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Watommi posted:Are there just random, unused ports all over the ISS that they can attach things like this BEAM to? Oxygen is primarily made from water. Nitrogen is refueled. A volume of 16 m³ can be completely filled at 1 bar with less than 25 liters of liquid nitrogen. So I'd guess they deliver a tank with it. -e- 16 m³ of gaseous nitrogen weight 20 kg. Liquid nitrogen has a density of 0.8116g/cm³, so that's 24.64 liters. Lurking Haro fucked around with this message at May 16, 2013 around 22:24 |
| # ? May 16, 2013 22:14 |
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| # ? May 19, 2013 06:57 |
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Neat. Are there any good articles on what it takes just to keep the Space Station running and habitable?
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| # ? May 16, 2013 23:26 |
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SpaceX Falcon fairing test! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtI1V624vWM
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| # ? May 16, 2013 23:46 |
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It's a great endorsement for NASA and Google to team up and buy one, but I'm still cynical. Has there been any independent analysis that proves beyond a reasonable doubt that D-Wave builds true quantum computers and not just highly optimized ASICs?Zaran posted:SpaceX Falcon fairing test!
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| # ? May 16, 2013 23:48 |
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As people seemed to like the chart from last night, here is a larger one... I have included all launchers that are currently operating in some way, upcoming developing launchers too. I have had to exclude China from the list as the data on those rockets is sketchy at best I find. Also some of the Soyuz variants have basically no data on them that I could find, same goes with the Zenit launchers.  The things I can do when I can't sleep... Also any other data-like stuff you guys want in a kinda easy to read table like this? Can add it to the list of things to do when not sleeping.
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| # ? May 17, 2013 01:22 |
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Zaran posted:As people seemed to like the chart from last night, here is a larger one... When your launch vehicles share a lot of tech with your ICBMs (or *are* ICBMs) you end up getting a bit vague on their exact performance characteristics. Delta and Atlas are far enough removed from their origins that it's no longer an issue (beyond ITAR), but I think there were some issues with the Minotaur family in the past given their reuse of Peacekeeper equipment. Minotaurs are still US government use only, although that's more because they're recouping the sunk costs of the decommissioned ICBMs used to build them.
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| # ? May 17, 2013 01:43 |
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Watommi posted:Are there just random, unused ports all over the ISS that they can attach things like this BEAM to? Basically yes. I don't know how many free ones there are exactly but all non-russian modules use them. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_berthing_mechanism
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| # ? May 17, 2013 12:01 |
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Huh, that's a real thing and not just a KSP add-on...
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| # ? May 17, 2013 12:16 |
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^^ Indeed it is real! In other news: ATV-4 may be delayed AGAIN. While ATV is sitting on top her Ariane 5 booster at the launch site there maybe an issue with the docking port it uses on ISS. On the last Russian EVA they fixed a retro-reflector used by the ATV's KURS-based-but-ESA-built docking system, well there are worries that the crippled Progress resupply ship may have damaged the retro-reflector again. Due to the position of its still stowed antenna ground controllers are worried that the antenna has shifted or even broken one of the two reflectors. Currently ATV-4 launches 5th June, the Progress will leave station on the 11th with ATV taking its place on the 15th. Mission controllers are thinking about sending Progress away before ATV-4 launches so they can use the progress camera to assess any potential damage, if there is damage another Spacewalk may be called on to make repairs. Considering ATV is the heaviest resupply ship to visit ISS, this one has a mass of about 20,350kg (More than the launch mass of some ISS modules, and very nearly the mass cap for Ariane 5 @ 21,000kg), you do not want it to be coming into station too fast due to faulty sensor data because it will not stop and will badly damage whatever it hits.
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| # ? May 17, 2013 13:37 |
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GWBBQ posted:It's a great endorsement for NASA and Google to team up and buy one, but I'm still cynical. Has there been any independent analysis that proves beyond a reasonable doubt that D-Wave builds true quantum computers and not just highly optimized ASICs? And yes, there have been tests: http://arstechnica.com/science/2013...onal-computers/
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| # ? May 17, 2013 14:37 |
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What's the ETA on the Angara rocket family? I can never find anything concrete on it and wikipedia says version 1.1 is canceled and 1.2 is launching sometime this year.
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| # ? May 17, 2013 16:49 |
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Why does the ISS orbit at 51.6 inclination? Baikonur is at 45 degrees, so is it just for margin of error?
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| # ? May 17, 2013 18:36 |
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It's a slightly uncomfortable compromise orbit so that they can reach it from both Florida and Baikonur.
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| # ? May 17, 2013 18:43 |
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Florida is lower than Baikonur so that's not the right answer. The actual answer is the latitude of Russian ground stations that appear all the way to 51 deg.
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| # ? May 17, 2013 18:57 |
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tractor fanatic posted:Why does the ISS orbit at 51.6 inclination? Baikonur is at 45 degrees, so is it just for margin of error? According to this, the Russians can't launch due East from Baikonur because it will drop the first stages into China. They have to launch at a higher angle to avoid that. 51.6° is the furthest South they can go to avoid raining space junk on the Chinese.
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| # ? May 17, 2013 20:06 |
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Deteriorata posted:According to this, the Russians can't launch due East from Baikonur because it will drop the first stages into China. They have to launch at a higher angle to avoid that. 51.6° is the furthest South they can go to avoid raining space junk on the Chinese. Now that's one I haven't heard before but makes good sense also Which is true?! Edit: perhaps the ground stations were put there to match the inclination. I'm having an attack of the stupid today.
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| # ? May 17, 2013 20:44 |
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Better source: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/feedbac...4_12_54_17.html
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| # ? May 17, 2013 20:47 |
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Might this have been a contributing factor for location of the Vostochny Cosmodrome the Russians are building? If they launched from a point more or less East of China they could ditch their booster stages in the Pacific.
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| # ? May 18, 2013 01:48 |
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reagan posted:What's the ETA on the Angara rocket family? I can never find anything concrete on it and wikipedia says version 1.1 is canceled and 1.2 is launching sometime this year. 2014 at best. Vladimir Popovkin, the head of Roscosmos, has stated that it was a bad decision to use an existing Zenit launch pad for the Angara launcher, apparently at Plesetsk, which is causing delays for the first launch. (Which doesn't make sense since Zenits were never launched at Plesetsk from what I can find?) Although they do plan on launching Angaras from Vostochny and Plesetsk. Edit: Apparently they are using an incomplete Zenit pad and modifying it for Angara. DarkSol fucked around with this message at May 18, 2013 around 03:30 |
| # ? May 18, 2013 03:24 |
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DarkSol posted:2014 at best. Vladimir Popovkin, the head of Roscosmos, has stated that it was a bad decision to use an existing Zenit launch pad for the Angara launcher, apparently at Plesetsk, which is causing delays for the first launch. (Which doesn't make sense since Zenits were never launched at Plesetsk from what I can find?) Although they do plan on launching Angaras from Vostochny and Plesetsk. It was probably a bad idea to not copy all of the Energia blueprints and just slap Zenit launchers all over the side anyway. Unless I am wrong, the plans existed in the Ukraine or in Russia. Why not just use that to build something like the Vulkan launcher that is mentioned on some websites. 175 tonnes? This is not a Buran discussion for anyone concerned. I'm just curious as to why Russia did not use/purchase the technology from one of the CIS states to build a heavy lifter. It's just strange to me, especially after the N-1 engines and the RD-180s on the Atlas have been such a success. Did all of that poo poo the bed because of complications after the end of the Cold War. What a mess if that is the case.
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| # ? May 18, 2013 04:54 |
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reagan posted:It was probably a bad idea to not copy all of the Energia blueprints and just slap Zenit launchers all over the side anyway. Unless I am wrong, the plans existed in the Ukraine or in Russia. Why not just use that to build something like the Vulkan launcher that is mentioned on some websites. 175 tonnes? Well, one really big reason is while RSC Energia did indeed build Energia, apparently Khrunichev got the contract for building the next generation of launchers, i.e. Angara. Also, RSC Energia isn't really in the rocket business any more. Instead they are focusing on building spacecraft. It isn't a matter of buying the technology off of the CIS states since both companies are based in Moscow. Furthermore, production lines for the Energia have probably long since been retooled for other purposes, so standing them back up might not be economically viable. Plus, there have been 20 plus years since Energia was last launched, the technology has progressed since then. And while I'm a huge fan of the Energia launcher and its potential capabilities, you have to remember that Energia was a program without solid goals outside of Buran and Polyus. (And after the failure of Polyus, that program got shuttered.) There just isn't a need for a super-heavy launcher by the US or Russia. If there was, why didn't the US use the Shuttle-C concept that had been floated around for years or why did Russia cancel the Energia program in 1993? Lastly, it's funny that you mention the RD-180s, since the RD-191 is a RD-170 derivative just like the 180s. NPO Energomash is leveraging off of Energia based technology.
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| # ? May 18, 2013 12:54 |
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49TkVLRWKoc Jamie and Adam look into Astronaut food. Special guest: Chris Hadfield. With bonus zero-gee Asparagus eating!
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| # ? May 19, 2013 00:17 |
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In other media news, FreddieW and Corridor Digital on Youtube have a regular show called LAN Party... which is exactly what it sounds like. The latest episode is a four-way KSP race to the moon. Solid gold moment at 9 minutes, a launch failure so total that it makes SeaLaunch look like a good investment. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEUPYutqvkA
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| # ? May 19, 2013 01:25 |
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| # ? May 19, 2013 06:57 |
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That was pretty fun. "There is a way to strut my tanks together?!!"
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| # ? May 19, 2013 01:59 |
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