20
votes
Accepted
Could supplies have been launched to Columbia?
No.
There was a faint, if-everything-went-right-and-they-decided-to-take-the-risk possibility of speeding up the launch of the next shuttle to rescue the crew. Probably not a realistic possibility.
...
- 178k
8
votes
Accepted
Which current (2016) ISS resupply vehicles are human-rated, and how many astronauts can they each support?
At the moment, the only man-rated vehicle, in the sense you mean, is Soyuz.
However, all the visiting vehicles that dock to the station have to be man-rated in a sense, since they become station ...
- 79.3k
7
votes
Is Landsat-7's propellant resupply port "robot-ready"? (Restore-L mission)
My reading of the Aviation Week article on this seemed to suggest that while Landsat-7 was not designed to be refueled, when they looked at its design, they found a fuel line, they could patch into ...
- 79.3k
4
votes
How much fuel is being consumed by all spacecrafts in orbit?
BOE: 1000 active satellites, launched with 3 tons of fuel+oxidizer each for an expected lifetime of 15 years is 3000/15=200 tons of fuel+oxidizer needed per year.
Note: 3 tons is too much, as many ...
- 126k
4
votes
Accepted
Are pressurized cargo ships to the ISS depressurized before leaving the station?
This is not done, but I couldn't find a definite reference for you. NASA has chosen not to publish recent ISS checklists. It's also hard to prove a negative, but for what it's worth, here is a fairly ...
- 178k
3
votes
Accepted
Why did ESA retire the Automated Transfer Vehicle, instead of developing it into a crewed spacecraft?
I too am an admirer of the ATV and wish it had been developed further. I remember watching the ATV-1 "Jules Verne" mission at JSC and the "Houston, there's an X-wing requesting ...
- 178k
3
votes
What is the standard supply target for the ISS?
Source: Space Logistics Modeling and Simulation Analysis using SpaceNet: Four Application Cases
A mission manifest from September 2010 through December 2015 was created using unofficial launch and
...
- 54.9k
2
votes
Is Landsat-7's propellant resupply port "robot-ready"? (Restore-L mission)
I would expect that if a satellite had no special design for in-orbit propellant transfer then the initial list of options would centre around the normal ground propellant supply interface, normally ...
- 9,414
2
votes
What is the limiting factor for cargo throughput per launch to the ISS?
The most simplified answer I could give you is to make it as compact and light as it needs to be. To my knowledge there isn't a standard checklist for items being sent to the station, there is ...
- 949
1
vote
Will SpX-DM1 (Crew Dragon demo mission) carry any useful cargo (supplies)?
I saw a presentation by Elon Musk where he said they would be carrying cargo on the demo flight, but cannot find the reference right now.
- 79.3k
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