Space Launch System - Orion
Discussion
Tonight at 9 pm UK time, they'll announce which of the 3 contenders has been selected to develop the Moon lander for the Artemis project.
"Today at 4pm ET, we will reveal which company or companies NASA has selected to continue developing the first commercial Human Landing System — the spacecraft that will carry astronauts to the surface of the Moon during #Artemis missions."
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-to-announc...
Spoiler alert...
Word is that SpaceX have won - Huge if true
"Today at 4pm ET, we will reveal which company or companies NASA has selected to continue developing the first commercial Human Landing System — the spacecraft that will carry astronauts to the surface of the Moon during #Artemis missions."
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-to-announc...
Spoiler alert...
Word is that SpaceX have won - Huge if true
Surprising to me, mainly in that they're going with such a big step change in concept.
The blue origin/ national team I wouldn't have been overly surprised at as it looks a bit more of a traditional approach.
I wonder if the general delays with starliner and SLS have affected what would have been the "safe" choice.
Spacex do seem determined to have starship operational regardless of whether anyone else actually needs it, which I guess probably works in their favour as well
The blue origin/ national team I wouldn't have been overly surprised at as it looks a bit more of a traditional approach.
I wonder if the general delays with starliner and SLS have affected what would have been the "safe" choice.
Spacex do seem determined to have starship operational regardless of whether anyone else actually needs it, which I guess probably works in their favour as well
The question of “what the hell is the point of SLS” becomes even more sharp with their lander choice made.
Which bits of this programme is it actually going to launch? If you get down to it - why isn’t the Lunar Gateway just another Starship with a docking port nailed onto it? Rather than some diddy space station, you have an already designed craft that is scaled to take a lot of people to Mars - it would more than do as an orbiting Moon station.
Which bits of this programme is it actually going to launch? If you get down to it - why isn’t the Lunar Gateway just another Starship with a docking port nailed onto it? Rather than some diddy space station, you have an already designed craft that is scaled to take a lot of people to Mars - it would more than do as an orbiting Moon station.
What we are seeing is a convergence of two radically different projects. Having said that, I am still not convinced that Starship will ultimately be the actual Lunar Lander. I think the unexpected announcement last week was as much a political shot across the bows by NASA to elicit more funding from Congress than a genuine declaration of intent.
What I am sure of is that the next manned lunar landing will be closer to 2034 rather than 2024 - and it may not be American.
What I am sure of is that the next manned lunar landing will be closer to 2034 rather than 2024 - and it may not be American.
Beati Dogu said:
The SLS booster has been taken down from the test stand and is on a ship headed to Florida now.
It’ll probably arrive at the Kennedy Space Center on Thursday.
With SpaceX building their orbital launch pad now, this is actually now starting to feel a bit like a race. It’ll probably arrive at the Kennedy Space Center on Thursday.
How quickly can the SLS team get their rocket assembled and out to the launchpad versus how fast can SpaceX knock out a fully working booster, pad and Starship.
Who's going to be first too orbit? You would have said SLS, then in 2020 it started to look like it might be SpaceX, now it feels like the advantage may be back with SLS.
It's at least as good as a Grand Prix!
Flooble said:
Beati Dogu said:
The SLS booster has been taken down from the test stand and is on a ship headed to Florida now.
It’ll probably arrive at the Kennedy Space Center on Thursday.
With SpaceX building their orbital launch pad now, this is actually now starting to feel a bit like a race. It’ll probably arrive at the Kennedy Space Center on Thursday.
How quickly can the SLS team get their rocket assembled and out to the launchpad versus how fast can SpaceX knock out a fully working booster, pad and Starship.
Who's going to be first too orbit? You would have said SLS, then in 2020 it started to look like it might be SpaceX, now it feels like the advantage may be back with SLS.
It's at least as good as a Grand Prix!
Can someone confirm something for me, as I think I've misread the numbers.
If I remember correctly the Shuttle could put 110 tonnes into orbit (Orbiter + Payload). That was with three RS-25s and four-segment recoverable SRBs.
The SLS Block 1 will apparently put 95 tonnes into orbit - if you count the ICPS second stage as part of the 95 tonnes. That's with four RS-25s in expendable mode and 5.5 segment SRBs with no recovery hardware.
Something seems wrong - less payload despite having an extra engine (which can be pushed harder as they are expended), significantly bigger SRBs and no need to carry recovery hardware on those SRBs.
I suspect I have read the wrong figure somewhere, or there is something not quite exact in the comparison. Any ideas?
If I remember correctly the Shuttle could put 110 tonnes into orbit (Orbiter + Payload). That was with three RS-25s and four-segment recoverable SRBs.
The SLS Block 1 will apparently put 95 tonnes into orbit - if you count the ICPS second stage as part of the 95 tonnes. That's with four RS-25s in expendable mode and 5.5 segment SRBs with no recovery hardware.
Something seems wrong - less payload despite having an extra engine (which can be pushed harder as they are expended), significantly bigger SRBs and no need to carry recovery hardware on those SRBs.
I suspect I have read the wrong figure somewhere, or there is something not quite exact in the comparison. Any ideas?
Re SLS numbers to LEO.
The SLS can put around 70 tonnes into LEO without the upper stage with the core stage making orbit
The core stage weighs about 95 tonnes empty hence it can inject 165 tonnes into orbit.
Put a slightly heavier load on it and it stages just before orbit to maximize the payload over the injected mass.
The SLS is optimised (for pork barrel politics) for higher energy orbits than LEO and is also really optimised to use the exploration upper stage.
The SLS can put around 70 tonnes into LEO without the upper stage with the core stage making orbit
The core stage weighs about 95 tonnes empty hence it can inject 165 tonnes into orbit.
Put a slightly heavier load on it and it stages just before orbit to maximize the payload over the injected mass.
The SLS is optimised (for pork barrel politics) for higher energy orbits than LEO and is also really optimised to use the exploration upper stage.
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