November 17, 2023 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- ArianeGroup touts the deluge launch system for its Ariane-6 rocket
It would be nice if this system was put to use during a launch, now only four years late.
- NASA official says SpaceX will need to almost 20 launches of Starship/Superheavy to get it approved for an Artemis lunar mission
The number is slightly higher than previously stated, and likely was made public now because of SpaceX’s problems getting regulatory approval for test flights. NASA needs Starship, and the intransigence of the FAA and Fish & Wildlife to give launch approval is likely delaying that lunar manned mission by years.
- Russia shows off a model of a proposed commercial module for its proposed space station
Russian officials are saying they want to encourage new private Russian companies to compete for contracts for such things, but it is all smoke and mirrors. The big entities in power in Russia, such as Energia, are going to work to block it as hard as they can.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
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Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- ArianeGroup touts the deluge launch system for its Ariane-6 rocket
It would be nice if this system was put to use during a launch, now only four years late.
- NASA official says SpaceX will need to almost 20 launches of Starship/Superheavy to get it approved for an Artemis lunar mission
The number is slightly higher than previously stated, and likely was made public now because of SpaceX’s problems getting regulatory approval for test flights. NASA needs Starship, and the intransigence of the FAA and Fish & Wildlife to give launch approval is likely delaying that lunar manned mission by years.
- Russia shows off a model of a proposed commercial module for its proposed space station
Russian officials are saying they want to encourage new private Russian companies to compete for contracts for such things, but it is all smoke and mirrors. The big entities in power in Russia, such as Energia, are going to work to block it as hard as they can.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Remind me how many launches SLS will require for Artemis approval?
Saturn 5 conducted 2 unmanned launches before the third launch (first manned launch) took astronauts to orbit the moon. This is the difference between really wanting to accomplish something and pretending that you want to do something.
Exactly! Both of you.
I want SLS to launch this:
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20200002036/downloads/20200002036.pdf
Jeff,
I would love it too if we actually have a nuclear thermal rocket (NTR). It is funny that diagram of the NTR is the classic cutaway diagram from the NERVA development. I love the name they use, “Conestoga”, for the transport, how we pioneered the west. I do not agree with the propellant they want in their concept, I prefer methane due to storage (low boil off) and ISP, a happy medium. Nice drawings and numbers that support past studies on ISP.
I know I have said it many times, nuclear is the only way to go in the solar system. After the cancellation of NERVA, I have seen two funded programs in the past to bring the engine back to life, but all that happens is the money is moved around to other projects and all we get are studies. We are now on the third with DARPA.
Thank you for the article none the less.