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Rocketry, Rockets & Rocket Launches

AlchoPwn said:
Depending on the launch, that is technically incorrect. Remember that 100g of plutonium can kill one billion people.
http://www.ccnr.org/max_plute_aecb.html#1
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No, I'm not talking about launch at escape velocity. I'm talking about interstellar travel using nuclear bombs (Project Orion). Project Daedalus may be more feasible, although that would use more nuclear fuel of a type we don't have in abundance on Earth (Helium-3).
 
No, I'm not talking about launch at escape velocity. I'm talking about interstellar travel using nuclear bombs (Project Orion). Project Daedalus may be more feasible, although that would use more nuclear fuel of a type we don't have in abundance on Earth (Helium-3).
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I was talking about what happens when a rocket carrying a payload of nuclear material blows up on the launchpad, or worse, in the air, scattering plutonium everywhere. For this reason I think we should always be pretty suspicious of putting nuclear material in space.

As to Project Orion. Sheesh! The physicists who dreamed that one up REALLY hate astronauts. Enough to cook them with nuclear flame on on a super-pressurized flying barbecue hotplate into space, and then not even have the decency to eat them! I remember hearing about this in my teens. It was a terrible idea on so many levels.

Now Project Daedalus is much more interesting, and I thank you for drawing my attention to it Mythopoeika. Crucially it uses not only Helium-3 (which isn't radioactive) but also Deuterium (which is Hydrogen-2, and is also not radioactive). The crucial piece of information is that they want to create a nuclear fusion rocket.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusion_rocket

It wouldn't be radioactive at all. We are even making some notable progress of fusion of late. I'd say this is looking increasingly plausible.
 
Coal said:
Let's hope so.
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What struck me as especially promising is how common Helium-3 and Deuterium are on low gravity bodies in space like asteroids and comets etc. The chances go up of being able to synthesize fuel on the way if necessary. I like me some logistics.
 
AlchoPwn said:
What struck me as especially promising is how common Helium-3 and Deuterium are on low gravity bodies in space like asteroids and comets etc. The chances go up of being able to synthesize fuel on the way if necessary. I like me some logistics.
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This may be one good reason (or excuse) for going back to the moon.
 
BTW remember that we have had oceans full of nuclear powered submarines since the 50's. Experimentation continues with nuclear powered planes (both military and civilian). The trouble is how to fit a nuclear reactor in a plane safely. A modified nuclear Convair B-36 bomber was built in the early 50's. It's on-board reactor was tested in the air, but was not used to power the aircraft. The current trend is to use nuclear fusion to power commercial aircraft.
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160713-could-this-be-the-first-nuclear-powered-airliner
 
UK to launch satellite into space atop UK rocket from a launch site in Scotland within the next year or so.

Boris Johnson has committed to launching a space rocket from Scotland by 2022 (...)
In an announcement on defence spending, the prime minister said an RAF-run "space command" will be established - and that a satellite will have been launched into space in UK-made rocket from a site in Scotland by 2022.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-48119118
 
Trevp666 said:
UK to launch satellite into space atop UK rocket from a launch site in Scotland within the next year or so.

Boris Johnson has committed to launching a space rocket from Scotland by 2022 (...)
In an announcement on defence spending, the prime minister said an RAF-run "space command" will be established - and that a satellite will have been launched into space in UK-made rocket from a site in Scotland by 2022.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-48119118
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I guess Scotland needs to earn money somehow after independence.
 
Well if it's being run by the RAF as per the article then an independent Scotland can kiss goodbye to that particular source of revenue can't it?
 
Now that we are launching more and more rockets than ever before, newly published research suggests there is a low but tangible risk of casualties from falling rocket debris in the coming decade.
There is a 10 Percent Chance Someone Will Die From Falling Rocket Debris in the Next Decade

When rockets launch into space, many will drop parts no longer needed to complete their mission. Most of these parts are abandoned, and they eventually return to Earth in an uncontrolled way. In the past, the risk these falling rocket pieces pose to humans has been treated as negligible; so far, no deaths from falling rocket bodies have been documented. But rocket launches are increasing. The year 2021 saw 135 successful rocket launches—the most in history.

In a new study published in Nature Astronomy, researchers estimate that if current practices continue, there’s about a 10 percent chance of one or more casualties in the next decade from a falling rocket body.

“It’s a statistically low risk, but it’s not negligible, and it’s increasing — and it’s totally avoidable,” Michael Byers, lead author and a professor of political science at the University of British Columbia, tells The Verge’s Justine Calma. “So, should we take available measures to eliminate casualty risks? I think the answer should be yes.”

To make their calculation, researchers examined 30 years of satellite data. They found that during that time period, more than 1,500 rocket bodies deorbited—or departed deliberately from orbit. Of those, more than 70 percent deorbited in an uncontrolled manner. ...
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SOURCE: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smar...g-rocket-debris-in-the-next-decade-180980405/

PUBLISHED RESEARCH REPORT: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-022-01718-8
 
Anybody else tuning in for the Artemis launch tonight/today/this morning?

I’m excited like a boy.
 
skinny said:
Anybody else tuning in for the Artemis launch tonight/today/this morning?

I’m excited like a boy.
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I would, except that it's late and I have to work tomorrow.
 
To Mars by nuclear rockets.

We live in an era of renewed space exploration, where multiple agencies are planning to send astronauts to the Moon in the coming years. This will be followed in the next decade with crewed missions to Mars by NASA and China, who may be joined by other nations before long.


These and other missions that will take astronauts beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and the Earth-Moon system require new technologies, ranging from life support and radiation shielding to power and propulsion.

And when it comes to the latter, Nuclear Thermal and Nuclear Electric Propulsion (NTP/NEP) is a top contender!

NASA and the Soviet space program spent decades researching nuclear propulsion during the Space Race.

A few years ago, NASA reignited its nuclear program for the purpose of developing bimodal nuclear propulsion – a two-part system consisting of an NTP and NEP element – that could enable transits to Mars in 100 days.

Diagram showing the parts of the new rocket.
New Class of Bimodal NTP/NEP with a Wave Rotor Topping Cycle Enabling Fast Transit to Mars. (Ryan Gosse)
As part of the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program for 2023, NASA selected a nuclear concept for Phase I development. This new class of bimodal nuclear propulsion system uses a "wave rotor topping cycle" and could reduce transit times to Mars to just 45 days. ...

https://www.sciencealert.com/new-nasa-nuclear-rocket-plan-aims-to-get-to-mars-in-just-45-days
 
A fusion rocket designed to travel 500,000 mph is under construction.
"Pulsar Fusion’s plan is to create a fusion rocket, using the atomic reaction to create exhaust speeds that ultimately propel the spacecraft forward at a blistering 500,000 mph — the fastest a crewed rocket has ever flown is 24,791 mph."
“A fusion rocket could allow us to send people to Mars and bring them back in weeks, not months or years,” said Adam Baker, a Pulsar propulsion engineer. “It could allow us to do round trips to the outer planets of the solar system, to send people to see the rings of Saturn or the moons of Jupiter.”
"Its goal is to begin firing that chamber in 2025 and achieving fusion temperatures by 2027. The next step after that would be conducting a test firing in orbit — proving that a fusion rocket could potentially power the next era of space exploration."
https://bigthink.com/the-present/nuclear-fusion-rocket/
 
Came close to hitting a house/

HELSINKI — China added a new pair of satellites to its Beidou positioning and navigation system late Monday, but spent stages from the launch landed within inhabited areas.

A Long March 3B equipped with a Yuanzheng-1 upper stage lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 10:26 p.m. Eastern Dec. 25 (0326 UTC, Dec. 26), successfully delivering two Beidou satellites into medium Earth orbit (MEO).

The YZ-1 upper stage inserted the satellites into 21,532 by 22,193-kilometer orbits inclined by 55 degrees, according to U.S. Space Force space domain awareness. The satellites were developed by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) under CASC, the country’s main space contractor.

The spacecraft are the 57th and 58th Beidou satellites to be launched. The pair will act as backups and reduce the operational risks to the Beidou-3 system, according to a CASC statement.

Meanwhile, a pair of the side boosters from the Long March 3B rocket used for the launch appear to have fallen to ground near inhabited areas in Guangxi region, downrange of Xichang in Sichuan province, according to apparent bystander footage appearing on Chinese social media.

One video shows a booster falling within a forested area and exploding, while another shows a falling booster and later, wreckage next to a home. ...

It is one of many incidents of boosters falling near inhabited areas associated with Beidou satellite launches. Another launch in 2019 saw a falling booster impact a rural building.

China’s first three launch sites were established during the Cold War. Sites deep inland were thus selected to provide a measure of protection amid tensions with the U.S. and Soviet Union.

This means launches result in rocket boosters—which separate from the main stage once they have performed their task—falling to ground downrange rather than in the oceans, as is the case with U.S. and European launches.

Authorities are understood to issue warnings and evacuation notices for areas calculated to be at risk from launch debris, reducing the risk of injuries. ...

https://spacenews.com/china-launches-new-beidou-satellites-rocket-booster-lands-near-house/
 
Space X Falcon heavy (Not the big one) lifted the x 37 module after 4 fail attemts scrubbs, she went well.

Impessive to the least,
 
Its a shame on number 1015 booster after 18 runs the bluddy weather it had to be welded to the recovery plate. Also the topside went off too, oh well. My Socks in the morning may pay a hazard on the line.
 
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