The road to the moon and beyond to Mars.

[Reorte]

26 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

DART is not a colonization project, but an attempt to demonstrate the potential feasibility of saving the earthly population from a future asteroid collision.

Not just demonstrate, there's a lot that'll actually be learned from this since it's hard to predict the exact results of smashing in to a rubble pile (which is what the asteroid very much looks like it is). In the coming weeks and months as everything is analysed (how the debris is spread, how the orbit has changed) we'll get a much better idea, it's not something that we ever could've modelled accurately without hard data, which we can now get.

Edited September 27, 2022 by Reorte

[Jeff Smith]

2 hours ago, phil_sutters said:

More vanity projects for countries showing off to their rivals, when they can't even stop this planet going to pot. The idea that we can colonize other planets to any extent beyond science bases is fantasy. Hoping we can find another home for the world's population when we have screwed this one is totally unrealistic.

I guess there's pessimists and optimists. I'm happy to be one of the latter.  

 

 

[phil_sutters]

15 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

DART is not a colonization project, but an attempt to demonstrate the potential feasibility of saving the earthly population from a future asteroid collision.

I appreciate that that may be of benefit, if the planet hasn't already become uninhabitable. 

Edited September 28, 2022 by phil_sutters

[Flying Pig]

Scott Manley writing it down:

 

 

[Reorte]

17 hours ago, Jeff Smith said:

I guess there's pessimists and optimists. I'm happy to be one of the latter.  

 

Well quite, being happy to be a pessimist would be a bit of a paradox :)

 

I am a pessimist but things like this are very definite exceptions.

[phil-b259]

17 hours ago, Jeff Smith said:

I guess there's pessimists and optimists.

 

 

 

And realists!

 

Actually taking humans to Mars in the physical sense is the easy bit - making sure that (1) the lack of gravity doesn't cripple their bodies for life and (2) That the astronauts don't go mad from the effects of being coped up in a metal can for 2 years with no means of escape and no ability to have proper conversations (it takes 20mins for radio signals to from Mars to be received back on earth) is the hard bit - yet something that needs to be sorted before people get carried away with exploring the universe.

Edited September 28, 2022 by phil-b259

[APOLLO]

 

Brit15

[Reorte]

3 hours ago, phil-b259 said:

 

And realists!

 

Actually taking humans to Mars in the physical sense is the easy bit - making sure that (1) the lack of gravity doesn't cripple their bodies for life and (2) That the astronauts don't go mad from the effects of being coped up in a metal can for 2 years with no means of escape and no ability to have proper conversations (it takes 20mins for radio signals to from Mars to be received back on earth) is the hard bit - yet something that needs to be sorted before people get carried away with exploring the universe.

The physical limitations are a bit of an unknown, since for extended periods we know about 1g and 0g and nothing really in between (the Apollo astronauts are the only ones who have experienced it for more than a few moments, and that's not enough to draw conclusions).

 

On the space and solitude that's very much down to the individual. It would be too much for most people but there'll be some it suits (I edge a bit in that direction but I expect it would be too much for me).

[Ozexpatriate]

13 minutes ago, Reorte said:

The physical limitations are a bit of an unknown, since for extended periods we know about 1g and 0g and nothing really in between

It's not just gravity, but radiation. There has been testing on the radiation impact to cellular mutation (using the Kelly twins* with Scott in space and Mark on the ground) in the ISS, but that is not the same as a journey to Mars, or what type of radiation shelter would be required on the Martian surface.

 

* Gut biome was one of the significant changes along with some cardio-vascular issues.

 

It's worth noting that with any long-term ISS flight the astronauts/cosmonauts end up in wheelbarrow after landing.

[phil-b259]

41 minutes ago, Reorte said:

The physical limitations are a bit of an unknown, since for extended periods we know about 1g and 0g and nothing really in between (the Apollo astronauts are the only ones who have experienced it for more than a few moments, and that's not enough to draw conclusions).

 

On the space and solitude that's very much down to the individual. It would be too much for most people but there'll be some it suits (I edge a bit in that direction but I expect it would be too much for me).

 

21 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

It's not just gravity, but radiation. There has been testing on the radiation impact to cellular mutation (using the Kelly twins* with Scott in space and Mark on the ground) in the ISS, but that is not the same as a journey to Mars, or what type of radiation shelter would be required on the Martian surface.

 

* Gut biome was one of the significant changes along with some cardio-vascular issues.

 

It's worth noting that with any long-term ISS flight the astronauts/cosmonauts end up in wheelbarrow after landing.

 

I was thinking more about flying the thing there and providing the basics e.g. air, food and water - i.e. the engineering side if you like.

 

Keeping the human body in a fit state to actually do anything useful or be able to live a normal life back on earth afterwards is a whole other ballgame...

Edited September 28, 2022 by phil-b259

[Ozexpatriate]

4 hours ago, phil-b259 said:

I was thinking more about flying the thing there and providing the basics e.g. air, food and water - i.e. the engineering side if you like.

Habitability issues (like gravity and radiation shielding) are big engineering considerations for spacecraft design for a mission as long as a Mars mission - unless it is intended as a one-way trip.

 

No manned spacecraft to date has really considered these as design parameters - unlike the Clarke/Kubrick envisioned "Discovery One" did way back in 1969 for "2001: A Space Odyssey".

 

One of the original Von Braun lunar mission profiles was to have a artificial gravity space station in near-earth orbit as a staging/assembly point.

 

Von Braun would endorse LOR (Lunar-orbit rendezvous) over his previously imagined EOR (Earth-orbit rendezvous) in 1962. "Direct ascent" (single rocket) with rocket braking on descent to the moon was considered early but was not practical at the time.

 

The Artemis mission profile really seems like a warmed over version of Apollo - LOR, but with separate launches for HLS (lander) and Orion, and potentially an ISS-like "Lunar Gateway" station in lunar orbit.

 

Edited September 29, 2022 by Ozexpatriate

[rockershovel]

On 28/09/2022 at 22:54, Ozexpatriate said:

 

 

It's worth noting that with any long-term ISS flight the astronauts/cosmonauts end up in wheelbarrow after landing.

I've worked with people like that...

[57xx]

DART was a success:

 

Killer Asteroids Beware: DART Mission Finale Shows Spectacular Results - YouTube

Edited October 15, 2022 by 57xx
URL links can't be pasted directly in the editor anymore!!

[ERIC ALLTORQUE]

Well the prototype booster 7 and ship 24 have been stacked this last week so we should see a run up to full 33 engine static fire soon.

 

[ERIC ALLTORQUE]

Roll out on 4th with launch attempt on 14th.

[ERIC ALLTORQUE]

 

[Jeff Smith]

I can sometimes see launches from the Tampa area but on Nov 14th I will somewhere at sea on a cruise leaving about 4pm the day before from Port Canaveral....Hopefully won't be too far away by midnight!

[ERIC ALLTORQUE]

12 hours ago, Jeff Smith said:

I can sometimes see launches from the Tampa area but on Nov 14th I will somewhere at sea on a cruise leaving about 4pm the day before from Port Canaveral....Hopefully won't be too far away by midnight!

Heres hopeing for it going well for you, i was your side of pond three times in the shuttle days but one thing or another stopped flight while i was there so never got to see it.

[57xx]

6 hours ago, ERIC ALLTORQUE said:

Heres hopeing for it going well for you, i was your side of pond three times in the shuttle days but one thing or another stopped flight while i was there so never got to see it.

 

That's a shame, it was a truly impressive sight. I happened to be over in Port St John staying with a friend in 2001. He was working as a Boeing contractor on the ISS at the time, we were just over for motorcycle racing at Daytona during Bike Week along with a host of other friends. One morning around 6am there was a knock at our bedroom door and he said "The shuttle's going up shortly if you want to watch it".

We got up and in the living room was everyone gathered round the TV. "Sod that" I said to my missus.

"Get dressed, we're going to see it properly!!"

We got our clothes on and raced out to the rental car, scraped the ice off the windows and I shot off on the 1 mile drive to the coast. We parked up overlooking the cape and joined a load of other people there waiting for the launch.

Even from a fair distance it was fantastic to see STS-102 ascending to the sky. After about a minute, a chap from NY who was stood next to us and declared "Gee, that was dull, I thought it would be loud". My friend had told us before about the launches of the shuttle and various rockets that depending on wind direction, you could be oblivious of the launch or the whole house would be shaking. Bearing mind we were 14 miles away, I replied "Give it a moment".

Right on cue there was a deep rumble and chest shaking vibration, then a deafening roar swept over us and a loud cheer went up.

[ERIC ALLTORQUE]

14 engine static fire on booster seven a little while ago.

 

[MrTea]

Anyone else planning on getting up at ‘silly o’clock’ for the launch tomorrow (assuming it goes ahead…)?

 

We were fortunate enough to catch a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch at Kennedy Space Center while we were in Florida over the summer:

 

 

The sound was something else!

[Ozexpatriate]

10 minutes ago, MrTea said:

assuming it goes ahead

Given that it sat on the pad during a hurricane (!) I'd be surprised if there weren't some bits that needed replacing/fixing that could impact the schedule but it appears to be on track.

[ERIC ALLTORQUE]

12 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Given that it sat on the pad during a hurricane (!) I'd be surprised if there weren't some bits that needed replacing/fixing that could impact the schedule but it appears to be on track.

Still on for tomorrow so far,lets hope all goes well.

heres a tweet from musk a few hours ago about booster seven

Elon Musk

@elonmusk

Replying to

@NASASpaceflight

Next test is ~20 sec firing with max oxygen fill to test autogenous pressurization, possibly one more static fire, then orbital launch attempt

8:58 AM · Nov 15, 2022·Twitter for iPhone

[APOLLO]

Euston we have a problem,

 

Launch is off - Musk has sacked all the launch controllers !!!!

 

Brit15

 

 

[MrTea]

We’re on. Exciting!