Space exploration and rockets general thread

Started by Legend, Jan 07, 2017, 05:32 PM

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Legend

so tell me about space elevators.
You just use a very strong cable to connect a ground station to a satellite. Then you can ride up and down the cable like an elevator without needing a rocket.

The satellite needs to be in a special orbit to make the physics actually work, but that's the general concept. No current way to build a cable strong enough to build a space elevator though. Also fully reusable rockets are likely cheaper anyway.

kitler53

does it need to be constructed at the equator?  how is this wire get spanned between earth/space.  how long to ascend?  how much weight per assent.  is this really just down to a materials science problem?


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Legend

does it need to be constructed at the equator?  how is this wire get spanned between earth/space.  how long to ascend?  how much weight per assent.  is this really just down to a materials science problem?

It doesn't technically need to be at the equator but it'd be much much simpler and more realistic to build one there. Otherwise you could build a pair of base stations in the north and south that both connect to the space counterweight, or just a single northern base station that has very dynamic loads as the counterweight oscillates north and south.

There's no known way to currently build one since we don't have the materials to build them. You could just launch a rocket straight up with a wire attached if the material is light enough to allow that. Ascension time and weight also just depend on engineering.

Very few people take space elevators on Earth seriously because they could easily be hundreds of years away from being possible. On different planets or moons they're a lot more realistic but we don't have a reason to build them yet.


If you're interested in space elevators, you might also be interested in spinlaunch. They're working to throw stuff to space.


Legend



I really expected Victor Glover to be on Artemis 3. Artemis 2 only loops around the Moon while Artemis 3 lands, so it's the more prestigious mission. Still pretty dang awesome to be on the first crewed flight of orion.

Christina Koch has the record of longest spaceflight by a woman and Reid Wiseman got to chose his flight, so it's kinda surprising both neither is on Artemis 3. I don't know anything about the Canadian but this will be their only Artemis seat for a while. NASA seems to be picking one international space agency per mission to donate a seat to. ESA is expected to have a non landing seat on Artemis 3.


Will be pretty funny if Dear Moon flies before this. I do not expect that to happen, but delays are often chaotically unpredictable. Just imagine Youtubers and DJs flying around the Moon while NASA astronauts are stuck waiting on the ground.

Legend

Relativity ‘all in’ on Terran R rocket, shifting 3D-printing approach

What a joke.

Cool goals but everyone knew 3D printing whole rockets was stupid.

Legend


Legend



Wow that first stage was hauling! First fully expended falcon heavy launch.

Legend



So cool.

Legend



Watch humans launch to the space station in a few seconds.

nnodley

yep just barely caught seeing it launch

Legend

yep just barely caught seeing it launch
What a landing!

I've been watching the stream since xbox ended. 46 people have now been launched to orbit by SpaceX. Kinda boring now

Legend



Human launch to the ISS in 2 hours.

Legend

(2403.10788) A new launch pad failure mode: Analysis of fine particles from the launch of the first Starship orbital test flight

A world record for fastest sustained digging. A bomb or meteor can instantly dig a deeper crater, but nothing else could dig layer by layer this fast. Just imagine a custom built starship that is designed just for digging big holes this way  8)

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