The SpaceX Falcon 9 pioneered & popularized the commercial reusable rocket platform to radically lower launch costs to get more things orbiting the Earth, important given the vast number of small Starlink Satellites launching to form that broadband transceiver constellation
There are other ways of moving mass around the Earth fast like the Starship which recently exploded 30 seconds after launching during a test flight near the border of Texas and Mexico that was supposed to fly to land in water of the coast of Hawaii 1.5 hours later, but they learned a lot from what went wrong, people often seeing 20-20 when looking back to understand what went wrong, the main challenge in life to make the best choices in real time without knowing the outcomes ahead of time.10,000 Starlink Satellites
Starlink is a satellite-based internet service developed by SpaceX, the private space exploration company founded by Elon Musk. The goal of Starlink is to provide high-speed internet access to people around the world, particularly those in rural or remote areas that currently lack reliable internet connectivity.
The Starlink system consists of a constellation of thousands of small satellites in low Earth orbit, which communicate with ground stations and user terminals (also known as "Dishy McFlatface") on Earth. The user terminals are small, flat antennas that can be easily installed on the roofs of homes or businesses. The system is designed to provide high-speed, low-latency internet access with speeds of up to 1 Gbps, which is faster than most traditional internet connections.
As of April 2023, SpaceX has launched over 1,800 Starlink satellites into orbit, with plans to launch tens of thousands more over the coming years. The company has already begun beta testing the service in select areas, and is working to expand coverage to more parts of the world.
While there are concerns about the potential impact of large satellite constellations on astronomy and space debris, SpaceX has stated that it is taking steps to mitigate these risks, such as designing the satellites to be low-cost, easily replaceable, and equipped with propulsion systems for safe de-orbiting at the end of their lifetimes.
SpaceX Company
SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corp.) is an American private spaceflight company founded by entrepreneur Elon Musk in 2002. The company's goal is to revolutionize space technology, reduce the cost of space exploration, and ultimately make it possible for humans to live on other planets.
SpaceX has developed a number of rockets, including the Falcon 1, Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, and the Starship. The company has also developed the Dragon spacecraft, which is designed to transport cargo and humans to and from the International Space Station (ISS). In addition, SpaceX is working on the development of a satellite internet service called Starlink, which aims to provide high-speed internet access to people around the world.
One of the major achievements of SpaceX has been the development of reusable rockets. By successfully landing and reusing the first stage of its Falcon 9 rockets, SpaceX has reduced the cost of spaceflight and paved the way for future space exploration. The company has also achieved a number of other significant milestones, such as becoming the first privately-funded company to send a spacecraft to the ISS and the first company to launch a spacecraft into orbit and then bring it back to Earth intact.
In recent years, SpaceX has been working on the development of the Starship spacecraft, which is intended to eventually take humans to Mars and beyond. The company has also been selected by NASA to provide launch services for a number of upcoming missions, including the Artemis program, which aims to send humans back to the Moon by 2024.
SpaceX Falcon 9
Falcon 9 is a two-stage reusable rocket developed by SpaceX, an American aerospace company founded by entrepreneur Elon Musk. The rocket is named after the Millennium Falcon spaceship from the Star Wars franchise.
The Falcon 9 rocket is designed to deliver payloads into Earth orbit, geostationary transfer orbit (GTO), and beyond. It has a height of approximately 70 meters (229.6 feet) and a diameter of 3.7 meters (12 feet). The rocket's first stage is powered by nine Merlin engines, which use liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene as propellants. The second stage is powered by a single Merlin engine.
One of the unique features of the Falcon 9 rocket is its ability to land and be reused. After the first stage separates from the second stage, it can perform a controlled descent back to Earth and land on a designated landing pad or drone ship in the ocean. This technology is intended to reduce the cost of space launches by allowing SpaceX to reuse expensive rocket components.
The Falcon 9 rocket has successfully launched numerous missions, including the Dragon spacecraft to resupply the International Space Station (ISS), launch commercial satellites into orbit, and send spacecraft to Mars.
Expensive Single Use Rockets = More Space Trash
Before Falcon 9, most rockets used to put anything up in space were single use throw away into space trash operations, in a way like a $90 million automobile that you drive once & then destroy. This made rocket launches super costly & up until the 1990 it cost over $10,000 per pound or 454gramms, to put stuff in an Earth Orbit, mostly for the International Space Station parts & assemblies, but also for many commercial & government satellites.
Best Spy Imaging Platform Not Satellites
These spy balloons give much better resolution and can image to sub mm accuracy to read the writing on the side of a cigarette on a clear brightly lit sunny day when there is enough solar light to create high contrast imaging of such tiny objects. Sometimes balloons are used to assist rocket launches to carry the rocket & payload to high altitude where the primary launch happens mid-air. Balloon assisted launched radically reduce the size & fuel load required to launch loads into orbit.
Spy Satellites might get the publics attention, buts it actually balloons that blend in with the clouds using adaptive camouflage optics applied to the mylar balloon surfaces, including transparent solar PV film applied to generate electricity to power the imaging electronic huge megapixel CCD & then CMOS imaging chips & data storage computers that save the images & radios to broadcast the imaging back to the commanders in charge of the operations.
Cheap Electrical Spin Launching Stuff into Space
There is also spin launching at high velocities from giant electrically powered Earth Stations, optimized for micro-satellites that can be spun at thousands of RPM at the end of a carbon fiber accelerator that chucks the satellite into orbit at 5 miles per second to overcome Earths gravitational pull.
Chemical Rocket Launches Awesome to Behold
While fusion energized deep space vehicles & colonies on the Moon & Mars get a lot of the scientific hype focus because of fuel storage mass limitations of traditional chemical combustion rockets, there is something special about rocket launches that makes me want to spectate one in first person in the near future as part of my lifetime bucket list experiences.Chemical rockets have a mass paradox, engines that can only burn for a few hundred seconds, they are loud, bright, violently powerful cryogenic liquid fueled rocket engine spacecraft that generate enormous amounts of thrust with combustion of a fuel & oxidizer combination flowing into the combustor chamber at thousands of gallons per minute, where the hot expanding exhaust gases shooting downward impart upward mechanical force to shove the rocket towards space in order to overcome Earth's gravity.
Artemis NASA
Artemis is a NASA-led program that aims to land the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024. The program builds on the achievements of the Apollo program of the 1960s and 1970s, but with a focus on establishing a sustainable presence on the Moon and preparing for human exploration of Mars and other destinations in the solar system.
Under the Artemis program, NASA plans to use a combination of new and existing spacecraft and technologies to achieve its goals. This includes the development of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft, which will be used to transport astronauts from Earth to lunar orbit and back. NASA is also working on the development of a lunar Gateway, which will be a small space station in orbit around the Moon that will serve as a staging area for human missions to the lunar surface.
In addition to landing astronauts on the Moon, the Artemis program aims to establish a sustainable presence on the lunar surface by building a lunar outpost, conducting scientific research, and developing technologies that will enable long-duration human missions to the Moon and beyond. The program also aims to engage international partners and commercial partners in the development of lunar exploration capabilities.
The Artemis program represents an important step towards realizing NASA's long-term goal of sending humans to Mars, and it has the potential to drive innovation and inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers, and explorers.
No comments:
Post a Comment