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SpaceX and other space stuff

#3,901
Jon Clegg said:
I did enjoy this little animation that SpaceX put at the end of their broadcast for Transporter-8:

2023 is insane.
Click to expand...



Wow!
Looking at that, it feels like they've done more launches than NASA did in the 60's (but that's probably because it's all so visible now).

I love that at a certain point in the timeline, the animated rockets don't just launch, they start landing too.
 
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#3,906
Kinda rocket related…

Rocket at Alabama welcome center appears doomed after vote

Here’s another one. It brings to mind si fi books featuring space travel driven by craft with miniature atomic reactors regulated by (state of the art at the time), manual vernier devices. America was able early to safely miniaturize a reactor well enough to launch an era where submarines are the most lethal weapons on this planet because of the capabilities afforded by those reactors. When you think of a reactor as a battery, smaller versions begin to make sense. We built a few prototypes for the Army they referred to as portable power supplies. Back then the best we could safely pull off shrinking a fission reactor required a tractor trailer rig capable of hauling the equivalent of a couple of D10 Cat dozers and required setting up close enough to an adequate water supply to support it.
If this is real, the potential is pretty exciting.

Gadsden’s $232 million industrial announcement raises question: What is a micro-modular reactor?
 
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#3,911
fhm555 said:
Kinda rocket related…

Rocket at Alabama welcome center appears doomed after vote

Here’s another one. It brings to mind si fi books featuring space travel driven by craft with miniature atomic reactors regulated by (state of the art at the time), manual vernier devices. America was able early to safely miniaturize a reactor well enough to launch an era where submarines are the most lethal weapons on this planet because of the capabilities afforded by those reactors. When you think of a reactor as a battery, smaller versions begin to make sense. We built a few prototypes for the Army they referred to as portable power supplies. Back then the best we could safely pull off shrinking a fission reactor required a tractor trailer rig capable of hauling the equivalent of a couple of D10 Cat dozers and required setting up close enough to an adequate water supply to support it.
If this is real, the potential is pretty exciting.

Gadsden’s $232 million industrial announcement raises question: What is a micro-modular reactor?
Click to expand...
Interesting article about the micro modular reactor (MMR). Scalable, safe, self contained (no external electricity or water needed). Here's a video from Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation (USNC), the company installing the MMR. Vid is about 3min 30secs. Other YouTube vids available from USNC concerning the MMR for those interested.:


Speaking of decaying display rockets, as a kid, parents and I lived in Satellite Beach, Florida. This is just south of Patrick Air Force Base where dad was stationed. There was a rocket garden at Patrick right next to the A1A highway and we drove by it many, many times. So cool to me as a kid and an ingrained memory even today.

Over time, rockets started disappearing due to age of display. All gone today. Here's a pic of how I remember it.:
rocket-display-patrick-air-force-base-1960-MM27T6.jpg
 
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#3,913
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#3,919
fhm555 said:
Looks like our desire to personally put eyes on what lies beyond the moon now has the engine to make it more than a dream.

This new nuclear engine will get astronauts to Mars, NASA says
Click to expand...

This is cool and exciting stuff.

Hopefully things don't get sidetracked, or stopped, with the climate changing.

Nowadays, I look at future planning (>5 years) of many human endeavors as having a high chance of getting blindsided by the worsening climate and its attendant effects.

Of course NASA is just one agency that does climate research and provides that critical data to governments and businesses worldwide. For many years, they've been aware of the rising sea levels and extreme weather events impairing their coastal launch facilities, among other things, and have been making plans accordingly. Excerpt from 2021 article about NASA's climate action plan.:

"But even as NASA conducts this research, its facilities, vehicles, equipment and infrastructure face threats related to climate change. Approximately two-thirds of agency assets when measured by replacement value are located within 16 feet of mean sea level along America’s coasts. Some of these assets are located in areas already experiencing high water levels and other impacts from sea level rise. Temperature, precipitation, and extreme weather events are expected to affect others."

For anyone interested, here's the 2021 article.:
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-releases-climate-action-plan

Can follow the latest NASA news and such from their dedicated climate site.:
https://climate.nasa.gov/


 

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