SuperSpreader Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 1 hour ago, outsida said: This sucks because with Elon going crazy we need a viable alternative. Russia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BloodyHell Posted May 8 Share Posted May 8 On 5/6/2024 at 11:10 PM, outsida said: This sucks because with Elon going crazy we need a viable alternative. I mean that shouldn’t factor into anything except whether shareholders want him to continue to lead. Space X is way ahead and should continue to be ussd as it’s a far more reliable and cheaper option. Musk has no part in rocket design, and their manned safety record is incredible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwinIon Posted May 8 Share Posted May 8 16 minutes ago, BloodyHell said: I mean that shouldn’t factor into anything except whether shareholders want him to continue to lead. Space X is way ahead and should continue to be ussd as it’s a far more reliable and cheaper option. Musk has no part in rocket design, and their manned safety record is incredible. I don't want to downplay SpaceX's achievements, which are many, but their manned saftey record is pretty short. Perfect, but short. Reputations need to start somewhere of course. The concern with Elon isn't necessarily that the technical team will screw up, but that he could personally interfere with an irreplaceable asset. Look at what he did with Starlink and deciding when and where it can be used in Ukraine and imagine that some situation arises where he personally doesn't like a space mission. The history of manned space flight has largely been driven by international politics, and just the idea that someone so unstable and unaccountable could personally guide the usage of a program largely funded by the Federal government is unsettling. At the moment, Space X is irreplaceable and there's no sign that their competitors in Blue Origin or Boeing are catching up, but it still seems prudent for the US to foster some meaningful alternative. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jwheel86 Posted June 1 Share Posted June 1 Shit still broke. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mclumber1 Posted June 1 Author Share Posted June 1 You have to feel bad for the two astronauts who have been waiting a better part of 8 years for this moment. Starliner was supposed to be launching humans into orbit 4 years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPCyric Posted June 2 Share Posted June 2 On 6/1/2024 at 1:09 PM, mclumber1 said: You have to feel bad for the two astronauts who have been waiting a better part of 8 years for this moment. Starliner was supposed to be launching humans into orbit 4 years ago. They have gotten a few extra years to live at least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted June 5 Share Posted June 5 LIFTOFF! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted June 5 Share Posted June 5 The guy I share an office with is absolutely thrilled as his Naval Academy buddy is one of the crew: Barry "Butch" E. Wilmore - NASA WWW.NASA.GOV Barry E. Wilmore (Captain, U.S. Navy, Ret.) is a veteran of two spaceflights and has accumulated 178 days in space. He is currently training to be the 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CayceG Posted June 5 Share Posted June 5 Shit worked. @Jwheel86 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CayceG Posted June 5 Share Posted June 5 48 minutes ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said: The guy I share an office with is absolutely thrilled as his Naval Academy buddy is one of the crew: Barry "Butch" E. Wilmore - NASA WWW.NASA.GOV Barry E. Wilmore (Captain, U.S. Navy, Ret.) is a veteran of two spaceflights and has accumulated 178 days in space. He is currently training to be the Wilmore graduated from my alma mater and was my commencement speaker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkStar189 Posted June 5 Share Posted June 5 Well that’s a relief. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jwheel86 Posted June 6 Share Posted June 6 SpaceX: hold my beer SpaceX’s Starship rocket completes test flight for the first time, successfully splashes down WWW.CNBC.COM The fourth Starship test flight completed new milestones as SpaceX continues to advance development of the mammoth vehicle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b_m_b_m_b_m Posted June 6 Share Posted June 6 Congrats to Werner von Musk, the singular genius without whom rocketry would not be possible 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbobo Posted June 7 Share Posted June 7 15 hours ago, Jwheel86 said: SpaceX: hold my beer SpaceX’s Starship rocket completes test flight for the first time, successfully splashes down WWW.CNBC.COM The fourth Starship test flight completed new milestones as SpaceX continues to advance development of the mammoth vehicle. If it is possible for a piece of hardware to be heroic it was Starship yesterday, the fact that thing held together let alone actually completed the landing maneuver was amazing. Even the space X commentators thought they were just watching a burned cinder that was somehow still transmitting telemetry fall through the atmosphere after the worst parts of reentry where it looked like the flaps were burnt through and then the cameras got cooked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BloodyHell Posted June 20 Share Posted June 20 So not really much of a charm. Astronauts are still stuck on the space station. I believe it’s quickly running out of nitrogen as well, if it’s still leaking. I know earlier in the week they said at the rate it was leaking they had 10 days (if it’s still leaking, no idea). The worst thing for them and best thing for SpaceX would be if they had to launch a rocket to go get the crew. As I understand they can’t launch the spare shuttle that is attached for emergency exit of the station crew, so they would require another shuttle if the starliner mission ends in failure. Boeing Starliner: Two astronauts wait to come home amid spacecraft issues | CNN AMP.CNN.COM Two NASA test pilots helming the inaugural crewed flight of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft are in a tentative position as mission teams scramble to learn more about issues that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mclumber1 Posted June 20 Author Share Posted June 20 13 minutes ago, BloodyHell said: So not really much of a charm. Astronauts are still stuck on the space station. I believe it’s quickly running out of nitrogen as well, if it’s still leaking. I know earlier in the week they said at the rate it was leaking they had 10 days (if it’s still leaking, no idea). The worst thing for them and best thing for SpaceX would be if they had to launch a rocket to go get the crew. As I understand they can’t launch the spare shuttle that is attached for emergency exit of the station crew, so they would require another shuttle if the starliner mission ends in failure. Boeing Starliner: Two astronauts wait to come home amid spacecraft issues | CNN AMP.CNN.COM Two NASA test pilots helming the inaugural crewed flight of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft are in a tentative position as mission teams scramble to learn more about issues that... There are no spare "lifeboats" for the ISS. There are currently 9 people at the space station, 2 of which rode up there on the Boeing Starliner. The 2 other craft hold 4 and 3 people respectively. SpaceX (or roscomos) would need to launch another capsule if the starliner is deemed unsafe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BloodyHell Posted June 20 Share Posted June 20 1 hour ago, mclumber1 said: There are no spare "lifeboats" for the ISS. There are currently 9 people at the space station, 2 of which rode up there on the Boeing Starliner. The 2 other craft hold 4 and 3 people respectively. SpaceX (or roscomos) would need to launch another capsule if the starliner is deemed unsafe. I meant the craft that are there for the current crews, not really “spare”. Bad choice of words. again, what a boon that would be for SpaceX. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jwheel86 Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 Shit still broke: stranded Astronauts edition NASA Is ‘Evaluating All Options’ to Get the Boeing Starliner Crew Home | WIRED WWW.WIRED.COM Eight weeks after the Starliner spacecraft launched, NASA is still looking for possible answers to its technical issues—including the possibility of SpaceX lending a hand. Quote One informed source said it was greater than a 50-50 chance that the crew would come back on Dragon. Another source said it was significantly more likely than not they would. To be clear, NASA has not made a final decision. This probably will not happen until at least next week. It is likely that Jim Free, NASA's associate administrator, will make the call. Quote NASA issued a $266,678 task award to SpaceX on July 14 for a “special study for emergency response.” NASA said this study was not directly related to Starliner's problems, but two sources told Ars it really was. Although the study entailed work on flying more than four crew members home on Crew Dragon—a scenario related to Frank Rubio and the Soyuz MS-22 leaks—it also allowed SpaceX to study flying Dragon home with six passengers, a regular crew complement in addition to Wilmore and Williams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b_m_b_m_b_m Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 Send trump up to save them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CitizenVectron Posted August 5 Share Posted August 5 NASA likely to significantly delay the launch of Crew 9 due to Starliner issues ARSTECHNICA.COM The primary reason for the delay is rather surprising. So apparently one of the big issues is that the capsule that is currently docked to the ISS is not able to be undocked remotely, and instead requires manual undocking by a human inside it. So they can't undock it and let it burn on entry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mclumber1 Posted August 5 Author Share Posted August 5 8 minutes ago, CitizenVectron said: So apparently one of the big issues is that the capsule that is currently docked to the ISS is not able to be undocked remotely, and instead requires manual undocking by a human inside it. So they can't undock it and let it burn on entry. Also, if the thrusters fail in some fashion, those astronauts would be absolutely hosed because they couldn't return to the ISS and couldn't deorbit back to Earth. I envision a scenario where NASA uses the robotic arm to grapple the Starliner out of it's current docking port to allow a rescue capsule (which would be a Dragon) to dock at the same port. There are only 2 docking ports that commercial crew vessels can use. One is currently taken up by a Crew Dragon, and the other one has the Starliner attached. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jwheel86 Posted August 24 Share Posted August 24 NASA decision announcement: Shit still broke, crew is flying home on a SpaceX Dragon in February with Dragon Crew 9. Starliner will return unmanned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mclumber1 Posted August 24 Author Share Posted August 24 If it's Boeing, it's going (back to Earth, uncrewed. Because NASA doesn't think it's safe to fly a crew on it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jwheel86 Posted August 24 Share Posted August 24 Hahaha, the Crew 8 Dragon currently up there is being reconfigured to use the cargo deck as the lift boat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mclumber1 Posted August 24 Author Share Posted August 24 Truly embarrassing for Boeing, and somewhat less so for NASA who paid Boeing almost twice as much as SpaceX to develop a space capsule that will need extensive redevelopment if it ever flies again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jwheel86 Posted August 24 Share Posted August 24 4 minutes ago, mclumber1 said: Truly embarrassing for Boeing, and somewhat less so for NASA who paid Boeing almost twice as much as SpaceX to develop a space capsule that will need extensive redevelopment if it ever flies again. Boeing isn't at the press conference and NASA is saying they disagree with Boeing that Starliner is safe to bring back crewed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jwheel86 Posted August 24 Share Posted August 24 Also Harris being the head of the National Space Council as VP absolutely played a role in this decision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mclumber1 Posted August 24 Author Share Posted August 24 What's crazy is that I originally created this thread 5 years ago for that first test launch. And here we are, 2 steps forward and what feels like 5 steps back. 1 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chakoo Posted August 24 Share Posted August 24 It will be interesting to see how the capsule performs unmanned on its way back. If it has any additional issues on its return the gov should be calling for someone head. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mclumber1 Posted August 24 Author Share Posted August 24 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mclumber1 Posted September 6 Author Share Posted September 6 The Boeing Starliner is slated to undock from the ISS later today (~6 PM eastern) and return to Earth approximately 6 hours later. If all goes well, the Starliner will touchdown in the New Mexico desert. Of course, the capsule will not have any crew aboard, due to safety concerns NASA has raised with the craft. The two crew members who rode up on Starliner earlier this year will stay on the station until next spring. The 8 day visit will turn into an 8 month extended stay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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