Cygnus CRS3 launch failure
Discussion
Eric Mc said:
BoRED S2upid said:
Fair play that was some launch! Better than any fireworks. This was unmanned yes?
Did you not realise that the Americans have had no manned capability since the Shuttle's retirement in 2011?No American will travel into space on an American rocket until 2017 at the very earliest. It could be as late as 2020 - depending on whether the current plans survive various funding crises.
Nine hours after the failed launch of the Antares, the Russians successfully launched a Progress cargo craft from Kazakhstan carrying 5,793 pounds of rocket fuel, water, air, crew supplies and other equipment needed aboard the ISS.
It is good to see that the Russians aren't averse to tweaking a working formula; "The Soyuz booster, taking off from the same pad used by cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin at the dawn of the space age, featured a new digital flight computer and followed a slightly different trajectory, according to RussianSpaceWeb.com, allowing the Progress cargo ship to carry about 660 pounds of additional cargo compared to earlier versions of the rocket."
Next US launch for us video streamers is an Atlas V due to take off from Florida today at 1.21 EDT, which I think equates to 17:21 our time.
It is good to see that the Russians aren't averse to tweaking a working formula; "The Soyuz booster, taking off from the same pad used by cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin at the dawn of the space age, featured a new digital flight computer and followed a slightly different trajectory, according to RussianSpaceWeb.com, allowing the Progress cargo ship to carry about 660 pounds of additional cargo compared to earlier versions of the rocket."
Next US launch for us video streamers is an Atlas V due to take off from Florida today at 1.21 EDT, which I think equates to 17:21 our time.
Musk in an interview a few years back.
"One of our competitors, Orbital Sciences, has a contract to resupply the International Space Station, and their rocket honestly sounds like the punch line to a joke. It uses Russian rocket engines that were made in the ’60s. I don’t mean their design is from the ’60s—I mean they start with engines that were literally made in the ’60s and, like, packed away in Siberia somewhere."
"One of our competitors, Orbital Sciences, has a contract to resupply the International Space Station, and their rocket honestly sounds like the punch line to a joke. It uses Russian rocket engines that were made in the ’60s. I don’t mean their design is from the ’60s—I mean they start with engines that were literally made in the ’60s and, like, packed away in Siberia somewhere."
Eric Mc said:
Did you not realise that the Americans have had no manned capability since the Shuttle's retirement in 2011?
No American will travel into space on an American rocket until 2017 at the very earliest. It could be as late as 2020 - depending on whether the current plans survive various funding crises.
Yes I knew. I was pretty confident when I was cheering at the launch that nobody had been killed.No American will travel into space on an American rocket until 2017 at the very earliest. It could be as late as 2020 - depending on whether the current plans survive various funding crises.
MiniMan64 said:
And they aren't going to be flying on many Russian rockets anytime soon either given the situation in Crimea. Or have they found a way around that now?
For the moment there have been no changes to the arrangements and flights are continuing as normal.They have no choice but to use Russian rockets. There is no current alternative.
And it's not just the Americans. EVERYBODY who needs to fly to the ISS MUST travel aboard a Soyuz.
NASA have two separate manned programmes in development, one is a pure exploration programme which is not linked to the ISS (although it could make use of the ISS if necessary). This is the Orion spacecraft which is designed for true space exploration - trips to the moon, the asterodis and possibly even Mars. The first flight worthy version of this spacecraft is now being built and it should fly next year - unmanned.
The second programme is using private contractors to ferry humans to the ISS. This will probably use the Spacex Dragon capsule which has flown a number of successful unmanned supply mission to the ISS. A manned mission to the ISS could be as early as 2017.
TobyLaRohne said:
Question space PH'ers, if it all goes a bit pear shaped in space and they cant get anything up to space, does the ISS have a capsule or something attached to bring the occupants home or do they just float about until they run out of air and stuff to eat?
They keep Soyuz capsules docked to enable the ISS crew to depart a stricken space station.TobyLaRohne said:
Question space PH'ers, if it all goes a bit pear shaped in space and they cant get anything up to space, does the ISS have a capsule or something attached to bring the occupants home or do they just float about until they run out of air and stuff to eat?
Yes.There is always at least one Soyuz spacecraft permanently docked to the ISS - often two. A Soyuz can hold three [persons and the ISS normally has a crew of six - so there is the capability of returning the ISS crew home if something really bad happened to the ISS.
jingars said:
Nine hours after the failed launch of the Antares, the Russians successfully launched a Progress cargo craft from Kazakhstan carrying 5,793 pounds of rocket fuel, water, air, crew supplies and other equipment needed aboard the ISS.
It is good to see that the Russians aren't averse to tweaking a working formula; "The Soyuz booster, taking off from the same pad used by cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin at the dawn of the space age, featured a new digital flight computer and followed a slightly different trajectory, according to RussianSpaceWeb.com, allowing the Progress cargo ship to carry about 660 pounds of additional cargo compared to earlier versions of the rocket."
Next US launch for us video streamers is an Atlas V due to take off from Florida today at 1.21 EDT, which I think equates to 17:21 our time.
That makes it sound like there's a daily shcedule of rocket launches!It is good to see that the Russians aren't averse to tweaking a working formula; "The Soyuz booster, taking off from the same pad used by cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin at the dawn of the space age, featured a new digital flight computer and followed a slightly different trajectory, according to RussianSpaceWeb.com, allowing the Progress cargo ship to carry about 660 pounds of additional cargo compared to earlier versions of the rocket."
Next US launch for us video streamers is an Atlas V due to take off from Florida today at 1.21 EDT, which I think equates to 17:21 our time.
Anyone know how many launches take place a year?
Sadly I'm seeing a lot of derogatory comments online about the source of the engines - like no US made rocket engine has ever failed 
No-one FORCED Orbital to use engines sourced from the former USSR ( or ULA in the Atlas V ), they were simply the best engines available at the time the vehicle was designed, and well ahead of any US designed rocket available in terms of efficiency and performance
No-one FORCED Orbital to use engines sourced from the former USSR ( or ULA in the Atlas V ), they were simply the best engines available at the time the vehicle was designed, and well ahead of any US designed rocket available in terms of efficiency and performance
prand said:
That makes it sound like there's a daily shcedule of rocket launches!Anyone know how many launches take place a year?
You can get listing from various websites. SpaceFlight Now's launch log pages are an example.jingars said:
You can get listing from various websites. SpaceFlight Now's launch log pages are an example.
Wow, I had no idea, looks something like 10-12 launches a month globally.It's big business these days.
There are lots of parties using space technology - the military, scientific establishments, government departments and commerce.
People on the whole are completely ignorant of the significance of space technology in our lives today and how much we depend on it - whether it's watching TV, chatting on the internet or by phone, driving around in our cars, looking up weather forecasts etc etc etc.
Very little of our involvement in space has anything to do with space exploration. And that is why NASA's space budget is very tiny compared to military or commercial space expenditure.
There are lots of parties using space technology - the military, scientific establishments, government departments and commerce.
People on the whole are completely ignorant of the significance of space technology in our lives today and how much we depend on it - whether it's watching TV, chatting on the internet or by phone, driving around in our cars, looking up weather forecasts etc etc etc.
Very little of our involvement in space has anything to do with space exploration. And that is why NASA's space budget is very tiny compared to military or commercial space expenditure.
Eric Mc said:
Absolutely.
The bad thing about the internet is that it allows people who know absolutely nothing about a subject to spout arrant nonsense about a topic and think they are making valid points.
Quoted for posterity The bad thing about the internet is that it allows people who know absolutely nothing about a subject to spout arrant nonsense about a topic and think they are making valid points.
PS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWLe8zu7HDQ
sorry about the 4 sec "ad"
Eric Mc said:
We are so used to viewing camera work carried out by professionals that we are very harsh on footage shot by ordinary folk - often using simple equipment like their mobile phones. If a rocket blew up only a mile or so from me I'd be hard pushed to keep my camera steady.
Said the actress to the bishop...
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