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SpaceX's Falcon Heavy eyed by Europe/Japan
According to RussianSpaceWeb, SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket is under serious consideration for launches of major European and Japanese payloads associated with the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway (formerly the Deep Space Gateway).
[...] The first payload considering Falcon Heavy for launch services is the Japanese Space Agency's (JAXA) HTV-X, and upgraded version of a spacecraft the country developed to assist in resupplying the International Space Station (ISS). HTV-X is primarily being designed with an ISS-resupply role still at the forefront, but RussianSpaceWeb recently reported that JAXA is seriously considering the development of a variant of the robotic spacecraft dedicated to resupplying the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway (LOPG; and I truly wish I were joking about both the name and acronym).
[...] Regardless of the LOPG's existential merits, a lot of energy (and money) is currently being funneled into planning and initial hardware development for the lunar station's various modular segments. JAXA is currently analyzing ways to resupply LOPG and its crew complement with its HTV-X cargo spacecraft, currently targeting its first annual ISS resupply mission by the end of 2021. While JAXA will use its own domestic H-III rocket to launch HTV-X to the ISS, that rocket simply is not powerful enough to place a minimum of ~10,000 kg (22,000 lb) on a trans-lunar insertion (TLI) trajectory. As such, JAXA is examining SpaceX's Falcon Heavy as a prime (and affordable) option: by recovering both side boosters on SpaceX's drone ships and sacrificing the rocket's center core, a 2/3rds-reusable Falcon Heavy should be able to send as much as 20,000 kg to TLI (lunar orbit), according to comments made by CEO Elon Musk.
That impressive performance would also be needed for another LOPG payload, this time for ESA's 5-6 ton European System Providing Refueling Infrastructure and Telecommunications (ESPRIT) lunar station module. That component is unlikely to reach launch readiness before 2024, but ESA is already considering Falcon Heavy (over its own Ariane 6 rocket) in order to save some of the module's propellant. Weighing 6 metric tons at most, Falcon Heavy could most likely launch ESPRIT while still recovering all three of its booster stages.
Previously: NASA's Chief of Human Spaceflight Rules Out Use of Falcon Heavy for Lunar Station
Related: NASA and International Partners Planning Orbital Lunar Outpost
Russia Assembles Engineering Group for Lunar Activities and the Deep Space Gateway
This Week in Space Pessimism: SLS, Mars, and Lunar Gateway
(Score: 3, Insightful) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Wednesday August 15 2018, @09:21PM (11 children)
Charged particles from the Sun mostly, also the full energy of Cosmic Rays. (The Cosmic Rays that reach the ground are the products of scattering and so have lower energies than the original particles.)
The Apollo astronauts could see the insides of their eyes sparkling when they closed them, then went on to develop cataracts out of proportion to the general population.
Surely they have _some_ plan for the radiation. Why is it never mentioned in the press?
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Wednesday August 15 2018, @09:31PM (3 children)
Using CRISPR / genetic engineering they're breeding radiation-hardened humans. At least that's the official statement.
(I'm kidding for those who are confused... but you never know- some people survive "deadly" radiation exposure.)
(Score: 3, Interesting) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Wednesday August 15 2018, @10:24PM
My father was a civil service EE at Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California.
He told me that when they drained the reactor coolant there, they cut a hole in the hull of the submarines, then ran a pipe out that hole, on the end of which is welded a flange. That flange is bolted to another flange that's welded to a pipe that goes to a big tank.
One day they forget to bolt the two flanges together.
Some poor sot was standing directly underneath where those flanges should have been connected but weren't. While he survived he got his entire lifetime's permissible dose in just a few seconds. Dad told me that poor sot still worked at Mare Island but was no longer permitted in the Nuclear Yard.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday August 15 2018, @10:41PM
Fund [nextbigfuture.com] SENS [nextbigfuture.com]. Anti-aging technologies could allow us to repair some of the damage caused by radiation.
That being said, the amount of radiation exposure in a shielded spacecraft isn't *that* bad and NASA's definition of acceptable radiation risk is ridiculously strict:
https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/1_NAC_HEO_SMD_Committee_Mars_Radiation_Intro_2015April7_Final_TAGGED.pdf [nasa.gov]
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 16 2018, @12:05AM
Did they try V1agra?
(Score: 5, Interesting) by takyon on Wednesday August 15 2018, @10:44PM (6 children)
Is a 3.5% risk of death due to radiation exposure (including cancer, etc.) on a months-long Mars mission unacceptable? It is according to NASA [nasa.gov].
It's entirely possible that a 30-something-year-old astronaut could walk on Mars, return to Earth, and see all or most cancers cured by the time they reach age 60.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by suburbanitemediocrity on Wednesday August 15 2018, @11:41PM (1 child)
And a 40% of dying through some unexpected system failure.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday August 15 2018, @11:52PM
That's applicable to any manned space mission. And most of the risk is experienced when exiting or entering Earth's atmosphere.
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(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Wednesday August 15 2018, @11:51PM (1 child)
It is also entirely possible that if the risks were explained to all the astronauts employed by NASA, they would all volunteer for as many Mars missions as they could possibly go on anyway.
I suspect there would be a fair few who would volunteer for a one way Mars trip also.
If that's the case, let's do it.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 16 2018, @02:47AM
I recall reading once that NASA doesn't accept people who would go on known suicide missions as astronauts.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 16 2018, @01:20AM (1 child)
The incurable optimist, you.
I'm still waiting for the flying car (which is a technology problem) for 50 years already, and you think that all cancers will be cured in 30 years (a science problem)
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday August 16 2018, @03:44AM
What problem is the flying car solving? We already have regular cars and helicopters, for example. Curing cancer means you probably will live longer (depending of course, on how long it takes for the next leading cause of death to get you).
(Score: 3, Interesting) by bob_super on Wednesday August 15 2018, @11:56PM (1 child)
I've got a stupid question, and there's no way Elon hasn't asked it to his team:
You need enough propellant to do RTLS, limiting payload. You still need a decent amount of propellant left to land on OCISLY a few hundred miles away.
How much less propellant would you need if you tried to land at KSC, having launched from Browsville ? (overlooking the problem of overflying two major cities)
(Score: 3, Funny) by Pslytely Psycho on Thursday August 16 2018, @02:07AM
Let's see, Brownsville TX to the Kerbal Space Center will require some interesting new interdimensional apparatus. The biggest problem will be to not get stuck in hell as the Event Horizon did......
Perhaps we need to enlist Matthew McConaughey...... (;
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 16 2018, @04:55PM (2 children)
Anybody, who wants efficient human spaceflight program should check out this petition
https://www.change.org/p/save-america-s-space-program [change.org]
and this show:
https://thespaceshow.com/show/13-aug-2018/broadcast-3171-howard-bloom [thespaceshow.com]
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday August 16 2018, @06:25PM (1 child)
I will probably check out the podcast. With the low amount of interest in that petition, it's unlikely to go anywhere, even though the amount of people who want SLS cancelled is obviously far more than 734. The /r/spacex [reddit.com] subreddit alone has more readers than that in any given moment.
If/when BFR launches, momentum to cancel SLS should increase significantly, even if it has already flown once. It's possible that BFR will reach orbit before SLS can.
Falcon Heavy had the advantage of being built on top of the Falcon 9 (which also explains Falcon Heavy's years of delays - Falcon 9 evolved too fast, increasing its capabilities over the years). Will BFR development cost a mere $1 billion? How about a BFR successor, such as the Interplanetary Transport System?
One thing that should be done immediately: give funds to SpaceX to research or develop the Falcon Superheavy, which would attach 2 more booster cores to the Falcon Heavy. This could act as a nice niche launcher before BFR debuts, and could help it to match the capabilities of the SLS.
Reusable buses, trucks, trains, cares, and airplanes don't do much to help us get to space. ;-)
An important and shocking fact.
The reason LOP-G can't be crewed year-round is due to radiation risks, right? Well, while LOP-G isn't very useful and probably should be cancelled before it's too late, the concept could be improved significantly. A propellant depot could be added, allowing certain spacecraft (likely the BFR) to deposit or refuel there for Moon trips. Construction could be done with Falcon Heavy launches, and crew could be sent with Falcon 9 + Dragon, lowering costs dramatically. It could act as a second testing site for new space station technologies. A spinning gravity simulation would be nice, if possible. And I definitely want to see more aggressive testing of Bigelow Aerospace's inflatable modules. Some of these, such as the BA 2100 [wikipedia.org], would offer a greater volume than the entire current volume of the ISS.
Another thing you could do at LOP-G is have a human assembled and serviceable space telescope either near or attached to the station. This could be one way to offer JWST/LUVOIR-tier capabilities but at a lower cost. You could assemble a gigantic space telescope using multiple launches, and you could reduce the amount of testing and just swap out parts if mistakes are made.
Obviously, these objectives could also be accomplished at the ISS or another LEO space station, such as China's planned one [soylentnews.org]. But if the ISS is going to be disassembled or destroyed, a replacement could be warranted. The inability for crew to stay there more than a couple of months at a time is not that bad since we already know that microgravity is crap for astronaut health. If some or more of the above ideas are realized, maybe it would be worth it to install better shielding on such a station.
I might expand on these in a journal entry.
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(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday August 16 2018, @09:37PM
https://soylentnews.org/~takyon/journal/3463 [soylentnews.org]
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