly. Was it the economically reusable vehicle it was supposed to be? While it was reusable, it was an economic disaster. Was it an amazing machine that supremely challenged human creativity? Absolutely! Without the shuttle, there would be no Hubble or ISS to name just 2 of it's successes.

I could certainly have misunderstood but I think I detect a subtle criticism of NASA. In general, I don't understand why so many feel the need to do that. I believe that it is largely overlooked that NASA is a government agency and while they can make requests and lobby for various projects it only gets to proceed with the permission and funding from congress. Congressional decisions also frequently dictate how and where a project may proceed.  If you had to make a life changing decision, would you prefer to base that decision on choices by the U.S. Congress or NASA? If NASA didn't exist, would JAXA, CSA, ESA, Blue Origin or SpaceX exist?

To get back to Artemis and the SLS, right or wrong, it's the path NASA is on and it will have it's successes, failures and delays.

Pete Dero

Quote from: Millipede on September 04, 2022, 02:43:53 PM
I could certainly have misunderstood but I think I detect a subtle criticism of NASA.

It's more of a criticism of the people who decided it would be better/cheaper for NASA to reuse old technology.


https://www.space.com/artemis-1-space-shuttle-hardware

As directed by Congress in 2010, NASA developed its next-generation heavy-lift rocket and crew capsule with "space shuttle-derived components ... that use existing United States propulsion systems, including liquid fuel engines, external tank or tank-related capability and solid rocket motor engines."
The result is an SLS powered by four modified space shuttle main engines and two extended shuttle solid rocket boosters. Orion is also powered using an engine that previously maneuvered the shuttle in orbit. All three elements of the Artemis 1 SLS and Orion have flight histories that date back decades, as far back as August 1984.

Millipede

I agree with your criticism... sort of. I don't know how accurate this is (strangely I wasn't included in the discussions) but I wonder if using shuttle tech/hardware wasn't the most likely way to get approval from congress. Remember that the decision to end the shuttle program was made in 2004 at which point NASA started the process of deciding on a post-shuttle direction. That was years prior to SpaceX's first successful Falcon launch and yet NASA eventually decided to rely on commercial space to take care of low earth orbit while it concentrated on the moon, Mars and beyond. Reusable launch vehicles were yet to be a reliable option so they went with tech that was known to present to congress.

I don't have a problem with shuttle tech. As is well known, you learn from your failures thus shuttle launch components are reliable (certainly more so than brand new tech) and relatively inexpensive. Can you imagine how far away we would be from 1st launch and how much money would have been spent if the decision had been made to start with a clean sheet of paper and fresh technology for the next launch vehicle?

I too have reservations about the SLS. I just cringe at the thought of destroying each vehicle after each launch but saying, "oops, this isn't a good plan. Let's start over." is even more cringe worthy.