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Because the first stage booster called the Super Heavy has 35 engines, the speculation is that it wouldn’t be ready for an October launch so the orbital launch Elon is referring to must be an SSTO using the Starship only. Bob Clark

Starhopper test livestream: Bob Clark

Perhaps there wouldn’t be so much concern for the launch by officials if it didn’t have such a, shall we say, unfinished, appearance: Bob Clark

Elon Musk says SpaceX’s Starship can land on the moon by 2021. By Trevor Mogg — Posted on July 18, 2019 10:45PM PST https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/spacex-elon-musk-says-starship-can-land-on-the-moon-by-2021/ Bob Clark

:thumbup: B.C.

Drs. Gil Levin and Patricia Straat were interviewed on The Space Show Saturday: https://www.thespaceshow.com/show/24-may-2019/broadcast-3320-dr.gil-levin-dr.-patricia-ann-straat https://www.thespaceshow.com/guest/dr.-gilbert-levin https://www.thespaceshow.com/guest/dr.-patricia-ann-straat...

ESA's Callisto reusability testbed as an *operational* TSTO and SSTO. https://exoscientist.blogspot.com/2019/05/esas-callisto-reusability-testbed-as.html Key questions that need to be answered for this to be feasible: 1.)What's average Isp with altitude compensation? 2.)Extensible nozzle...

The latest NASA budget suggests the Europa Clipper, an orbiter mission to the Jovian-system to study Europa, won’t fly on the SLS, but instead on commercial rockets: https://mobile.twitter.com/SpcPlcyOnline/status/1105131948903747584 However, instead of just an orbiter mission, by using...

Thanks for that. I had forgotten that a lander was under consideration. Bob Clark

The idea is discussed here: https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/04/nasa-chief-says-a-falcon-heavy-rocket-could-fly-humans-to-the-moon/ But the article seems to be saying contradictory things. It is both positive and negative towards the idea. Also, I can’t tell if the FH carrying the Orion...

Ariane 6 is scheduled to launch next year and I haven’t seen any article giving the core stage length. Bob Clark

Wikipedia gives the propellant mass for the Ariane 6 core as 140 tons compared to the 170 tons of the Ariane 5, while they have the same diameter of 5.4 m so I assumed it would be shortened. Wiki doesn't give the core stage length for the Ariane 6. Bob Clark ---------- Post added at 09:44...

NASA has just announced they want to send manned flights to the Moon within 5 years. The plan has been to use the SLS for such flights as a launcher comparable in payload to the Saturn V, ca. 130 tons to LEO. The problem is this would require the Exploration Upper Stage(EUS) for the SLS, a large...

Le CNES et ArianeGroup s'allient pour étudier un lanceur réutilisable. https://www.lesechos.fr/industrie-services/air-defense/0600743132085-le-cnes-et-arianegroup-sallient-pour-etudier-un-lanceur-reutilisable-2246691.php If you open this link in Chrome you can get a Google translation. Glad...

Thanks for the link on the Callisto. It will be quite small at 15 meters long and 1 meter in diameter. Since it will be hydrolox propellant that means less than 4 tons propellant load. That's far too small for the Vulcain engine. Perhaps they will use the HM7B hydrolox upper stage engine. It...

ESA's methane-fueled Prometheus engine is scheduled to begin testing in 2020. The engine's designer believes it could be used to power the Ariane 6 instead of the Vulcain: https://spacenews.com/ariane-6-could-use-reusable-prometheus-engine-designer-says/ Conceivably then you could have a...

Agree with you they should have used a liquid fuel engine from the beginning. I was trying to find engine specs on SpaceShipTwo but they weren't available. I was only able to find them on SpaceShipOne here: SpaceShipOne. Propulsion was by a SpaceDev hybrid rocket engine, selected after...

Interesting article on the lab grown meat issue: ENVIRONMENT Will 2019 be the year of lab-grown meat? After years in the lab, will meats derived from animal cells finally break into the mainstream consumer market? The products could have huge implications for the planet, human health and animal...

Recently announced that India plans on launching a manned space mission in 2022: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/India_to_send_three-person_crew_on_landmark_space_mission_999.html If ESA followed the approach to the Ariane 6 of using a second Vulcain on the Ariane 5 core, it could have a...

Nice discussion there of the fact steel would be better for thermal protection. But I’m surprised he didn’t mention that some newer metal alloys simply are better at strength-to-weight than carbon composite. That Elon described the choice as “counter-intuitive”, and said the metal to be used...