Recent content by starman2

Looks like it didn't have engine nozzle control, let alone a gyroscope to guide it. Do the engine nozzles even swivel ?

Start with our current speed to the Moon at 5,000 mph and start improving on it. A point of the article is that a spacecraft made it to a speed that would easily overcome the distance to Mars. It invites us to think about improving our speed for voyages in the solar system.

At 430,000 mph, it could make a trip from Earth to Mars in under 4 days. It makes you realize that if there is any "barrier" for humans to make a trip to Mars, it probably the speed of the spacecraft.

The telescope design is Nasmyth -Cassegrain, a modified form of Cassegrain - so it is some variant of a catadioptric design. They tend to call anything with a large reflecting mirror a 'reflector telescope,' but it doesn't look much like a Newtonian Reflector. Newtonians will have a large...

I adjusted my viewpoint. Although the ELT is not completed yet, it is obviously a catadioptric design. For a reflector, the truss would be too extended, too heavy, and too expensive - but maybe not impossible. Catadioptric bounces the incoming light back and forth to achieve a long focal...

I wonder why it even needs a secondary mirror. At that size (14') you could easily position a human observer at the focal point of the primary mirror for the best undistorted viewing. But if they are also talking about a tertiary mirror (3.75 m) then they must mean some type of catadioptric...

I would think the lunar space station can always increase by adding modules. I think it should have plenty of docking ports to take in all the incoming spacecraft (e.g., size and type of Dragon) and ports for 2-3 lunar landers. The HLS (assuming Starship or even Blue Origin's version) can go...

The Gateway lunar space station should be deployed as soon as possible, which could be the best way to access the Moon. If they are viewing the lunar space station as "token" - I think it is the other way around - a space station is necessity. It will act as a main transportation hub, docking...

If the odor was from 'outgassing', it could be anything newly manufactured made from plastics, even food packaging. People differ over their sensitivity to outgassing materials. I once heard of all kinds of complaints of mail-order items that came factory-direct to people's residences. Some...

I heard they activated routine air-scrubbing and the odor subsided. They said it was from outgassing of materials onboard the cargo spacecraft, and cargo transfer operations proceeded on schedule.

I wonder what it means when they announce launching a spy satellite. (Is it letting the cat out of the bag?) On the other hand, if they delay using the satellite for a number of months, or up to a year, everybody will have forgotten it even exists. But I'm sure that info is secret.

From the provided video, it appears as a close flyby with the Earth, drawing it a little closer as it passes. But it won't be circling the Earth.

But it was only by chance that it re-entered "successfully". Not a good statement.

One way or another the thrusters had problems, so what is meant by the exclaim "Astronauts would have been fine on Boeing's Starliner during landing" ? (see https://www.space.com/nasa-boeing-starliner-cft-could-have-returned-safely-with-crew-nasa-says) The Starliner made it to reentry -...

I believe the decision was correct. From the report which states the thrusters "went offline" it indicates the problem is with the electronics that control the thrusters. What probably occurred was a Single Event Upset (SEU) which is due to radiation. If the electronics are weak and lack...