Space Flight Updates - Russia pullingout of ISS?

[ThreatMatrix]

More useless information and trivia: The length of stay at ISS has not been determined. They are testing the solar panels on the trunk. You can see them in the picture below. The trunk can carry cargo or when they leave they fill it with garbage and let it burn up on reentry. However the panels are needed to generate some power when it undocks and heads home. But they don't know for sure how long they will last. Unlike normal panels that "flap in the breeze" these are attached to the side of the vehicle so they have an issue shedding heat. Plus they go through two heat cycles every 90 minutes. But that's not the real problem. It turns out that there is a little bit of atmospheric oxygen floating around even at that altitude and that degrades these solar panels. So they are going to monitor their performance and when it gets below a certain level they'll head home.

 

[deuce]

Is there a hatch in the bottom of Dragon? If there is, that seems like it would present a problem because it would be a potential weak point in the heat shield. Inquiring minds.....

 

[ThreatMatrix]

Is there a hatch in the bottom of Dragon? If there is, that seems like it would present a problem because it would be a potential weak point in the heat shield. Inquiring minds.....

Short answer. The Solar Panels only cover half of the trunk of Dragon Crew.
There's two Dragons: Dragon Crew and Dragon Cargo.
Dragon Cargo's Solar Panels unfurl like you normally see. The Dragon Cargo ship is "berthed" i.e. the Canada arm reaches out and docks it. Some cargo is carried in the capsule and can simply be taken out. Try as I might I can't find any pictures of them getting cargo out of the trunk. But the Canada Arm reaches in and removes the cargo and like wise fills it with garbage to burn up on reentry. In the capsule they put whatever they want to return to earth.

Somebody asked about national secrets. I couldn't think of the regulations but ran across it. ITAR be thy name. ITAR covers weapons and the military secrets but also covers spacecraft. So if there's any technology developed by SpaceX that we want to keep secret I suppose it's covered by ITAR.

 

[ThreatMatrix]

So what's new?
DM2: The solar panels appear to be holding up so Doug & Bob will remain on the ISS until August when they will have to make room for the next mission called PCM-1.

Tom Cruise in Space: Sometime between PCM-2 and PCM-3 SpaceX will launch Tom Cruise and a film crew to the ISS to make a movie.

Starlink: Another F9 launched early Saturday morning. I hear the view was spectacular due to atmospheric effects. In addition to 50+ Starlink satellites, it also carried a paying customer and released three Skysat satellites. Starlink now has enough coverage to begin beta testing. Sign up.

Boca Chica: Since SN4 went pop the test stand has been torn down and rebuilt. SN5, SN6 and SN7 are at various stages of completion. Actually SN7 is complete as it's not much more than a tank. SpaceX is testing different steel, and welding techniques. They will eventually formulate their own steel. SN7 maybe tested as early as tomorrow. SN5 should do a 150m hop soon then SN5 or SN6 will work to 20km.
SpaceX has also started construction of the 81m high bay to stack the Super Heavy Starship combo.

 

[SeabeeGator]

@ThreatMatrix Tom Cruise really going to ISS or are you seeing if people actually read what you write?

 

[ThreatMatrix]

@ThreatMatrix Tom Cruise really going to ISS or are you seeing if people actually read what you write?

LOL. No It's true. I even think money has changed hands. Flight would be autonomous.

 

[ThreatMatrix]

Here's some thing I bet you've never seen before.

 

[SeabeeGator]

Here's some thing I bet you've never seen before.

Looks like the rocket operator is drunk.

 

[deuce]

Computer.... drunk...... LOL

 

[SeabeeGator]

Computer.... drunk...... LOL

It was a joke...

 

[deuce]

It was a joke...

and I laughed....

 

[ThreatMatrix]

EDIT: UPDATE - ELon says the WILL test to failure today.

If you're interested they are pressure testing SN7. It's a cryogenic test so they fill it with nitrogen to get it real cold and see if welds hold. They go 1.4x rating and then sometimes if they're feeling frisky they keep going until they get a boom.

 

[ThreatMatrix]

RE: Tom Cruise


So if you don't Axiom is building a commercial Space Station that will eventually replace ISS. To construct it they will first hook up with the ISS, add modules and eventually detach. SpaceX is contracted to deliver at least some of the payloads.
Oh, and Jim Bridenstine is the chief honcho at NASA.

 

[ThreatMatrix]

This just keeps getting crazier. So a week ago this dog house popped up outside a trailer near the test pad.


People joked and speculated it might be for this:


Guess what was seen today?

 

[SeabeeGator]

This just keeps getting crazier. So a week ago this dog house popped up outside a trailer near the test pad.

People joked and speculated it might be for this:


Guess what was spotted today?

Is that the heat wave effect messing with the camera or is the test underway? I ask because it would be insane to let someone that damn close to an active test.

 

[ThreatMatrix]

Is that the heat wave effect messing with the camera or is the test underway? I ask because it would be insane to let someone that damn close to an active test.

Camera is something like 3-4 miles away. So yeah it's just heat rising.

 

[SeabeeGator]

Camera is something like 3-4 miles away. So yeah it's just heat rising.

I figured but just checking. Was gonna say.... safety standards really slacked off after NASA went commercial

 

[Treebeard]

This just keeps getting crazier. So a week ago this dog house popped up outside a trailer near the test pad.
View attachment 22555

At first I thought it was for this guy:

 

[ThreatMatrix]

Well it's about time. Finally they've resumed testing at Boca Chica

On the right is the SN7 test tank. I know nothing about steel and welds but they are testing a new steel 304L and welding techniques. So they're filling it up with really cold liquid Nitrogen and ratchet up the pressure until failure. And as I'm typing this it failed.

I'll try to get a clip of the failure.
In the mean time what you see on the left is the new Starship Launch pad that they've built to replace the test stand that they blew up. Now that the tank test is over we expect to see the SN5 rocket put on the launch pad. In the center you can see the white thrust puck tester. What's a thrust puck you ask? Well that's what the engines attach to and distribute all the thrust to the rest of the vehicle. It's basically a hydraulic ram. So they'll put S5 on the stand, fill it to pressure with methane and push on it. Hopefully they don't blow anything up. After that test they'll remove the ram, add engines to SN5, do a static fire test, then a 150M flight. Hopefully that will all happen fast, like in the next week or two.

 

[ThreatMatrix]

It actually lifted off the ground so maybe we can call it a hop.

As they fill the thing up you can see the frost forming on the tank moving from the bottom up. They pump in cold liquid nitrogen but as it warms it boils off so at the top they are venting the gaseous nitrogen and just keep pumping in liquid. You can see this happen with rockets on the launch pad also.