>Under 24 hours til launch of Falcon 9 w/ NROL-76 payload. >"A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a classified spacecraft payload for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office. This will be SpaceX’s first launch for the NRO. Delayed from April 16." >spaceflightnow.com/launch-schedule/
Also, looks like the launch schedule of SLS is sadly starting to slip again
SLS will probably never fly Whats the point They are spending billions a year, doing what? who knows
Dylan Bennett
This thread will probably turn in to a shitfest, but thats still a million times better than the 15 Bill "muh gender "threads up here now
Connor Parker
This. Like anything government funded the point of the SLS is not to go anywhere. SLS is funded because congressional representatives and senators from districts employing the aerospace workers fund it as a jobs for reelection votes program.
Nicholas Butler
All SpaceX has to do in addition to their stated plans is take their work on the reusable FH upper stage and make a stretched one that can last in orbit long enough to dock with a payload waiting in LEO, then they'll be able to do two-launch missions equivalent to SLS for under $200 million. The first launch would be a normal launch of a payload to LEO which would allow recovery of all three lower stages, the second launch would be a fully-expendable launch of the earth departure stage. With this system, they could also do smaller launches (such as Red Dragon to Mars) without expending lower stages (which means the cost floor might be as low as $20 million). Quick as they produce variants of Falcon 9, they could have it working next year, before SLS even test-flies.
Gabriel Baker
SpaceX can't and probably won't be doing stuff like that What they need to do is increase their launch rate Which means NOT expending boosters.
Once they've filled their backlog and finally have room in their schedule for their own launches, then they can do experimentation on their upper stages.
You don't need a special earth departure stage, you just need a second launch that can transfer fuel to the upper stage which contains the deep space probe.
Austin Walker
This stuff brings the money they need, welcome to the private space age.
Henry Carter
>>With this system, they could also do smaller launches (such as Red Dragon to Mars) without expending lower stages (which means the cost floor might be as low as $20 million). >What they need to do is increase their launch rate >Which means NOT expending boosters. Getting reliable, efficient booster reuse will let them increase their launch rate and still allow them to do almost as many fully expendable launches.
>Once they've filled their backlog and finally have room in their schedule for their own launches, then they can do experimentation on their upper stages. They're talking about attempting recovery of the upper stage on the first flight of Falcon Heavy.
>You don't need a special earth departure stage, you just need a second launch that can transfer fuel to the upper stage Do you have any idea how much easier the "special earth departure stage" is than in-orbit refuelling?
ITS may be delayed by three or more Mars launch windows from their ideal schedule. If so, advanced capabilities for Falcon Heavy will be very useful, especially launching Dragons to Mars without expending boosters and being able to launch a Dragon plus 20 tonnes (which would allow a Dragon lander plus transit hab for a manned landing).
Adam Hill
Here's my imitation of the Falcon 9 NRO launch:
BOOM! FAIL!
That's my imitation. Deal with it, Muskfags.
Joshua Gray
What's inside?
Anyone know how these classified payload launches work with the provider? Does the NRO give them a mechanical & electrical model and in the last few days say here strap this fully encapsulated payload on your boosters?
Alexander Hill
Did they do vertical payload integration on the pad?
Ethan James
Looks like's buttplug has finally arrived! Congratulations!
Thomas Nguyen
I assume it's on a need to know basis with NDAs.
Ryder Sullivan
also wtf is this shit?
John Cox
It's civilization-hating liberals.
Anyway, what they're really launching is Trump's manned mission to Mars he talked about.
Lincoln Robinson
>nasa delays the SLS yet again and pushes the schedule to 2019 They really want to get fired, don't they?
Samuel Barnes
I wonder if it was a weapon, would Musk agree to bring it up? Or would he even know it's a weapon?
Anyway theres 300 American, commercial satellites in orbit and 290 American govt/military satellites. Many of the latter with classified purpose. How is this capitalism and how is this democracy?
Dylan Martin
Trump would never let SLS get cancelled like Constellation was.
Chase Fisher
A year or two ago, SpaceX launched a satellite for Turkmenistan, a dictatorship. Musk didn't mind because the launch wasn't purchased directly by Turkmenistan, but rather via Thales.
Zachary Thomas
How will Musk prevent her from running off with 50% of the company?
Serious question.
Carter Richardson
Why? SLS was a pointless design settled on during the Obama administration.
Prenup. It's not his first rodeo.
Anthony Lewis
How much of Constellation was cycled back into SLS? Just the Orion?
Levi Roberts
Nothing wrong with cancelling SLS It's not doing anything, and will never do anything
Kevin Cook
>SLS has no missi-
Asher Gonzalez
...
Parker Jenkins
>tens of billions of dollars to do the same shit SpaceX can do with a Falcon Heavy & a Dragon 2
just grate Sending people on joyrides to lunar orbit to justify the existance of the program.
Julian Wood
this is what bugs me about nasa currently, it'd be totally find to drop nasa funded launches and focus entirely on private space for launches, it'd be MUCH cheaper and the product would probably work much better too.
that said i can understand them making the orion capsule in house
Luke Rodriguez
>the same shit SpaceX can do with a Falcon Heavy & a Dragon 2 What's your source on that?
Luis Anderson
All of SLS is built commercially, including Orion.
Andrew Jenkins
>Less than one launch per year. >Each one a moon flyby FH/Dragon could do, plus a station module FH could do. >Arbitrarily say they'll launch a few 41 tonne payloads, which could obviously be broken up to fit on FH. >Maybe do a manned flyby of Mars sometime after 2030. Maybe. Certainly no landing. Wow, it's fucking nothing.
Jonathan Cook
yeah, NASA is great at building probes and rovers. let them do that and ditch the other hardware production - suits, launchers, etc.
Excluding the DSN and other useful resources like that, though
Jason Thompson
hell if they did only that stuff they'd have tons of spare cash but it's heavily influenced by congress from many levels. i guess a shorthand is "scrap SLS"
Logan Campbell
Is MAF a part of NASA or a commercial site?
Jonathan Baker
NASA is just as bad at building probes/rovers
These are things some university team could do for a couple million dollars, meanwhile NASA spends billions
Christian Perry
are Boeing, Orbital ATK, Lockheed Martin, and Aerojet Rocketdyne branches of NASA?
Oliver Hall
I love big orange rockets as much as the next guy, but it seems a lot more logical to push launch vehicles over to the commercial actors and instead focus on deep space stuff like probes, rovers, habitats and landers. Just push all cash over to JPL and let them go bonkers.
Jordan Harris
>doesn't know the difference between flyby and orbit >expects to be taken seriously
Jack Evans
>JPL with a massive inflush of dosh europa probes and feasible moon base proposals pls
Jason Young
is all of Veeky Forums really this retarded?
Bentley Howard
not only that, but we need to increase RTG production as well, and ignore the environmentalists who scream about them
there are a bunch of probes that have been crippled in the design phase due to having to switch over to solar power or only being allotted a smaller weaker RTG
Isaac Kelly
>that said i can understand them making the orion capsule in house
Even Orion is pretty useless when you realize it is just overpriced Dragon.
NASA should stick to pushing technological boundaries, such as creating deep space payloads. Let private companies handle already proven technologies such as rockets and capsules.
Ryder Price
No. But every time i read about MLF, it is just mentioned as "NASA's MLF is producing x and y for SLS", with no mention of where the workers inside are actually employd at.
Anthony Jackson
using cost plus programs and with details of production mandated by congress
Alexander Perez
Just imagine, a fleet of Cassini-like probes, spammed in every direction possible throughout the solar system, carpetbombing each piece of rock with a souped-up Huygins probe powered by RTG's
Leo Perry
like what this user said
Carter Allen
>NASA's MILF Do you mean MSFC or MAF?
Juan Walker
the only one getting fucked there is Aerojet
Delta IIs use orbital solids Atlas solids are going over to Orbital Vulcan is going blue origin for first stage
aerojet's got what, RL10s and leftover SSMEs?
Chase Morales
Orion and much of the work on the Ares V was rolled into SLS. If it hadn't been cancelled Ares-V would have eventually morphed into something closely resembling the SLS.
Jeremiah Watson
NASA and the DoE have recently restarted production of Pu-238. NASA doesn't need to worry about RTGs like they did last decade. iirc the main thing limiting RTGs now is cost.
Kevin Flores
Moon base needs to come before a mars base. It's only 3 days away - better than 10 months away
Alexander Adams
>If it hadn't been cancelled Ares-V would have eventually morphed into something closely resembling the SLS. Ares V never had a settled design. SLS is just the name they stuck on Ares V after they accepted reduced performance.
Aaron Cooper
No user, just most
Henry Davis
Seriously. What the hell is taking so long, I want to live on the moon already
Easton James
>launch schedule slips
Weather and launch windows are always a bitch. You kids need to stay on your ADHD meds.
Charles Evans
Why would he disagree?
Owen Bennett
>Weather and launch windows That's not why SLS is slipping. They're having trouble building one to launch.
Reminder: they still haven't test-fired the four SSMEs together. When they tested three together for the first time during shuttle development, their vibrations destroyed each other, and they had to redesign them. Then, when they flew, they couldn't tolerate the heat and vibration from the solid boosters properly, were lucky to make orbit, and needed further modification. Note that they've also upgraded the solid boosters.
Lucas Barnes
>t-7 hours >still haven't gotten a wink of sleep convince me to go to sleep so I can wake up in time to watch this shit, Veeky Forums
Jonathan Wilson
I mean Michoud Assembly Facility
Colton Jenkins
>Be me, NASA chief, SLS project > on the phone with the white house, look out of window at Michoud, see slight wind >look behind me, SLS is in pieces on the floor >Bob, the one guy we have in assembly, is home with a sick kid because a c-celeb somehow convinced his wife that they should not vaccinate >"Looks like the damn weather will make the launch slip again, President > "Is is still gonna be orange and yuuuuge??" >"Yes Mr President, yes it is
Kevin Murphy
Have you tried jerking of until you pass out?
John Mitchell
>Classified Payload
WHAT ARE THEY SENDING UP THERE?!
Camden Gomez
Hunter-killer sats
Brayden James
Why does this make me think of the soviet space program after Korolev died?
Nicholas Richardson
I'm pretty sure everyone in the Space Industry at least unconsciously know Rocket To Nowhere™ will have a binary launch record. Too powerful for common use, not enough for actual space exploration.
Cooper Diaz
An user can dream, cant he?
Logan Martin
Because it's gonna get posted eventually.
Also scrub.
Nathaniel Cox
SpaceXVerified account @SpaceX 42m42 minutes ago
1 hour until Falcon 9 launch of NROL-76. Updated launch window opens at 7:15 a.m. EDT, 11:15 UTC.
Kayden Allen
What the fuck, no technical webcast. Inb4 no telemetry. Who cares what the fuck is the US government putting up there? It's not like any country can meddle with it anyway.
William Myers
Reporting in, near Kennedy space center cape Canaveral.
