Questions tagged [record]
Questions regarding extremes or records, such as the smallest, largest, first, last, heaviest, etc. of a thing or event.
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Was there an all-civilian space flight before Inspiration4?
Scott Manley remarked in a video, SpaceX's Latest Crew Mission Is Unlike Any Other:
[Inspiration4 is] billed as the first all civilian space flight – that's the sort of tagline and frankly it's not ...
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64 views
Largest number of times that a bit of fuel has been exchanged between spacecraft? Between spacecraft tanks?
Scott Manley's Russia's New Space Station Module Causes Alarm On ISS says a bit after 18:38:
The fuel system isn’t going to be entirely isolated because when ...
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1answer
101 views
Largest number of rockets launched into space from a given launch site in a 24 hour period?
Question: What is the largest number of rockets launched into space from a given launch site in a 24 hour period? Where, when, why?
"into space" means $\ge$ 100 km, but pretty close to 100 ...
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42 views
Most dog-legged launch?
There are enough questions about dogleg maneuvers that there is now a tag, but the definitive dogleg answer is @JakeBlockers (linked below) which includes images of a dogleg from Florida that avoids ...
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Closest distance that two unrelated spacecraft have come while both in heliocentric orbits?
In 2015 STEREO A and B passed each other passing roughly behind the Sun at the same time from opposite directions as seen from Earth. But these two are part of a single mission, put into these orbits ...
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81 views
How many bubble levels have been used in space? Were any of them used some place besides the Moon?
The lunar retroreflectors left by Apollo astronauts had bubble levels and Sun compasses to that they could be oriented correctly with respect to Earth's average direction. This was necessary to ...
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2answers
185 views
Smallest free memory space in early space crafts equipped with a computer?
Early space crafts used magnetic memory, semiconductor memory was not available. Memory size was very small, the program was written in assembler language. Programmers worked hard to fit all necessary ...
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31 views
How many communications channels can a single DSN dish maintain at the same time?
DSN NOW screenshot 2021-07-10 at 07:14 UTC
DSN NOW screenshot 2021-07-10 at 09:48 UTC
The screen shots show Canberra's Dish 35 simultaneously transmitting and receiving, and above it is written MRO, ...
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1answer
292 views
Will Richard Branson be setting any space firsts by beating Jeff Bezos' launch date?
Virgin Galactic is now saying they will launch Richard Branson on July 11
Dubbed the "Unity 22" mission, this flight on the VSS Unity spacecraft will carry a full crew of two pilots, Dave ...
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1answer
123 views
In their first 100 sols which NASA Mars rover drove the furthest and which one the least?
It seems we've passed the 100 day/sol mark for Perseverance.
Perseverance and Curiosity are comparable in designs but have had significantly different short term goals; Curiosity was the first of it's ...
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1answer
273 views
Most noodle-like (highest aspect ratio) orbital launch vehicle ever?
Just how much can tall skinny rockets bend? (roughly, safely)
Why is Falcon 9's shape so tall and skinny?
If not constrained by underpasses, etc., would Falcon 9 have been less of a flying noodle?
...
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863 views
Is there a record for unbroken series of "successful launches" by some objective criteria? Who has it now? What has to happen for it to change hands?
From the (I'd say) historic and pivotal hearing Wednesday, March 5, 2014 Defense Subcommittee (Chairman Durbin) Time and Location: 10:00 a.m., in Room SD-192 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building ...
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890 views
How many satellites were orbited from Australia in total?
WRESAT; The first Australian Satellite Launched Wednesday November 29, 1967 on Colin Mackellar's Honeysuckle Creek website links to several other pages with various details and photos of the mission.
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Has a spacecraft ever actually sprayed a chemical (or anything) on to another spacecraft intentionally for any reason at all?
The question How many of these six military "orbital threat" techniques have been demonstrated in a (more or less) publicly recognized way? begins:
If you are having a good day then under ...
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237 views
Is New Shepard an orbit-capable first stage? Could an (albeit small) 2nd stage with propulsion be put on top that could put a smallsat into orbit?
This answer to How is New Shepard the first suborbital booster to successfully perform a powered vertical soft landing? discusses a potential differentiation between Falcon 9's first successful ...
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What's the lowest periapsis of a successful orbit around the Moon? [duplicate]
What's the lowest periapsis of a successful orbit around the Moon ever made by a moon-orbiting spacecraft?
Theoretically, Moon-orbiters can go as low as a foot above the surface due to the lack of an ...
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When was the last time that an incandescent light bulb was launched into space?
Certainly the first crewed spacecraft had some incandescent light bulbs for indicators, though for cabin illumination the higher efficiency of fluorescent lights was often exploited. The question ...
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Biggest orbital inclination change done in Earth's orbit
Generally orbital inclination change is said to be (fuel) expensive. What is the biggest orbital inclination change (in degrees) done in Earth's orbit for an orbiting object? Can this be broken down ...
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2answers
305 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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154 views
How often are fewer than three astronauts present when moving a Soyuz spacecraft from one docking port to another?
CNN's Astronauts relocated a spacecraft outside the International Space Station (was it inside before?) says:
Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, along with NASA astronaut ...
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55 views
Has Hubble ever focused on something close enough that it had to move away from being focused at infinity?
Hubble wouldn't have to change focus for Pranksat to work because Pranksat is cleverly designed to present a virtual image with a focus at infinity. But if the diffraction-limited Hubble wanted to ...
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1answer
169 views
When is the last time that a battery-powered spacecraft was launched without an RTG or solar-electric power?
Except for special sun-synchronous, Earth orbit eventually leads to eclipses, so spacecraft in Earth orbit generally have solar panels with electrical energy "buffered" by batteries. And ...
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1answer
159 views
What were the stingiest and most generous vacuum nozzle? (records for the smallest and largest expansion ratios)
Vacuum nozzles are huge compared to their sea-level or atmospheric counterparts, as can be seen by comparing the first stage engines on an Electron or Falcon-9 to their second stages, where a big ...
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Largest single burn spacecraft delta-v in deep space?
This 700 m/s maneuver that was avoided got me thinking and then CNN's NASA mission will zoom by asteroid before returning sample to Earth said:
"Leaving Bennu's vicinity in May puts us in the '...
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2answers
242 views
Longest static fire?
What is the longest duration for a static fire of a complete rocket stage?
Initially I wanted to ask this for Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy
I found a 10 second static fire for Falcon Heavy - https://...
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1answer
75 views
Largest variety of independent spacecraft types docked, clustered, or otherwise attached at the same time?
speculation and pondering in the Pod Bay has got me wondering; What has been the largest variety of independent spacecraft types simultaneously, docked, clustered or otherwise attached in space?
These ...
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4answers
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What was the "5 minute EVA"? What was the shortest-duration EVA ever?
A comment to this answer makes the claim
humans are so impaired in space that their ability to repair anything is ridiculously low (hours of preparation and debriefing even for a five-minute EVA, and ...
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59 views
Longest duration of a Moon orbiter?
From all the spacecraft that orbit or orbited the Moon, which one lasted the longest in lunar orbit?
By defunct spacecraft includes.
2
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2answers
151 views
What's the fastest orbital period for a spacecraft?
I'm not asking about velocity, I'm talking about overall speed. Shortest time from perigee to perigee. This orbit would be a low, circular orbit, but I can't really find any specifics on any world ...
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1answer
77 views
What was the furthest distance from Earth that Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins reached in Apollo 11?
An estimate is fine. But if possible, I am looking for a reference that I can cite.
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1answer
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What is the maximum payload in terms of mass delivered to LEO by launch vehicle which used pressure fed cycle in all stages?
Launch vehicles can use pressure fed cycle in any stage of the rocket, but here i am interested for those vehicles which used this cycle in all stages. What is the current record in terms of mass of ...
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Closest distance at which cubesat (or comparable smallsat) has communicated with the Deep Space Network or any large 10+ meter dish? Cis-lunar ever?
Discussion below Will future deep space optical communications "ground stations" actually be in space, or on the ground? has got me wondering about the improbable situation where a giant ...
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2answers
172 views
How many independent demonstrations of optical communications between ground and space have been successful?
As everybody knows, the pioneering work of The Professor and his serendipitous collaborator Gilligan demonstrated the reality of ground to space optical communications back in 1964. In that case ...
2
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1answer
159 views
What was the first successful demonstration of a fuel cell in space?
Hydrogen fuel cells (together with batteries) were used for electrical power in the Apollo program, where it was recombined with oxygen on board to produce electricity.
Doing chemistry in practical ...
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3answers
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What is the lowest first stage thrust for a launch reaching orbit?
What is the lowest thrust for a first stage rocket for a rocket that reached Earth orbit?
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119 views
Smallest orbital rocket by diameter?
Which orbital rocket has the smallest diameter?
Without fins.
Related question:
Smallest orbital rockets by height?
Smallest orbital rocket by mass
Smallest launch vehicle by dry mass
2
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1answer
101 views
Smallest sounding rocket to reach space by height?
Which is the smallest sounding rocket to reach space (100 km)?
By height
Similar question:
Smallest orbital rockets by height?
3
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1answer
243 views
Smallest orbital rockets by height?
Which orbital rocket is the smallest in height (or length) that ever launched?
Would be nice to know the second and third place too.
Similar questions:
Smallest orbital rocket by diameter?
Smallest ...
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2answers
764 views
What is the closest distance a human being has come to Venus ever since the beginning of the space age?
In line with this question, ever since we started space exploration, what is the closest a living human being has come to Venus?
All I can find on this matter is that the closest distance Venus and ...
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4answers
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What is the closest distance a human being has come to Mars ever since the beginning of the space age?
Ever since we started space exploration, what is the closest a living human being has come to Mars?
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1answer
581 views
What spacecraft has had the greatest total propulsive delta-v?
How fast is fuel escaping a rocket for it to reach the escape velocity 11 km/s? was an active and well-received discussion! It's always exciting when we first realize that a rocket can go much faster ...
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3answers
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What are the most-delayed missions that eventually launched successfully?
I author this question off of two failed cross-country trips to see NROL-44 and three lost bets on whether it'll launch. As ULA scrubs this Delta IV Heavy yet once again, I wonder, has there ever been ...
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5answers
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Highest DC voltage ever intentionally produced in space?
Comments on the page Maximum grid voltage of ion thruster got me wondering; what is the highest DC voltage ever intentionally produced by a spacecraft in space?
Photomultiplier tubes and micro-channel ...
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2answers
153 views
How many maritime launch platforms were ever built?
How many maritime launch platforms has ever been built and used for orbital space launches?
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1answer
167 views
Fastest rocket to reach space?
Spaceloft XL can reach space - 100 km - in 60 seconds
So I wonder which rockets can reach that limit fastest
Balloon-launched sounding rockets count but separately (from the moment they launch from ...
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254 views
How many (presumably friendly) lasers are being shot at us from space? (pew! pew!)
A comment below @A.Rumlin's answer to Is there any spacecraft that is ping-able? links to a Facebook page (in Russian) which shows an astrophotographer's photograph of stars plus a big green flare ...
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387 views
What is the largest proper cubesat?
The sizes of Cubesats are measured in "U" units of volume. Each U is nominally a cube of something like 10 to 12 cm on a side, depending on the specific deploying mechanism it's approved for....
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NanoSat/Small Satellite World Record
I have been trying to understand, small sat within 10-30 kg satellite what has been the longest operating satellite? Generally life of such missions is 6 months. Other heavy duty class satellite have, ...
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What's the longest crewed space mission flight ever?
I wonder what the longest single space mission ever was/is. This question doesn't ask for the longest single spaceflight of a human (this are Valery Polyakov's 437 d 18 h on Mir who launched with ...
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1answer
203 views
Did Zuma complete at least one orbit? [duplicate]
Question: Did Zuma complete at least one orbit?
CLOSE VOTERS, PLEASE NOTE: answers to What was the outcome of the launch of ZUMA by SpaceX, to the best of the public's knowledge? do not answer my ...