March 2008 Archives

The following text is my expanded notes from my 28 February 2008 interview with Alliant Techsystems' (ATK) space launch systems' vice president Mike Kahn at the company's clearfield offices in Utah.

The [Ares I crew launch vehicle] resonant burning, oscillation is due to the variation of the width of the thrust channel. The exhaust gas flow through that varying pitch generates perturbation. Garry Lyles [NASA Marshall Space Flight Center's engineering associate director] will issue a report [on oscillation] at the end of March. [Question is] will the shaking attenuate with the upper stage, what is the upper stage's natural frequency? The first-stage natural frequency changes as the burning goes on. The [first-stage's] frustrum could be a dampner.

Caption: A CGI movie of what could be the Ares I-X test scheduled for April 2009
Note: this is not an ATK movie I found it on Youtube and thought it applicable

credit: Xcor Aerospace
The text here and on the extended entry is my expanded notes from my 27 March interview with Xcor Aerospace chief engineer Dan DeLong.
A reusable horizontal take-off and landing vehicle, the aim is to fly in 2010. The Lynx Mk 1 has one pilot and a gross lift-off weight of 5,500kg (12,000lb). The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency funded development of the Lynx's rocket engine's free piston pump technology, which replaces traditional turbomachinery to pump the fuel and oxidiser into the combustion chamber.

Its payload capability is the pilot, assumed to be 70kg, a 130kg passenger, and their pressure suits and parachutes.

The following text is my expanded notes from my 24 January interview in New York with Virgin Galactic commercial director Stephen Attenborough. Some of this found its way into my article about the business side of the Virgin Galactic plan.

credit: Virgin Galactic

We have had our first confirmed charter flight. An American booked an entire flight. We could see group bookings from people with an agenda, for art, science, for spiritual reasons. Scientific research etc could see a third White Knight II (WK2) needed [Galactic has ordered two].

Below are my expanded notes from my Thursday 20 March interview with Altair project office deputy manager, Clint Dorris. I haven’t included everything. There were a couple of facts that came up that warrant further investigation for stories on flightglobal.com

credit: Boeing

NASA received more than 30 proposals for the lander study. Industry should provide their own concepts. We’re onto next design cycle, LDAC-2 for safety features. The minimum functionality lander [already arrived at] may not have global capability.

Altair project is embracing the [Ares V cargo launch vehicle] 10m shroud for the lander, the primary impact being on structures, we can widen and squat the descent module. Doesn’t change subsystems but gets the deck closer to the surface.

Go here for the latest news on Space Shuttle Endeavour's flight STS-123, also known as International Space Station assembly mission 1J/A, from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

Endeavour has delivered the first section of JAX's Kibo, its stowage module, the Experiment Logistics Module-Pressurized Section (ELM-PS)

For more information on JAXA's Kibo go here

NASA's schedule for its television coverage of the mission can be found here

NASA's press kit for STS-123 can be found here

Endeavour is also delivering the last element of the ISS's mobile servicing system provided by the Canadian Space Agency and called Dextre

The Chinese government's propaganda machine keeps churning out these statements about the country's next manned mission and its aims for a extra-vehicular activity during the flight

When I was in Beijing in May 2007 at the country's astronaut research and training centre I was not convinced that the manned programme was anywhere near ready for a mission in 18-months time after talking to the personnel there

Australian space analyst Morris Jones has a lot of questions regarding the lack of credible information from the Chinese

So far we have only had one report, this one. It talks about ground testing of the airlock module and EVA suit and claims that this represented a simulation of microgravity conditions!

I doubt that somehow. But ground testing would very probably entail airlock pressurisation and depressurisation and standing the EVA suit user in a vacuum chamber while you check the integrity of the suit; and maybe doing both. I would be more impressed if they had rebuilt the airlock inside an aircraft and had astronauts practicing egress during parabolic flights. Water tank training is also a must and you would think it would be the easiest PR job in the world just to show pictures of the tank and yet, nope, we get nada

Personally I can see a space accident happening if the mission does go ahead this October

Below are the latest and some not so new blog posts and news reports that I think are worth that quality time in your busy schedule

Listen to ESA's post-Automated Transfer Vehicle launch press briefing here

The announcement regarding the Space Exploration Technologies' US Air Force operationally responsive space contract, which I first reported here, can be found via this Hobbyspace.com link

Jon Goff ponders the meaning of sustainability in space exploration

In this blog posting are all the pictures released by ESA and Arianespace of the successful launch of the EADS Astrium bult Ariane 5 Evolution Storable with its Automated Transfer Vehicle Jules Verne payload

Watch the video of the launch and the ATV's solar array deployment here

Find in this blog posting all the pictures released by the European Space Agency of its Arianespace Ariane 5 Evolution Storable rocket that will launch the Automated Transfer Vehicle

In the extended entry for this blog post there are more details about the changes that NASA's Ares V cargo launch vehicle has seen since its inception as part of NASA's Exploration Systems Architecture Study

NASA commercial crew and cargo manager Alan Lindemoyer wasn't kidding when he said at last week's 3rd space exploration conference that the space operations mission directorate's draft Request For Proposals for International Space Station resupply would be published soon

Bleary eyed and back in the UK yesterday morning after a Friday spent with Alliant Techsystems in Utah and a weekend travelling, I finally had a look today at the DRFP and was interested to spot the following that looked eerily like something that could be called COTS phase three