Going to the moon in 2024

[Irving]

Ha! I saw that same article and very nearly posted it myself.

[Justin]

I'm convinced the Senator Shelby must have the dirt on half of congress and the high level leadership at NASA, because, frankly, SLS is a fiscal boondoggle cosplaying as a rocket.

[Gman]

Space.com: Kablam! Watch NASA Crush a SLS Megarocket Fuel Tank Until It Explodes (Video)

If you've ever wondered what a giant rocket fuel tank looks like after exploding, a new NASA video has you covered.

In the video, which NASA released Monday (Dec. 9), engineers have purposefully exploded a test version of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket's propellant tank. In doing so, they found that the tank can handle a lot more than they expect the real version to encounter in flight.

At NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, engineers pushed the test tank full of liquid hydrogen way past its limits. The tank aced the test, withstanding more than 260% of expected flight loads for over five hours, at which point engineers spotted a buckling point, which soon burst.

"We purposely took this tank to its extreme limits and broke it because pushing systems to the point of failure gives us additional data to help us build rockets intelligently," Neil Otte, chief engineer of the SLS Stages Office at Marshall, said in a NASA statement. "We will be flying the Space Launch System for decades to come, and breaking the propellant tank today will help us safely and efficiently evolve the SLS rocket as our desired missions evolve."

[Gman]

Whoops.

Boeing's Starliner Won't Reach Space Station, NASA Chief Says

Boeing's Starliner Won't Reach Space Station, NASA Chief Says
By Chelsea Gohd 6 hours ago

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Boeing's Starliner astronaut taxi suffered an anomaly today (Dec. 20) during its flight to the International Space Station during the Orbital Flight Test (OFT) mission.

About 90 minutes after blastoff, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said on Twitter that the capsule will not be able to reach the space station because it burned too much fuel during the anomaly.

The Atlas V rocket from United Launch Alliance successfully launched from Space Launch Complex 41 here at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 6:36 a.m. EST (1136 GMT) as planned. But, as of about an hour after launch, the mission team had announced an anomaly with the uncrewed capsule's orbit.

"Starliner in stable orbit. The burn needed for a rendezvous with the ISS did not happen. Working the issue," Bridenstine tweeted, following the announcement of the anomaly.

Starliner in stable orbit. The burn needed for a rendezvous with the ISS did not happen. Working the issue.

About 15 minutes after launch, Starliner was scheduled to complete a 40-second orbital insertion burn that would have evened out its orbit to a circle, allowing it to meet up with the space station. But this stage in the flight was off-nominal, or different from what they expected.

"We have since experienced an off-nominal insertion and the spacecraft is in a stable position," Boeing spokesperson Steve Siceloff said during a launch broadcast. "It's fully powered; mission control here in Houston is assessing all the options."

"After launching successfully at 6:36 a.m. Eastern Time Friday on the United Launch Alliance Atlas v rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the Boeing Starliner space vehicle experienced an off-nominal insertion," Boeing spokesperson Kelly Kaplan told reporters here at the press site.

"The spacecraft is currently in safe, stable configuration," Kaplan added. "Flight controllers have completed a successful initial burn and are assessing next steps. Boeing and NASA are working together to review options for the test and mission opportunities available while the Starliner remains in orbit. A joint news conference will be held at 9 a.m. Eastern on NASA TV."

The OFT was designed as a critical milestone to test Starliner for future crewed missions. Following this procedure, Boeing plans to launch a Crewed Flight Test with three astronauts onboard Starliner.

NASA hired both Boeing and SpaceX to develop reusable vehicles capable of bringing humans safely to and from the space station. Ever since the 2011 retirement of the space shuttle, the agency has been relying on Russian Soyuz spacecraft for access to the orbiting laboratory.

Prior to today's launch, both Boeing and SpaceX were targeting crewed test flights in 2020.

This story is developing and will be updated as more information is available.

According to the Fox News, NASA states that the mission timer on the rocket used for this mission was for another mission.

[DenverGP]

Yup, the capsule's computer clock failed to synchronize just before launch, so the capsule thought it was much further in the mission than it really was. During a period where it was out of contact with the ground (not even able to communicate thru TDRS ) and was supposed to be coasting and it's orientation didn't matter, instead the capsule was using up propellant trying to maintain a precise orientation. Once they re-established communication with the capsule, they found they no long had sufficient propellant to reach the ISS.

The capsule's initial trajectory is intentionally sub-orbital, so that if something went wrong, it would de-orbit on it's own. Initially they were unsure if they could even reach a stable orbit. After some calculations, they did an orbital maneuver to at least reach a stable orbit, with a path that will set them up for a landing at White Sands missile range.

So far, I've heard nasa and boeing both saying their next mission will still be a manned flight to ISS, despite having never proven they can dock successfully. Sounds like "go fever" to me.

And I'll be using "off-nominal" to describe anything I screw up from now on.

[Justin]

So far, I've heard nasa and boeing both saying their next mission will still be a manned flight to ISS, despite having never proven they can dock successfully. Sounds like "go fever" to me.

I don't know. It looks like they knew what the issue was almost immediately, and that it would have just resulted in an aborted ISS mission, and not an actual danger to crew.

Next up is SpaceX, they're doing in an-flight abort test next month, and plan to do their first crewed mission to the ISS with Dragon 2 in February.

[DenverGP]

I don't know. It looks like they knew what the issue was almost immediately, and that it would have just resulted in an aborted ISS mission, and not an actual danger to crew.

Right, but it seems odd to fly a manned flight on the capsule having never demonstrating successful rendezvous and docking to the ISS.

Next up is SpaceX, they're doing in an-flight abort test next month, and plan to do their first crewed mission to the ISS with Dragon 2 in February.

I thought I saw something from Nasa with Boeing's first crewed mission scheduled to occur before the first Spacex crewed mission, but I can't seem to find it now. Even if the in-flight abort test goes off well, getting the first spacex crewed mission done by Feb seems overly optimistic.

[spqrzilla]

because, frankly, SLS is a fiscal boondoggle cosplaying as a rocket.

I'm so stealing that.

[Gman]

Crew Dragon Launch Escape Demonstration

[DenverGP]

Excellent test today for SpaceX. Another step closer to getting American astronauts back into space on a American rocket from American soil