Questions tagged [design]
Questions about how space vehicles and related hardware are designed. See also [structural-design] and [engine-design].
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How do they know that the Dragonfly helicopter won't get quickly coated in tholin muck? Any desliming technology for camera lenses or propellors?
From Air and Space's Dragonfly Is the First Aircraft Built for the Outer Solar System; NASA returns to Saturn’s largest moon with a rover that can fly. which I just found in this heavily-sourced ...
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1answer
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How does the Dragonfly helicopter for Titan compare to Perseverance, Ingenuity and a human in terms of size, mass, weight and daily range?
It wasn't until Are Perseverance's wheels really this big? that I realized just how big Curiosity and Perseverance probably are. Writing What is the pop-up circular disk with spiral pattern in ...
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1answer
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What is the pop-up circular disk with spiral pattern in this NASA animation of the Dragonfly helicopter for Titan? Antenna? Kind, band, target?
At 00:36 in the June 2019 NASA video Dragonfly: NASA's New Mission to Explore Saturn's Moon Titan the animation shows it landing then deploying a circular disk with ...
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How well would Max Faget's April 1, 1969 design for the Space Shuttle have actually worked? What would have been the major problems?
This answer to Who are the actual lead designers of manned spacecraft? says (in its entirety):
Max Faget was involved in the design of every US manned spacecraft flown to date. Mercury, Gemini, ...
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1answer
487 views
Use of high energy propellants on an engine designed for low energy propellants
This question is about use of high energy propellants on a rocket engine designed for low energy propellants. In any engine, which is currently working on RP1+LOX, if we change the fuel from RP1 to ...
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1answer
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Why did each F-1 engine have dual fuel feedlines?
Each F-1 engine had two fuel feedlines connecting it to the fuel tank as shown in these contemporary photographs and drawings.
The corresponding LOX system only had one feedline.
The engine had a ...
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Why are DART's solar panels aligned like this?
I've never noticed this before, but the two solar arrays of NASA and APL's DART spacecraft are at different "levels". In this image, the solar panel on the left extends out from the "...
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Articulable/tilt-able solar panels planned for, or already tried on Mars or the Moon to get rid of deadly dust accumulation on solar panels?
From Forbes.com's Mars Opportunity And Spirit Rovers Could Have Lived Practically Forever With One Tiny Change:
One option would be to install some mechanism such as wiper blades to remove any ...
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1answer
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Why was the Space Shuttle Orbiter's in-orbit time limited?
I remember reading/watching that the Shuttle had a limited time to stay in orbit. And that's why Soyuzes were the only Assured Crew Return Vehicles (ACRV) for the International Space Station until ...
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1answer
94 views
How did Gagarin's flight affect improvements to the Vostok capsule?
Every spaceflight is an opportunity to learn what does not work well and to improve the vehicle for the next flight. Did Yuri Gagarin's first human spaceflight yield any changes to the capsules or ...
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Pressurant gas line design considerations
I am trying to understand the constraints on pressurant gas line sizes and lengths.
For a static volume, the lines can be small in diameter because there is no significant flow velocity and therefore ...
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Why does the RD-0110 Injector have a larger cone spray angle in the outer element rather than the inner element?
Wouldn't a large cone spray angle in the inner element (oxidizer) impinge with the outer element spray cone (fuel) and facilitate better atomization and mixing?
Here are the RD-0110 Injector specs:
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1answer
60 views
Could an orbital launcher look like a scaled up Nike Hercules?
We now have flyable, recoverable suborbital boosters, which would be the first stage.
The second stage of the Saturn V rocket was able to hurl the 100 ton Skylab into an orbit over 250 miles high.
...
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Why are strap-on boosters more often attached radially in Eastern-European/Asian rockets, and bilaterally in Western-European/American rockets?
While comparing launch vehicles with strap on boosters, it appears to me that the majority of Eastern-European/Asian vehicles arrange the boosters radially, but the Western-European/American vehicles ...
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1answer
207 views
What do large, modern communications satellites look like inside (roughly at least)?
Modern communications satellite in GEO are big, majestic beasts. They are quite large and voluminous. They can sport quite an array of antennas and handle huge bandwidths and multiple communications ...
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How efficient was Telstar's solar cell configuration, compared to a flat panel?
Telstar was a series of communication satellites first launched in 1962. The body of the satellite is roughly spherical, with much of the outer surface covered in solar cells. This gives the ...
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2answers
286 views
Which explode in spaceflight more often, nuts or bolts?
The history of spaceflight is littered with exists because of exploded nuts and bolts (and upon further reflection, a whole lot of other items!)
"Exploding bolts" is really a generic term. ...
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1answer
165 views
What technologies enable or at least help satellite operation in Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO)?
This answer to How low is VLEO? (FCC's newest approval for SpaceX) suggests VLEO begins (or ends I guess) at 350 km.
The two bad things I know about in VLEO are an enhanced rate of altitude loss due ...
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1answer
129 views
How will the future Mars Space Suit Helmet design protect Astronauts from Martian Radiation?
Mars Space Suit Helmet Visor's were mostly made up of polycarbonate [1], the same material used for EMU's visor for performing EVA in earth orbit. Meanwhile, Mars' radiation is 2.5x higher. How are we ...
5
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1answer
118 views
How to select appropriate orbital rocket stage thrust?
I’ve been working on a preliminary design of a small-lift launch vehicle capable of sending a small satellite into LEO. Given the required $\Delta v$ (~9 km/s for LEO), the mass distribution, ...
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What is the maximum force a deep space spacecraft experiences after launch?
The premise of How much of a deep space spacecraft's structural mass is useless dead weight after launch? Any plans to shed it in the future? is that the forces a deep space spacecraft experiences ...
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How much of a deep space spacecraft's structural mass is useless dead weight after launch? Any plans to shed it in the future?
After seeing this in Security SE
Magnetic core memory isn't quite extinct yet. The two Voyager spacecraft used it and are still functional. Core was/is certainly non-volatile.
I did some ...
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Where can I read about Lucy's complete propulsion system?
Wikipedia's /Lucy (spacecraft) says nothing of propulsion, and it's SWRI home page for the spacecraft http://lucy.swri.edu/mission/Spacecraft.html gives specification and enumerates what's on Lucy’s ...
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How do all the struts and crosses in the Orion Crew Capsule Service Module work together? What do each of these parts do?
The BBC's Europe to make more hardware for American Moon missions says that three more service modules for the Orion Crew Capsule have been ordered by NASA, bringing the total desired to six.
I ...
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3answers
278 views
How big could a rocket get?
What are the practical limitations on the size of Earth based, orbital rockets? How tall/heavy might we make a rocket?
For the purposes of this question, I'm mostly interested in rockets using ...
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3answers
223 views
How to make a model rocket that doesn't spin?
I'm attempting to build a rocket with 8 fins (four on bottom and four smaller ones towards the top). The four fins near to the top will be attached to servo motors and programmed to stabilize or guide ...
2
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1answer
114 views
How redundant are Orion's power and data units (PDUs)? Doubly? Quadruply? If so, why?
In the news today:
NASA to skip repair of Orion electronics unit
NASA will fly Orion deep-space crew capsule ‘as is,’ despite failed component; The agency claims there is enough redundancy in the ...
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1answer
163 views
Docking cubesat in orbit - is it possible?
Would it be plausible to launch two or more cubsat's into orbit, and then have them dock together, allowing them to pack on more hardware and even fuel, broadening their capability? If it is possible, ...
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2answers
136 views
What should be the shape of a rocket going to Mars, since Mars atmosphere is around 2 percent of that of Earth's?
What should be the design or shape of a rocket going to mars?
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1answer
424 views
What is the Starship forward dome?
What is the Starship forward dome?
How does it look like?
What other parts are connected to it and what is it good for?
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1answer
337 views
What was this strange design for the Man In Space Soonest program?
The following picture shows various spacecraft design proposals for the 1958 U.S. Air Force Man In Space Soonest program:
The bottom row depicts various spaceplanes, which should not be a surprise ...
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Is it common and good engineering for a pair of cables to be easily plugged into each other's connectors in modern spacecraft
Space News's Human error blamed for Vega launch failure
Analysis of the telemetry from the mission, along with data from the production of the vehicle, led them to conclude that cables to two thrust ...
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2answers
203 views
How to get started with CubeSats
I am new both to CubeSats and to Stack Exchange.
I have recently started studying and planning on how to build a CubeSat, as cheaply as possible. I have read some blog posts and watched some videos, ...
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1answer
231 views
MT-135 Sounding Rocket info / design
I'm searching for any design file or deep-info on the MT-135 rocket, the fuel used, engines, engines info, any thing really. I have deep-searched on tons of sites but I just find few missions that ...
2
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1answer
79 views
Finding the mass flow rate of a blowdown system?
This is a rather amateur question I will admit but how does one find the mass flow rate of an engine with a given tank pressure? Is it really as simple as calculating the cross-section of all plumbing,...
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1answer
185 views
What's the status and timeline for Millimetron? (Russia's 10m Deployable Antenna cooled to 6 K Earth-Space VLBI)
Comments below an answer to How does NASA's ASTHROS stratospheric telescope compare to its James Webb space telescope? link to JPL's Paul F. Goldsmith's The Renaissance of High Resolution ...
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1answer
194 views
Do space suit designers exist?
I was just having a closer look at the new space-suits by SpaceX,
that were worn by NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley (image below this question).
The design made me wonder about who may ...
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1answer
335 views
Why are the SpaceX Starship, “rings” the width that they are?
Why are the SpaceX Starship, "rings" the width that they are? Wouldn't creating the rings from SS that's twice as wide reduce the welding by half?
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What are the most common practical design specifications for antenna in space?
I'm writing my thesis on antennas for small satellite applications (cubesats).
Apart from the electrical specifications related to the particular application there are also several other "...
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2answers
176 views
Have there been any square 4U (2x2) cubesats?
How much did each MarCO 6U cubesat weigh? suggests that the density of a MarCO 6U cubesat might be as low as 0.75 g/cm^3 whereas I think they are usually about twice that.
That led me to speculate ...
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How much did each MarCO 6U cubesat weigh?
Yes the answer is zero now because they are weightless, but I used past tense. In any event, let's try to find a good, reliable source for each spacecraft's mass and whether that number is dry or ...
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Essential sensors for cubesat ADCS
We are building a 3U satellite to orbit Earth and measure space debris.
Between gyroscope, GPS, IMU, magnetometer, Sun sensors and star tracker, which would be essential sensors for the ADCS?
Or ...
15
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1answer
684 views
Why do Ingenuity's legs differ?
In the pictures below, I notice that not all of the legs of Ingenuity are the same (look at the end of them, directly touching the surface). It looks like a single one is different than the other 3.
...
2
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1answer
129 views
How to design heatshield bluntness?
How is the bluntness or curvature of a heat shield of a reentry spacecraft designed?
If the answer depends on size and mass, consider a deep space sample return "mini capsule" 50 cm in ...
3
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1answer
176 views
Are there any uncrewed spacecraft that maintain(ed) an atmosphere?
In How do phonesats stay cool? I wonder if phonesats might have had "cabin pressure" to keep the phones from overheating since they are not designed for space.
But now I'm just wondering if ...
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Why are stages not connected by the engine nozzle? Why are interstages used?
First, a clarification: I understand the aerodynamic reasons that interstages are used, and I understand that the shockwaves that would be generated without an interstage would wreck the rocket. My ...
5
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1answer
204 views
Why put chromium on the back side of this JPL-designed solar sail?
This 2013 JPL presentation Solar System Escape Architecture for Revolutionary Science March 2013 Conference NIAC Phase 1: 2012-2013 by PI: Jeff Nosanov Co-Is: Dr. Daniel Grebow, Dr. Brian Trease, John ...
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1answer
151 views
Could the kinetic energy in the Sun's solar wind power an ion propulsion system for an interplanetary spacecraft?
I am wondering if the kinetic energy of the Sun's solar wind could energize heavy ions to the point in which they would produce enough momentum to propel an interplanetary spacecraft.
To help ...
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1answer
118 views
What criteria influence launcher aspect ratio?
One factor when designing a launcher is the total $\Delta V$ required. For a given $\Delta V$, engineers can define the propellant quantity. From this quantity they can define the volume of the ...
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How did SpaceX's VisorSat work? How did the sunshade articulate to shade parts of Starlink satellite as it orbits the Earth?
CNET's Elon Musk wants SpaceX to launch the next generation of space telescopes says:
The billionaire entrepreneur said that "VisorSat" satellites equipped with a sunshade to block ...
