Space stuff...

[IT Minion]

The opposite is true.

It's also true to say that advances in space travel have stalled.

It really isn't. But Artemis II did not use those advances.

The new generation of rocket engines are reusable and use Methane as a fuel rather than hydrogen. They are hugely cheaper to build than the old school hydrogen powered ones used by Saturn V, the Shuttle and SLS/Artemis. Plus they are intended for reuse which reduces production time and costs.

Also our ability to launch things further away control them and land things on the moon and Mars has taken a huge leap. A remote control helicopter managed to operate on Mars for weeks.

 

[noseall]

It really isn't. But Artemis II did not use those advances.

The new generation of rocket engines are reusable and use Methane as a fuel rather than hydrogen. They are hugely cheaper to build than the old school hydrogen powered ones used by Saturn V, the Shuttle and SLS/Artemis. Plus they are intended for reuse which reduces production time and costs.

Also our ability to launch things further away control them and land things on the moon and Mars has taken a huge leap. A remote control helicopter managed to operate on Mars for weeks.

Going green is great, but it doesn't seem to have done our ability to put a man on another sphere (other than back on Earth) much good - no.

 

[IT Minion]

Going green is great, but it doesn't seem to have done our ability to put a man on another sphere (other than back on Earth) much good - no.

Green has nothing to do with it. Methane is less efficient as a rocket fuel, but it's easier to work with and cheaper to use. It is moving away from trying to make rockets as perfect as possible and moving more towards brute force engineering and ongoing costs assuming a higher flight rate.

And Methane engines still haven't fully arrived yet.

SpaceX is aiming too high with their goal to go fully reusable from the start. If they built a simple expendable second stage for the Super heavy they'd be launching 100t at a time onto orbit already.

BO is doing that with New Glenn but haven't got payloads for it yet. They're planning on launching their lunar lander demo later this year.

 

[Dec27]

Green has nothing to do with it. Methane is less efficient as a rocket fuel, but it's easier to work with and cheaper to use. It is moving away from trying to make rockets as perfect as possible and moving more towards brute force engineering and ongoing costs assuming a higher flight rate.

And Methane engines still haven't fully arrived yet.

SpaceX is aiming too high with their goal to go fully reusable from the start. If they built a simple expendable second stage for the Super heavy they'd be launching 100t at a time onto orbit already.

BO is doing that with New Glenn but haven't got payloads for it yet. They're planning on launching their lunar lander demo later this year.

Waffle

 

[noseall]

And Methane engines still haven't fully arrived yet.

Nor our ability to land on another planet.

SpaceX is aiming too high with their goal to go fully reusable from the start

Agree - re-usable is a great commercial folly for those wealthy folk that want to experience the Earth orbit floaty experiance.

. If they built a simple expendable second stage for the Super heavy they'd be launching 100t at a time onto orbit already.

Great.

BO is doing that with New Glenn but haven't got payloads for it yet. They're planning on launching their lunar lander demo later this year.

We are still many decades away from transporting a man to Mars. Not even scratching the surface, really.

 

[IT Minion]

Agree - re-sable is a great commercial folly for those wealthy folk that want to experience the Earth orbit floaty experiance.

It's mostly good for Satellites. Starlink is a technical masterpiece and has significant commercial and societal benefits.

Also for small sats, the Falcon 9 ride share program has dropped the price to get cubesats into orbit by a factor of ten or more and more or less eliminated schedule issues.

It has also prepared the infrastructure for more rapid, cheaper launches. Ranges have been updated so they can launch multiple times a week rather than multiple times a month.

It really has transformed the space industry, but if you don't follow it you wouldn't notice.

 

[noseall]

It's mostly good for Satellites. Starlink is a technical masterpiece and has significant commercial and societal benefits.

Also for small sats, the Falcon 9 ride share program has dropped the price to get cubesats into orbit by a factor of ten or more and more or less eliminated schedule issues.

It has also prepared the infrastructure for more rapid, cheaper launches. Ranges have been updated so they can launch multiple times a week rather than multiple times a month.

It really has transformed the space industry, but if you don't follow it you wouldn't notice.

Great for Earth stuff I agree.
Interplanetary travel - pipe dream.

 

[Dec27]

Interplanetary travel - pipe dream

Does that include the moon?

 

[IT Minion]

Great for Earth stuff I agree.
Interplanetary travel - pipe dream.

We already send robots and there is no theoretical blocker to sending people. It's only a matter of time.

 

[motorbiking]

We are still many decades away from transporting a man to Mars.

We are no nearer to putting a man on Mars than we were 5 decades ago. It's just a pipe dream.

Pipe dream and logistically/practically impossible from the Earth.

Pipe dream. And not just because of the money. Mars is just too far to transport a human.

We are centuries away from putting a man on Mars.

What we are is no closer to understanding where your head is at.

 

[noseall]

Does that include the moon?

We can do a fly past. Any good?

 

[noseall]

We already send robots

Well that’s a relief.

 

[noseall]

It's only a matter of time.

I’d say a century.

 

[noseall]

What we are is no closer to understanding where your head is at.

A montage, how sweet.

STALKER ALERT!

 

[motorbiking]

why do you say 100 years and not 50 or 30?

what is needed that cannot be developed and tested in the next 10-15 years for example.