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.
...
- 174k
10
votes
Accepted
Why do we have so many different spaceships to refill ISS?
Essentially each country who has agreed to send such spacecraft wants to build their own spacecraft. This is most noted in US/ Russian, but is to a lesser extend to European/ Japanese partners. ...
- 121k
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 ...
- 78.9k
7
votes
Accepted
Where are the COPVs on Falcon 9's second stage?
On the Falcon 9 v1.0 that was used for the first 5 launches, they were down around the engine area, and required insulation and protection from the engines.
In the move to Falcon 9 v1.1 and the ...
- 78.9k
6
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 ...
- 78.9k
4
votes
Where are the COPVs on Falcon 9's second stage?
While @geoffc explained where they are, I'll explain why they are there. These tanks contain very high pressure helium. Helium is a very difficult gas to store, and as any gas, storing works best at ...
- 121k
4
votes
Does the cargo type to ISS differ between different carrier spacecrafts such as Progress, Dragon, HTV, Cygnus?
Progress is built around the same basic design as the Soyuz, three modules. Propulsion is much the same. The Orbital module at the other end, docks to the station and has cargo the crew removes. ...
- 78.9k
4
votes
Why do we have so many different spaceships to refill ISS?
Diversity is good, as recent history has shown.
With the failure of Cygnus, Progress, and Dragon, there is still an HTV due to launch with cargo.
There is national prestige involved, and while ...
- 78.9k
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 ...
- 123k
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 ...
- 174k
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
...
- 54.3k
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 ...
- 174k
3
votes
Why do we have so many different spaceships to refill ISS?
ESA and Japan are partners in the ISS venture. As such, they are supposed to contribute to the operating cost of the station. They have chosen to do this in the form of resupply flights. This gave ...
- 123k
2
votes
How could the proposed floating base in the atmosphere of Venus receive supplies?
I think we can assume the problem of landing is solved by having bases there in the first place. The NASA HAVOC suggestion has ships inflate balloons quickly after entering atmosphere, thus they float ...
- 606
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 ...
- 939
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.
- 78.9k
1
vote
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 ...
- 9,234
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