Any been near the H model with the 8 blade props vs the old 4 blades? Is there is a noticeable decibel difference? Collins Aerospace claims its NP2000 eight-bladed propellers reduce noise by 50% (20 decibels) compared with the old 4-bladed propellers. https://www.collinsaerospace.com/-/media/projec...
Jump to postThey are all built. 4 Crew Dragon and 2 Starliner. That's what was needed to fulfill the contractual obligations. Each could build more if requested. Starliner can turnaround faster since it doesn't land in water. Boeing was originally going to build 4 but decided 2 was enough. You want to bet Star...
Jump to postActually Starliner is built to be launcher-agnostic, it can fly on F9 just as easily as Atlas or Vulcan. Whereas Crew Dragon is vertically integrated and can only fly on F9. That said, it's unlikely there would be a need for either to fly on the other's launcher, unless there is a grounding issue. ...
Jump to postLimited docking life is the rub. Soyuz is rated for half a year, and was seen pushing it a few times. That's a capability sorely missed from new vehicles. What are you talking about? Manned Dragon and Starliner are both rated for 7 months. Just curious - what's the limiting factor? Rubber seals get...
Jump to postOK, and the next next question: How many Starliner capsules is Boeing contracted to or expected to build? SpaceX has already halted building new Crew Dragon 2's as the current fleet of four will suffice for current expected flight needs. Tugg They are all built. 4 Crew Dragon and 2 Starliner. That'...
Jump to postI think FOs are a terrible idea for their 402s. That means I can't get their seat.
Jump to postLimited docking life is the rub. Soyuz is rated for half a year, and was seen pushing it a few times. That's a capability sorely missed from new vehicles. What are you talking about? Manned Dragon and Starliner are both rated for 7 months. Seriously? I must have slept through that class :) Thanks f...
Jump to postPhosphorus wrote:Limited docking life is the rub. Soyuz is rated for half a year, and was seen pushing it a few times.
That's a capability sorely missed from new vehicles.
All manned capsules have always been qualified lifeboats. Dragon is limited to 4 and Starliner to 5. NASA made SpaceX remove the row of three seats because they didn't like the angles. The passengers ride the same type of capsule both ways because the spacesuits are only designed for one. Why NASA d...
Jump to postSealing valve electrical connectors and safing pyros just seems so basic it doesn't really inspire hope that things are improving over there.
Jump to postThere's a difference between a depressed person who ends his life and a mass murderer.
Jump to postThere are a couple of drop in replacements for most planes - the industry has been working on this for years. But nothing is 100% - for example old leaded gas cars has extra valve seat wear, even with proper octane. So everything has to be tested, approved, certified, etc. G100UL was finally first ...
Jump to postThere are questions about counting FH boosters, Amos-6 and the abort booster, but by my count, this was the 134th consecutive successful Falcon 9 launch, breaking the R7 family record.
Jump to postSaid the loads on the helicopter were greater than expected, so as a precaution, they let it go for secondary splashdown and retrieval. But still a major success. They will improve on that and showed the idea is viable. Yes, just watched the webcast after seeing a headline, Space X had plenty of ne...
Jump to postYes. Most of the premature wear is in the hot section. The compressors seem to be holding up better than the turbines. The gearbox, that many assumed would be problematic, have had no issues. Pratt is aware of all the issues. I presume they are diligently working to resolve but it seems they have a...
Jump to postThe SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) is finally getting put to pasture.
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-partn ... ia-mission
Are there any other 747SPs actually still in operation?
How did I miss the Crew-4 launch... :ghost: April 29th will see a new record: Booster 1062 will fly after a 21-day refurbishment. It will be her sixth lunch. On May 8th, two Starlink launches from the east coast! A 21 day lunch break sounds a little excessive. If the Starlink gets off on the 29th, ...
Jump to posthiflyeras wrote:Just where is Starlink at as far as FAA certification of the antenna required for mounting on the 'roof' of the fuselage? I'm wondering why they are both a bit vague about a start date.
Crew was pretty wobbly on exiting the spacecraft. Was the crew able to use ISS exercise equipment during their “bonus” days? I believe I heard a call for private medical conference after splashdown…. It's a thing that's existed for thousands of years. Everybody takes a bit to get their land legs ba...
Jump to postJust had a NASA teleconference, the rollback decision was taken because the nitrogen vendor asked for time to expand their pipeline capacity, which had been the source of delays on the earlier tests. They are looking at 3 options for completing WDR. Two of them involve double trips back to VAB, the...
Jump to postArtemis WDR has been mostly successful. They found 2 minor issues in an incredibly complex system. A check valve that doesn't seal properly, and a hydrogen fitting that leaked under a pressure surge. Both are easily fixed. They wouldn't be rolling it back if it was "easily" fixed. And you...
Jump to postI remember how many times in the early days SpaceX people would go to the launch pad and pretty much hit a sticky cryo valve with a hammer to get things going. If they'd used the proper methods of fixing something, they'd still be at it when the sun turned into a red giant. The Shuttle had a lot of ...
Jump to postGDB wrote:I understand that they are happy using ‘their’ boosters!
An accommodation given the proven reliability of the Falcon and saving tax $?
James Webb Space Telescope instrument reaches super-cold operating temperature https://www.space.com/james-webb-space-telescope-absolute-zero-calibration It did 5 days ago. The media outlets are just doing their normal jumping on the bandwagon. A good place to keep track of things is https://jwst.n...
Jump to postkitplane01 wrote:I would be real curious how much more a ULA launch costs over a SpaceX launch.
Axiom-1 just docked at ISS. Docking delayed by communications difficulties. Dragon voice comms were getting cut off, resolved by crew delaying speech after pushing talk switch. Then ISS crew was not receiving Dragon centerline camera views, resolved by waiting for a pass over a SpaceX ground statio...
Jump to postHow would you expect it to go if brakes on one side locked? Would locked wheels or wheels with properly operating brakes have more traction? Locked wheels have less traction, properly working brakes and rotating wheels have more traction. ABS in cars is based on this principle: it reduces brake pre...
Jump to postHow would you expect it to go if brakes on one side locked? Would locked wheels or wheels with properly operating brakes have more traction?
Jump to postA bomber that you can see on radar 500 miles away would probably not get to target or return home to be reused very often. It takes more than a few trucks of fuel to fill a Starship for the return trip, and the methane and LOX need to be much higher grade than normal gas plants can put out. But the...
Jump to postA bomber that you can see on radar 500 miles away would probably not get to target or return home to be reused very often. It takes more than a few trucks of fuel to fill a Starship for the return trip, and the methane and LOX need to be much higher grade than normal gas plants can put out. But the ...
Jump to postIf it hits a prop, then you have to check if the engine has been magnetized, if it has, then an overhaul or degaussing is in order. Could you explain to me, an educated laypeson who has taken Physics (twice) why it matters if an engine is magnetized? Is it because the movement of parts will cause h...
Jump to postI know Ukraine wants to maintain the moral high-ground, but now that they are cutting off Russian troops in west Kiev, I'd love to see them transport all these -- and other -- POWs to various districts in Kiev, and other strategic cities. I doubt anyone outside Russia would blame them. Everybody wh...
Jump to postNot Europe, but it seems like I remember flying a Tristar out of Japan back then.
Jump to postIsrael doesn't want another pogrom. There are still 160,000 jews living in Russia.
Jump to postI think we should just keep screwing around.
Jump to postI love the risk adversity mindset. I had most of the big Egyptian sites almost to myself because of incidents years before.
I did feel bad for all the vendors ego hadn't seen a customer in months.
SpaceX purchased oil rigs, and has moved them to Pascagoula to be refitted into the Deimos and Phobos launch platforms. But to launch something from an offshore platform, the rokkit needs to be fueled. Has SpaceX already purchased a fuel farm tanker? I'd expect them to charter tankers and crews. It...
Jump to postNot likely to be Moldavia since that's part of NATO. Moldova is neither in NATO nor the EU. Their prez just said he'd be interested in joining the EU but not NATO. He didn't say Moldova. Didn't say Moldavia either really. People keep getting Moldova and Moldavia mixed up. Two different places. Mold...
Jump to postAnother aspect is the range of the Tu-141, cited as approx. 1000km. To reach ZAG, it would need to be launched in western Ukraine, the westernmost part of Belarus or Moldovia. Belarus doesn't make sense given the reported route across Hungary and Romania, and there are no Russian troops in the othe...
Jump to postThis is ridiculous talk. Even if the US astronaut gets down in Soyuz and lands in Russia, I have no doubt he will be treated well and go back to the US without issue. There is nothing to win for Russia in doing it any other way. There's nothing to win for Russia in just about everything they've don...
Jump to postBuilding on this, I think the “classic” measure has been MTOW. Wingspan is popular but can be misleading imo. The most weight that can be lifted imo makes it the “biggest”. That’s the A380 now iirc. Wouldn't the C5M be the largest in terms of weight carried? I think the M upgrade put it past the An...
Jump to postplanewasted wrote:So what's the largest aircraft in the world now? A380? Stratolaunch?
May the mighty Mriya have sweet eternal dreams...
Logistically I’m sure it would be a huge hassle and probably not worth it, but really other than money and National pride, what’s to stop ESA from telling SpaceX that they want to launch their own astronauts on SpaceX hardware? ESA has already launched astronauts on SpaceX hardware. Oh yes, I under...
Jump to postMusk, in his usual trolling/PR-seeking ways, responded to threats by Russia of abandoning the ISS (and letting it crash over the US or Europe :sarcastic: ) by saying that SpaceX would step up to the plate: https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-spacex-protect-iss-crashing-russian-threats-2022-2 ...
Jump to postThis truly sucks. https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/news-v-rezultati-rosiyskoyi-ataky-z-horiv-naybilshyy-v-sviti-litak-mriya-/31726400.html "As a result of an air attack by Russian troops on the Gostomel airport near Kyiv, one of the largest and most powerful Ukrainian-made AN-225 "Dream"...
Jump to postIt would be cool to see ESA use Falcon 9 for the Galileo sats however. They'd probably save money too... Money that would not go to Arianespace ... From a European politics perspective, launching with SpaceX would be bad PR. It would signal "we're dependent on other superpowers to provide basi...
Jump to postRogozin's rants don't mean a lot. And I doubt if the men who had to go through that Soyuz abort a while back would call it the most reliable rocket. Or the ones who had to ride the ISS Tilt-a-whirl a whirl when the Progress went crazy think much of Russian gear. I'm pretty sure a certain company cou...
Jump to postI forget what model use to be parked at the old Hobbs army airfield, but I was always trying to get them to let me overhaul the wiring,
Jump to postI use to fly from Newark to Seatac all the time. Couldn't have picked a worse pair for "We're trying to find a ramp driver".
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