Russian launch pad incident raises concerns about future of space station
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Projectile vomiting adds thrust. A lesson that my youthful worship of the porcelain goddess taught me, unforgettably.
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You jest, but it is considered a possibility that the wreck may have actually been due to the simple failure to install the proper stop on the rail pre-launch, plus the failure to double check the install.
Some close up pictures of the wreckage.
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Before people ask where all the launch experts are in Russia, they're probably face down in a trench somewhere in Donetsk.
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I was just looking up some information on gyroscope desaturation and came across a reference to a Zero-Propellant Maneuver (there is a wikipedia page but I am unable to insert the link). It was tested on the ISS in 2006-2007.
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So you're saying that duck tape is not strong enough to hold a 20 ton service platform during a rocket launch? How about Gorilla Glue?
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It's in Khazakhstan, so as far as Moscow is concerned - outside
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I’ve owned and driven a car with an automatic transmission that did not have a “Park” function, a 1955 DeSoto Firedome. You could also start it in (any) gear, so stationary operation was much like a manual transmission.
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Starship is not yet actually operational. Also, Progress is approximately the robotic equivalent of Soyuz (the spacecraft,) and similarly normally launches on Soyuz (the rocket.) It's not exactly an enormous payload.
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Typical Russia, some drunk Popov f*cked up.
Good. The faster this nightmare place crumbles to nothingness, the better for Humankind.
I honestly have nothing but complete and absolute hatred for Russia, its leaders, its people and its "culture".
It is all fully twisted and rotten.
Russia is basically the upside down of Earth.
Good. The faster this nightmare place crumbles to nothingness, the better for Humankind.
I honestly have nothing but complete and absolute hatred for Russia, its leaders, its people and its "culture".
It is all fully twisted and rotten.
Russia is basically the upside down of Earth.
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Even without securing pins it should have had a chock to stop it moving so far in the other direction as I guessing it only needs to move that way for installation. Anyway, it's Russia so who gives a damn.
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Considering they're launching every 8 months and will only be launching the vehicle until 2030... that's roughly 6 launches they still need this configuration for. So the most affordable configuration over this timeframe makes the most sense, whether that be 6 scaffolds, 2 scaffolds and a platform, scaling back the number of launches, or something else.
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It was about more than pure science; it was also science politics and scientific focus/funding. Of course, those are already significantly damaged at this point as well, so....
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There's another way to desaturate the gyros and that's to turn them off and do a flip.
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“The launch pad was inspected, as is done every time a rocket is launched. Damage to several launch pad components was identified. Damage can occur after launch, so such inspections are mandatory worldwide. The launch pad’s condition is currently being assessed.”
translation:
“The launch pad was inspected, as is done every time a rocket is launched. Damage to several launch pad components was identified. Damage can occur after launch, but only if you F something up, so such inspections are mandatory worldwide. The launch pad’s condition is currently being assessed, someone will be leaving the facility shortly to make their Eastbound train."
translation:
“The launch pad was inspected, as is done every time a rocket is launched. Damage to several launch pad components was identified. Damage can occur after launch, but only if you F something up, so such inspections are mandatory worldwide. The launch pad’s condition is currently being assessed, someone will be leaving the facility shortly to make their Eastbound train."
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Or forgot to close the front door of a ferry before it set off...
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If they are unable to launch, that means abandoning the ISS sooner than planned.
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So next question, is there a port conveniently positioned that would let you thrust into it and provide the appropriate torque to the station?
Trying to put energy into the station from a docked vehicle via a docking ring in anything other than a pretty direct axial path sounds like galloping way out of spec for the loads/load vectors they're meant to handle. So if there wouldn't be a docking port in the correct position to provide the correct torque to the station, I don't see using a docked vessel to desaturate working.
Honestly if we're kludging together a one or very few time use 'solution' to get the station through until they either fix their shit, or just to 2030, a modified Dragon/Cygnus with the appropriate connecter to be able to refuel the Russian side is probably the technicaly simplest solution, just the pesky politics of paying for, building and flying such a mission to deal with...
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US node 1 has a nadir berthing port. If you want a centrally located craft, then stick a modified Cygnus there. Only potential downside is that thruster firings from there might impinge on Rassvet and any Soyuz docked there. (But that may be less of a problem if the Russians can’t launch anything).
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Sure, NASA compiled a whole article on this subject in 2020:
https://www.nasa.gov/missions/stati...ience-aboard-the-international-space-station/
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It handled the Nauka oopsie fine. These are small rockets movung a very big spacecraft.
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Its made 97% of orbital velocity six times already, and its last test released dummy Starlink satellites in space? You do realize its tests so far are targeting the indian ocean for a re-entry test, don't you?
And that it would be silly to burn the engines a few seconds longer to remain in orbit when that's not part of the test plan and possibly leaves the largest human made object in space in a decaying LEO without being 100% sure you can direct it's reentry to a safe location in the pacific?
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I think you are greatly overestimating how much angular momentum it is that they need to dump. The 4 control moment gyros on the ISS only total up to 19,000 N-m-s. A single draco is 90 lb (400 N). With a 1.5 m moment arm it would produce a torque of 600 N-m, a couple of orders of magnitude under what IDSS can handle. At a 10% duty cycle it would take all of 5 min for one thruster to desaturate them. It would burn a grand total of 4 kg of propellant in the process. As I was trying to indicate, you could build this into a reboost, by introducing an asymmetry to the thruster firings. Instead of thrusting like normal through the CoM, they would intentionally fire offset from it and could induce whatever torque direction they like while reboosting.
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I'm just waiting for Roscosmos leadership to declare sabotage and that again it was Serena Auñón-Chancellor. Again their misogyny will probably lead them to claim she was dating someone at the facility and her "female emotions" caused her to lose it over a failed romantic relationship and sabotage the door.
https://meincmagazine.com/science/202...am-just-threw-a-nasa-astronaut-under-the-bus/
Standard operating procedure to cover up the fact their looting has degraded Roscosmos maintenance and operations to the point where major accidents are an annual event.
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