69
votes
Accepted
Why doesn’t NASA build its rockets using graphene?
The Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of graphene is at 2 or 3 as far as I can tell. And that is TRL as related to making very tiny stuff.
Anything used to build a structure for aircraft or spacecraft ...
- 3,042
42
votes
Why doesn’t NASA build its rockets using graphene?
Besides the fact BradV pointed out that we don't have the technology to do this yet, the fact is that graphene on a macroscopic scale would not perform as well as the numbers you cited suggest. All ...
- 10.3k
27
votes
What is the rarest launch window?
Comet West with its unpredictable but estimated at 558 000 years period is a good contender.
Since launch windows can aim for the alignment of N objects, the answer obviously tend to infinity.
You ...
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26
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Is there something inherently more difficult about servicing satellites in the 2nd Sun-Earth Lagrangian point?
Distance certainly is a key factor. It took JWST a month to go from launch to L2 pseudo-orbit insertion.
Another key factor is that to date, the only successful satellite servicing missions have been ...
- 73.2k
24
votes
Accepted
What landings beyond Mars and the Moon are scheduled?
Feel free to edit this answer to add more or adjust formatting. List may be incomplete.
Ordered by launch date:
Hayabusa 2 and MASCOT to 162173 Ryugu, Japan/Germany/France, launched 2014, landed ...
21
votes
What is the rarest launch window?
Hohmann launch windows occur each synodic period. Or a more general version of a Hohmann transfer would be a transfer orbit tangent to both departure and destination orbits. This also occurs each ...
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20
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Has there ever been crewed mission plans by any Space Agency to go to a solar system object other than the Moon and Mars?
Yes, NASA did consider a crewed flyby of Venus using Saturn/Apollo hardware. This is discussed in another QA on this site.
There wasn't much point in doing it, as it would have been several months of ...
- 167k
20
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Is there something inherently more difficult about servicing satellites in the 2nd Sun-Earth Lagrangian point?
Getting to L2 in a timely fashion is more challenging than going to the Moon. The Apollo missions took about 3 days to get to the Moon. 4.5 days is how long the LRO took to orbit the Moon when ...
- 121k
17
votes
Accepted
Can double deck spacecraft be designed and constructed for manned missions?
Yes. They can be designed. Big Gemini was a seven-person capsule design that took a two-seat Gemini capsule:
(Note: this image shows both the capsule (the black part) and the service module (the ...
- 10.6k
16
votes
Accepted
What is the rarest launch window?
The launch of New Horizons was very critical.
The NASA scientists had 5 years to develop a space probe to Pluto and make sure it got a gravity assist through Jupiter, which is only possible if ...
14
votes
Accepted
Is there any independent evaluation/report on the feasibility of SpaceX going to Mars by 2024?
I don't have any independent evaluations on hand but it is almost completely certain that SpaceX will not have any rockets landing on Mars in 2024 or leaving for Mars in 2024. Launch windows aren't ...
- 18.1k
14
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What are and could be all the advantages and disadvantages to have a crewed station on Phobos before landing crewed missions on Mars?
Establishing a human presence on Phobos would require development of a vehicle specifically for that purpose. Such a vehicle would have a far larger fraction of its arrival mass devoted to propellant ...
- 10.7k
12
votes
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Are there currently any plans for a Venus lander?
NASA's New Frontiers program has been calling for a Venus lander (Venus In Situ Explorer) on every solicitation. Venus landers are proposed every time, sometimes making it to Step 2 in the ...
- 58.5k
12
votes
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Why do larger and newer rockets not use electric pumps?
Ultimately the pump, whether electric or combustion-turbine driven, needs a certain amount of total energy input to do its job.
Combustion reactions both deliver more total energy per mass than ...
- 167k
12
votes
With increased space exploration missions, are we affecting earth's mass?
With increased space exploration missions, are we affecting earth's mass?
In theory, yes. In practice, no. The amount of mass we send into space is completely negligible compared to the huge mass of ...
- 73.2k
11
votes
Are there currently any plans for a Venus lander?
The Russian Venera missions 9 (1975), 10 (1975), 13 (1982), and 14 (1982) all took images of the Venusian surface. Venera 13 and 14 took color images.
Russia is also planning another Venera mission ...
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10
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What are and could be all the advantages and disadvantages to have a crewed station on Phobos before landing crewed missions on Mars?
This NASA paper explores some of the rationales and implications of using Phobos as a staging point for human Mars surface missions. The conclusion is stated in the abstract:
Results from this ...
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9
votes
How feasible would it be to move the ISS to the surface of the Moon to recycle its components in future?
Supplementary answer expanding on @PearsonArtPhoto's answer.
The first part of getting ISS (or anything else) from LEO to the Moon is lifting it's orbit around the Earth (or at least one end of its ...
- 19.4k
9
votes
Does it make sense to invest money on space investigation?
"We should wait for all the problems on earth to be solved before going into space".
I've seen this sentiment multiple times, and I disagree vehemently.
1. There are other much more worthy targets ...
- 6,418
9
votes
Accepted
Are they already planning a successor to the JWST?
See the Launch Pad Astronomy video 4 Future Space Telescopes NASA wants to build linked below.
The notes say that the four
...future space telescopes NASA wants to build are the:
Habitable Exoplanet ...
- 148k
9
votes
With increased space exploration missions, are we affecting earth's mass?
The earth gains about 43 tons of mass every day in meteorites and space dust. We are not only not decreasing the mass of the earth with our space program but are not even keeping it from growing.
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8
votes
Is a one-way manned mission to Mars currently possible?
Getting back is not impossible, just very expensive.
This site has a good explanation of the phenomenon.
- 126k
7
votes
Is space mining and development as shown in the television show "The Expanse" realistic?
Short answer: Maybe, if you allow for an engine like used in the series.
Long answer:
The spaceships in The Expanse do not use Hohmann transfers. Instead they just start to accelerate continuously ...
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7
votes
Any proposed missions to explore the black liquid on Titan? Technical challenges?
It's a late answer but I was surprised nobody cited this:
Titan Mare Explorer (TiME)
The TiME lander was a part of cooperative NASA-ESA mission TSSM. The mission was not considered as highest ...
- 9,041
7
votes
Could it be worthwhile to bring a small and simple greenhouse with biofilms along with one of the next missions to Mars?
Planetary protection is still in force for Mars, see the special sub class of rules for it. While it can be argued that there have probably been lapses with the crashed orbiters listed at the link, ...
- 21.4k
7
votes
What does NASA intend to do about the Martian day in regards to the astronauts who go there?
I don't know if planning for a manned Mars mission has progressed to that level of detail yet. I do have some data for the current Mars missions.
For the MER missions, the operations team on Earth ...
- 126k
7
votes
Why doesn’t NASA build its rockets using graphene?
Just because a substance has impressive specific strength, doesn't mean it has all the properties needed to make it generally useful.
Specific strength, the ratio of strength to weight, is a very ...
- 8,777
7
votes
With increased space exploration missions, are we affecting earth's mass?
The mass of Earth is $5.97\times10^{21}$ tons. The launch mass of SpaceX's Starship (the upper stage, with payload and fuel) is roughly 1200 tons. Even if we sent a Starship to orbit to orbit each ...
- 171
6
votes
Juno possible retirement adjustment
Considering Juno is at the destination of it's planned journey (i.e. Jupiter orbit), it's reasonable to expect that much to most of its propellant have been used already. There are still more, ...
- 148k
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