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Does the post Apollo 13 roast mixtape still exist?

The debriefing party at the Hofbraugarten was merciless, beginning with a parody of the mission. The tape prepared by the Apollo 13 backup crew and the CapComs was not for the thin-skinned. The parody ...
Yaakov Saxon's user avatar
18 votes
0 answers
783 views

Have there ever been any incidents where something valuable was unintentionally thrown out with the trash?

In "What do astronauts do with their trash on the ISS?", a commentator asked the title question and was encouraged to make it a new question, but apparently never did. The linked question is ...
T.J.L.'s user avatar
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18 votes
0 answers
435 views

How did "the kid" (John Meisenheimer) calculate that there was a wave in the jet stream and Explorer 1 would be okay to launch?

The tough but timely question NASA at sIxty years, will there be a new moonshot mandate? links to the NASA YouTube video NASA 60th: How It All Began which shows a lot of really nice, historical file ...
uhoh's user avatar
  • 148k
18 votes
1 answer
852 views

Have astronauts ever used the helmet-to-helmet technique to talk to one another in vacuum?

Science Fiction has long written about this communication technique in vacuum: Astronauts touch their helmet against another astronaut's helmet, so that sound will transmit through that physical ...
KarlKastor's user avatar
  • 2,143
14 votes
1 answer
708 views

28V vs. 124V on the ISS

Apparently the US segment of the ISS runs on 124v DC, while the Russian segment is on 28v DC. Why the difference? I understand it is often safer to have several different voltages rather than one, but ...
Woodman's user avatar
  • 531
13 votes
0 answers
331 views

Does the SpaceX spacesuit address any of the criticisms of ACES raised by Columbia Crew Survival Investigation Report?

A brief history of what Shuttle crews wore for ascent and entry, from the Columbia Crew Survival Investigation Report: The shuttle was originally designed to be operated in a shirtsleeve (bare-hands) ...
Whizzo's user avatar
  • 131
13 votes
1 answer
606 views

How much does the ISS "banana" or flex under the constantly changing conditions of solar heating?

This answer to Do antennae on the ISS have to constantly move to maintain data links? discusses some of the challenges precisely pointing an antenna mounted to the ISS exterior. While the ISSs orbit ...
uhoh's user avatar
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13 votes
1 answer
405 views

Will Soyuz spacecraft be able to visit the Lunar Gateway?

I mean launch from Earth, dock to the gateway and come back.
Anixx's user avatar
  • 3,117
12 votes
0 answers
292 views

Different Earth-centered ICRF positions in GMAT and Skyfield/Spiceypy with DE421

I compared the Earth-centered positions from the Moon in the ICRF (i.e., in GCRF) using three different sources: SpiceyPy (https://pypi.org/project/spiceypy/) Skyfield (https://rhodesmill.org/...
Thibault's user avatar
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12 votes
0 answers
305 views

Which kinds of survival equipment does Crew Dragon have, in case of an emergency landing?

Soyuz spacecraft has various survival equipment for different cases of emergency landing. The cases include water landing, desert landing, snow winter landing (crews have special winter suits). They ...
Heopps's user avatar
  • 9,041
12 votes
0 answers
431 views

What would be the disadvantages in Ingenuity accompanying Perseverance at a safe distance when the flight test program has been a success?

This answer to the question "How long could the Mars helicopter Ingenuity keep up with the Perseverance rover if it wanted to?" reasons that indeed it could for years ! But according to the ...
Cornelis's user avatar
  • 7,493
11 votes
0 answers
235 views

Does Crew Dragon have a quick-release hatch?

After today's Crew Dragon launch was scrubbed, it took the pad ninjas at least ten minutes to open the hatch. One of the major criticisms of the Apollo Block 1 hatch design after the Apollo 1 fire ...
Mark's user avatar
  • 14.6k
11 votes
0 answers
466 views

Were there any launch vehicles with so heavily pronounced Plume Induced Flow Separation (PIFS), other than Saturn V?

This answer describes a very interesting phenomenon of Plume Induced Flow Separation on Saturn V vehicle. (Apollo-6 S68-29737 photo, courtesy NASA) This is, basically, when "fire" from ...
Sergiy Lenzion's user avatar
10 votes
0 answers
218 views

How well would a supersonic aircraft perform in the Martian atmosphere?

I started getting curious about this question during my Flight Test Engineering class. My professor was talking about a part of the International Standard Atmosphere that is a similar pressure to that ...
Mattias's user avatar
  • 221
10 votes
0 answers
346 views

What's the shiny triangular feature on this Progress vehicle?

Picture from here What's the shiny, slightly curved triangular plate with rails above it? A larger version, cropped from here, thanks to a comment by ohsin.
Organic Marble's user avatar
10 votes
0 answers
563 views

Why was the Apollo 6 service module painted white?

All other SM's were silver except Apollo 6. I'm wondering what the justification for this was, if any?
Justin Braun's user avatar
  • 2,275
10 votes
0 answers
362 views

What spinoff technologies have come from the Soviet/Russian space program?

There is plenty of information available on NASA spinoff technologies including a Wikipedia page and Space SE question. What innovations are a byproduct of the Russian space program?
user25457's user avatar
  • 101
9 votes
0 answers
263 views

Has there ever been a deliberate "Find A Satellite" challenge? Actually, could there be?

Companies often offer rewards for finding security issues in their products or their own IT systems, and hackathons have a long history. I'm just wondering if there has ever been a deliberate ...
uhoh's user avatar
  • 148k
9 votes
0 answers
805 views

Is there anything that could speak 900 MHz ZigBee that could hear Ingenuity helicopter besides the Perseverance rover?

Interest is piqued by What could be strong arguments against Ingenuity following Perseverance at a safe distance when the flight test program has been a success? Question: Can anything at Mars, or ...
uhoh's user avatar
  • 148k
9 votes
0 answers
223 views

Why is the water pumped out of the holding tank a minute before Falcon 9 liftoff?

SpaceX Falcon 9 - starlink mission on October 5. Video : Why is the water discharged at T- 01m:30s from the holding tank far away from the launch pad? This was also ...
Ashvin's user avatar
  • 2,644
9 votes
0 answers
281 views

Detailed information about the Soyuz descent module connection box?

Anyone have some detailed information about how all this connectors, located in the soyuz descent module? Are they used only when they setup the Soyuz or they are ...
Ricardo Albear's user avatar
9 votes
0 answers
168 views

What rocket uses the largest percentage of Fuel/Oxidizer before liftoff?

inspired by this question: How much propellant is used up until liftoff? which asks how much propellant (fuel/oxidizer) a typical rocket uses before liftoff. What has been or is the most non-typical ...
Sdarb's user avatar
  • 317
9 votes
0 answers
84 views

What science data has been released from Chang'e 4?

Chang'e 4 was the first soft landing on the far side of the moon. What science data has been released from it? That is, in two parts: what science was done and of that, what data has been released to ...
Charles's user avatar
  • 191
9 votes
0 answers
198 views

Was the Doppler shift of InSight's "tone" measured and plotted somewhere?

I watched a YouTube live broadcast from the InSight mission control area and saw lots of images of happy people cheering and jumping up and down, which is great! If it wasn't 4 AM where I was I might ...
uhoh's user avatar
  • 148k
9 votes
0 answers
954 views

Roughly how many self-viewing cameras are present in a Falcon 9 LEO mission?

Watch any of last year's SpaceX LEO satellite deployment missions's broadcasts in YouTube, and you can see views from at least several different cameras. At least two on the 2nd stage nozzle, at least ...
uhoh's user avatar
  • 148k
9 votes
0 answers
453 views

How do domes in lunar impact melts develop, and might they be hollow?

On the floors of young craters of the Moon, smoothly rounded domes are visible in some spots. Lalande crater has 4 of them, each around 200 m across. Here are less regular ones on the floor of ...
kim holder's user avatar
  • 21.3k
8 votes
0 answers
142 views

Was there a close call for Voyager 2's extended mission due to lost uplink during the Jupiter encounter?

In Uplink-Downlink (2001), Douglas Mudgway says: "[The Jupiter radiation environment] . . . resulted in loss of the uplink connection with the [Voyager 2] spacecraft on the day after encounter. ...
Larry Gilman's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
312 views

Has a rocket engine with LOX as the oxidizer ever fired beyond the GEO belt?

Intuitive Machines' Nova-C lunar lander is scheduled to launch later this year. Notably, the lander uses liquid methane as fuel and liquid oxygen as the oxidizer, and it will rely on this combination ...
675longtail's user avatar
  • 1,060
8 votes
0 answers
124 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 ...
Heopps's user avatar
  • 9,041
8 votes
0 answers
420 views

What are the negatives associated with Thrust-augmented Nozzles aka Afterburning Rocket Engines?

An interesting comment here introduced me to the concept of Thrust-augmented Nozzles aka Afterburning Rocket Engines. The pubs I've read on it so far introduce the concept as a way to provide good ...
Organic Marble's user avatar
8 votes
0 answers
121 views

How do people know how big the rocks are in the photos of Titan's surface?

How do people know how big the rocks are in the photos of Titan's surface?
space-enthusiast's user avatar
8 votes
0 answers
99 views

How does the JWST sunshade cover release work?

In animations of the James Webb Space Telescope unfolding, you see material rolling itself up to uncover the folded-up sunshade. How is that rolling-up process driven? The animations don't show any ...
Mark Foskey's user avatar
  • 10.3k
8 votes
0 answers
180 views

With an external airlock attached, could Commercial Crew Program spacecraft service Hubble?

Note just to clarify: is not about the requirements of the Commercial Crew Program, it is about the as-built capabilities of Crew Dragon and Starliner (hereafter referred to as CCPS, CCP (not that one)...
Anton Hengst's user avatar
  • 10.6k
8 votes
0 answers
176 views

Is there any official Chinese website where we can follow the actions of the Zhurong rover?

Zhurong, China's first Mars rover, soft landed on Utopia Planitia on May 14, 2021. Coordinates of the landing site are: 25.1⁰ N 109.7⁰ E The planned operational lifetime is only 90 sols. (Why should ...
Cornelis's user avatar
  • 7,493
8 votes
0 answers
143 views

How often have signs of life been dismissed as abiotic?

Today, there are rumors about an upcoming announcement of the discovery of (non-conclusive) evidence for life on Venus, apparently they detected some phosphorus compound that is not produced by any ...
Wouter's user avatar
  • 1,106
8 votes
0 answers
219 views

Roughly, how much of our Moon's apparent libration amplitude seen from the Geocenter is due to different effects?

My understanding is that when tidal locking of a body first happens it transitions from a state where the average rotation period is faster than the orbital period to a state where they are the same ...
uhoh's user avatar
  • 148k
8 votes
0 answers
477 views

What did NASA Vehicle Assembly Building's "weather" look like? Did it really have clouds? Did it rain?

Comments below this answer to Would there be snow, rain, fog or clouds in a deep, sealed, subsurface cavern on the Moon if water were present? point out that the NASA Vehicle Assembly Building ...
uhoh's user avatar
  • 148k
8 votes
0 answers
97 views

Escape system of SLS vs Ares I

One of the criticism directed at the Ares I rocket was the danger during a launch termination of the solid-propellant 1st stage. As far as I understood it, a terminated Titan IV solid-propellant ...
David-H-K's user avatar
  • 621
8 votes
0 answers
836 views

What are the general properties and specs for JWST's onboard data and image processing capabilities?

Answers and comments on What is the data storage capabilities onboard the James Webb Telescope? which reference the James Webb Space Telescope User Documentation item JWST Solid State Recorder mention ...
uhoh's user avatar
  • 148k
8 votes
0 answers
153 views

How long could the ISS function if removed from Earth orbit?

Suppose the ISS were instantaneously moved to the opposite side of the Sun from Earth - how long would it continue to function? Are there any systems aboard that depend on passing behind the planet ...
Skyler's user avatar
  • 461
8 votes
0 answers
238 views

Did CNSA astronaut Zhai Zhigang see the ISS during an EVA?

This answer to Has an astronaut ever seen another object in LEO pass by that wasn't mission-related? says: The encounter happened at longer distances ($\sim47\;km$) and the Shenzhou-7 is smaller than ...
uhoh's user avatar
  • 148k
8 votes
0 answers
199 views

Onboard recording of trans-Mars injection

Is there any video recording of the Falcon Heavy trans-Mars injection burn from onboard cameras? The live feed of the Tesla Roadster and Starman orbiting Earth cycled through multiple cameras ...
kasperd's user avatar
  • 401
8 votes
0 answers
749 views

ISS - Tiangong 2 minimum safe distance

Using the SGP4 propagator, I calculated the minimum distance between ISS and Tiangong-2 for this year. I obtained 12.32 km for 2017-09-27 17:29:36.376 UTC (which ...
Cristiano's user avatar
  • 1,760
8 votes
0 answers
2k views

For the mathematical relationship between J2 (km^5/s^2) and dimensionless J2 - which one is derived from the other?

The term $J_2$ seen in discussions of nodal precession of orbits (e.g. sun-synchronous) appears to come in two flavors. For example, in the Wikipedia article Geopotential model it has a value of $1....
uhoh's user avatar
  • 148k
8 votes
0 answers
633 views

How is retropropulsion by the Falcon 9 first stage being used to design retropropulsion entry on Mars?

Much has been made of how the reentry burns of Falcon 9 first stages occur at an altitude where the atmosphere is similar in density to the atmosphere of Mars, and so they demonstrate that supersonic ...
kim holder's user avatar
  • 21.3k
8 votes
0 answers
150 views

Smart suits in development

This is an offshoot of this question. There's a new generation of space suits coming up (Z-series, anything that the Zvezda NPP has up its sleeves), and I wonder at the level of sophistication of ...
Deer Hunter's user avatar
  • 11.4k
8 votes
0 answers
636 views

Dragon Pad Abort hot fire, how much cleanup work was needed?

The day before the Pad Abort test attempt (May 5, 2015) SpaceX test fired the SuperDraco engines in a hot fire. Similar to how they test the Falcon 9 a day or three before launch, the engines spin up ...
geoffc's user avatar
  • 79.3k
8 votes
1 answer
264 views

What is inside the overhead compartments in crew dragon

During the DEMO-2 live stream there was a black section visible above the heads of the astronauts. In an image tweeted out by Elon these were labeled as “9” and “10” with symbols of water droplets. ...
Hans's user avatar
  • 3,566
7 votes
0 answers
145 views

Horizontal transportation of space rockets

Inspired by this picture from Does this Soyuz vehicle burn coal or oil? What is its official name? and related to What are the advantages and disadvantages of assembling a launch vehicle ...
Fred's user avatar
  • 13k
7 votes
0 answers
153 views

Is StarShip/Booster stack inherently unstable after Booster burns most of its fuel?

Few will ever forget the flight of Starship 24/Booster 7. Perhaps the first moon rocket to perform aerobatics and hold itself together before finally self destructing. But would it be aerodynamicly ...
Robert DiGiovanni's user avatar

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