# All Questions

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### Orange lines coming from rocket engine nozzle?

This image of a test-fire of the RS-88 ethanol/LOX engine. It is apparent that there are these orange lines extending from inside the nozzle into the plume. What is it, and why is this phenomenon ...
• 2,727
17 views

### Orbital Angular Momentum on STK

I want to allign my satellite with the orbital angular momentum vector. Thus, I've computed this vector in a Fixed Coordinate System using the cross product (r x v) between position vector and ...
• 171
1 vote
157 views

I am a beginner in the field of aerospace. Recently, I wanted to use the extended Kalman filter to improve the orbit. My idea is to use TLE data as observations values, the ...
266 views

### Images of the DART impact on Asteroid Dimorphos other then DART images

I am looking for DART impact images from others source. Images which came from some telescopes etc. Where I can find it? Sorry for My English.
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37 views

### Dilution of precision in different coordinates

Given the ranges $\rho^{(s)}_{R_x}=\sqrt{(x_{R_x}-X^{(s)})^2+(y_{R_x}-Y^{(s)})^2+(z_{R_x}-Z^{(s)})^2}$ between a receiver $R_x$ and an $s$-th satellite, where $s=1, 2, ... n$, one can construct the ...
63 views

### Could Bepi-Colombo image the Messenger impact site?

Is the location of the impact site of Messenger known with sufficient detail to image it from low orbit? Does Bepi-Colombo have a high enough camera resolution to image Mercury at whatever the ...
• 660
50 views

### How to find cost data for commercially available spacecraft components?

I'm trying to research how much it should cost to build a small spacecraft, but it's super hard to find good information on the cost of various components. Can anyone suggest any good resources? For ...
142 views

### Draper Semianalytical Satellite Theory (DSST) C/C++ version

Anyone knows where one could find the Draper Semianalytical Satellite Theory (DSST) semi-analytical propagator code in C/C++? I know Orekit includes the Java version inside its code. An in general if ...
44 views
+50

### Which were the more than 60 (!) candidate locations for the Mars 2020 rover?

Four years ago I asked for the 21 potential landing sites for the Mars 2020 mission in this question, but now I've learned that there were more than 60 candidate locations ! From NASA Announces ...
• 7,355
110 views

### What would have happened if DART failed to hit Didymoon?

So I remember reading that there was a 10% chance DART will not hit Didymoon. It was on the German Wikipedia, but without a source. Now, I'm wondering if there would have been any plans if DART failed ...
• 1,016
1 vote
84 views

### Satellite position using 2 station ranging

Two Station Ranging Given the position of 2 stations and the distance between both and the satellite (in km, say) and the fact that the orbit is geostationary and positioned at 45.1(degrees) west, ...
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1 vote
42 views

### What will be more important for the first NASA led human mission to Mars, the exploration of important science targets or the mining of water ice?

A few months after NASA's decision in November 2018 that Jezero Crater would be the landing site for the Mars 2020 rover mission, the research article The Geology and Astrobiology of McLaughlin Crater,...
• 7,355
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### Pre burner design for cryogenic propellants [closed]

I have to design a preburner to change the phase of my propellants from liquid to gas and they are stored as cryogenics. I have tried to find resources on preburners but none of them specify how to ...
1 vote
73 views

### What are better ways to deliver heat directly to propellant in a Thermal Rocket design for use in launch than UV such as in the Nuclear Lightbulb?

Most advanced, high-power engine concepts that I came across aren’t suited for atmospheric launch, so I got curious about what kinds of engines could launch a very heavy craft from the surface of a ...
36 views

### Would planetary quarantine have to be used for asteroid mining missions?

Currently, sample return missions have to follow very delicate procedures to move the sample to the return vehicle. This is incredibly complicated and may explain why so few missions have launched. ...
• 2,727
118 views

### Have there been any rockets whose payload fairings consisted of more than two parts?

Most cargo rockets, such as Falcon 9, Delta IV, and many others, incorporate payload fairings to protect payloads from aero forces and heating during ascent. All of these rockets' fairings split in ...
• 2,727
97 views

### Dimorphos natural orbit variability vs DART impact

As we know, DART spacecraft have impacted Dimorphos, a satellite of Didymos. The impact will change the orbital period. Depending on the properties of Dimorphos (mass, porosity, cohesion), the period ...
• 8,636
39 views

### A hybrid micropropulsion system for CubeSats

I am curious about how much potential would a hybrid (electric & chemical) micropropulsion system have for CubeSats. The chosen propellant is water due to its non toxic nature, cheap cost and high ...
• 101
86 views

### How do different stages attach to each other?

I started learning about rockets recently, and while searching for information, I found some ways that different stages separate, but I wandered if it was possible that they could reattach to a ...
• 21
72 views

### How to calculate the ECEF coordinates of a satellite given its elevation and azimuth angle, plus the coordinates of a reference object on Earth

So I am looking for a way to 'reverse engineer' satellite ECEF coordinates given its angles of elevation and azimuth and given the coordinates of an object on Earth serving as a reference ground. The ...
36 views

### How to convert TLE data into state vectors in ITRF?

As shown in the question, Now I have a TLE observation data and CPF(Consolidated Prediction Format) data. According to CPF's documentation, CPF predictions are tabulated satellite state vectors ...
168 views

### Was DART meant to impact dead center?

According to eyes on the solar system, Dimorphos is tidally locked to Didymos. If DART impact direction is perfectly aligned with Dimorphos center of mass, all of the momentum transfers into orbital ...
• 3,787
89 views

### If the pseudorange is not fixed, how does a receiver lock/fix onto a satellite signal?

If the satellite moves around the orbit at a velocity, the pseudorange between the receiver and the satellite should be changing right? If so, how does a receiver lock onto a satellite signal if the ...
1k views

### Developing intuition about altitude and velocity in multi stage rockets

I just started learning some basics of rocketry and am struggling to understand the outcomes of a simulator I’m programming. All other things being equal, when I attempt to simulate the altitude over ...
2k views

### What caused the jitter in the DART video as it approached Dimorphos?

If you look at the series of images DART took as it approached Dimorphos, the asteroid jumps around a bit as you approach. Does this mean small corrections were being made right up till near the end? ...
• 7,444
689 views

### On the LM, what is the difference between ABORT and ABORT STAGE?

The LM had both ABORT and ABORT STAGE buttons. What was the difference and in which scenario would each be used?
• 81
106 views

### What is the optimal acceleration for a direct ascent to the moon? [duplicate]

If a rocket flies to any object using a direct ascent it is best for it to reach the needed speed as soon as possible because of the Hohmann effect. When it launches from the ground there is air ...
• 1,402
1 vote
134 views

### Is the Artemis Missions direct ascent?

I’ve been looking at “exploded” SLS rockets, where the stages are all shown, and there never seems to be a lunar lander. Does that mean that the Orion Spacecraft lands on the moon, or will it have a ...
4k views

### When Artemis runs out of rollbacks

On 2022 Sep 26, Artemis I was moved from its launchpad back to its "garage" to shelter from a hurricane. It was reported that NASA managers have said the system is rated for two more ...
• 11.1k
1 vote
77 views

260 views

### Would Artemis 1 have blown up on the pad if NASA had been unaware of (or ignored) the errors that resulted in the launches being aborted? [closed]

Artemis 1 has had several unsuccessful tests. We've seen reports of "hydrogen leaks", "engine failures", "sensor malfunctions", "stuck valves", "fueling ...
• 782
1 vote
73 views

### do launch vehicles fly at negative angle of attacks after pitch over maneuver?

At early seconds of flight, launch vehicle goes up vertically. at the beginning of pitch over, it has vertical velocity and simultaneously pitching which makes the wind to flow from upward direction. ...
• 337
102 views

### Is it possible for fuselages to have a negative lift coefficient at positive angle of attacks?

Recently I was interested in the descent phase of the first stage of the falcon 9 launch vehicle. I assumed a long cylinder to represent the first stage. using DATCOM to predict aerodynamics ...
• 337
152 views

### best way to generate electricity on any planet's dark side

What options are available for generating electricity in a space colony if it is at the planet's darkest point all year around without help from nearby outposts?
• 121
77 views

### How many collisions are possible to eradicate all already existing satellites? [closed]

If earth lost all contact with satellites, how many collisions would it take to be left with 0 satellites orbiting in their normal path? Deep-space objects are not considered like James Web Telescope.
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1 vote
30 views

### How redshifted galaxies will JWST be able to detect? [closed]

I see that the MIRI camera/spectrograph on JWST has an operational wavelength span between 5 and 28 micrometers. Now visible not redshifted light has wavelengths between 400 and 700 nanometers. If ...
• 221
59 views

### Discrepancies in thrust chamber dimensions for RL10

I've recently been developing some automated scripts in Python for the purpose of calculating engine parameters. I've been using the RocketCEA interface library, which links to NASA's Chemical ...
• 527
105 views

### Will NASA abandon the Voyager spacecraft?

according to sindibad (a website) the voyager space mission is coming to an end. How long until this happens. according to the website, NASA wants to end the mission while the probes are still ...
• 813
36 views

### Can the JWST look at Earth? What would it see? [duplicate]

There's a few questions on the site about whether we can see the James Webb Space Telescope from Earth (i.e. here and here), but I'm wondering about the opposite - can we see Earth using the JWST? I ...
• 101
1 vote
116 views

### What is that cone-shaped thingy on most orbiters?

Whether you're Looking at MRO, Odyssey, Juno, or MAVEN, you might notice it. That odd cone on the top or bottom of the spacecraft. Does anyone know what it is?
• 813
1 vote
43 views

### Actuator bandwidth [closed]

What is the relationship between the slew rate of the linear actuator and bandwidth? What should be the slew rate if I want 5 Hz actuator bandwidth? For more details:- I'm using a 2nd transfer ...
• 11
57 views

### How long would it take to send a probe to the Oort Cloud [duplicate]

If we used the best current technologies that people are willing to use. How long would a mission to the Oort Cloud take? Let's assume that we want the probe to be able to send us back data once there....