Starship; Elon's Toy

SpaceX's ninth Starship test flight ended abruptly on Tuesday when the rocket experienced a "rapid unscheduled disassembly" — the company's favourite euphemism for "exploded." It's the third Starship test flight in a row to end in fiery failure, Elon Musk's space company having had a poor run as of late.

Nine flights, nine failures. The Muskian fanbois claim that SpaceX is making "incremental progress" and they claim that this is more efficient and cost-effective than the way that NASA does it.

Maybe so. But consider the opposite view: By the ninth flight of the Saturn V rocket, Alan Shepard was hitting golf balls on the Moon.

Jeebus, Boeing

The flight up on Starliner to the ISS was bad. As in between the devil and the deep blue sea bad.

Guess Who Can Launch a Big-Ass Rocket Without It Blowing Up Half-a-Dozen Times?

Blue Origin launched its massive new rocket on its first test flight Thursday, sending up a prototype satellite to orbit thousands of miles above Earth.

First flight and it went into high orbit. That's the adult way to do it: Engineer the shit out of and take the care of a professional to try to make it right the first time. Make sure it is all fit, including Stage Zero (the launch pad). That's engineering development in the spirit of the Wright Brothers, people. It's patient and reasoned development before trying it out.

Not just half-assing it and, when it blows up, say "well, we learned something." That's the juvenile way to do it.

Fascinating Science

A fox's skull has evolved to allow foxes to dive into the snow without injury.

Meanwhile, the recently-launched Europa probe to Jupiter is almost guaranteed to fail. About a thousand transistors in the probe are nowhere near as radiation-resistant as they were supposed to be, which is a big deal as Jupiter's radiation belts make ours look puny.

NASA is supposedly "betting on success", which is babblespeak for "we're hoping the goddamned thing doesn't break".

Why Musk Gave Trump $250 Million

It's looking like he'll get the corrupt old felonious fuck to cancel the SLS program, leaving Musk's SpaceX as a sole contractor.

It was clear that Musk wasn't giving him that money just because he liked the Orange Turd. But that's what campaign contributions are these days when given in large sums: Disguised bribes.

Musk Plays Both Sides

Besides sucking up to the TOFF, he's sucking up to Putin.

For national security reasons, we may need to nationalize SpaceX before he tries to move it to Brazil or some other country that he can buy.

What Passes for Good News for Boeing These Days

The Starliner didn't burn up on re-entry.

Boeing’s first astronaut mission ended Friday night with an empty capsule landing and two test pilots still in space, left behind until next year because NASA judged their return too risky.

Six hours after departing the International Space Station, Starliner parachuted into New Mexico’s White Sands Missile Range, descending on autopilot through the desert darkness.
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There were some snags during reentry, including more thruster issues, but Starliner made a “bull’s-eye landing,” said NASA’s commercial crew program manager Steve Stich.

Boeing insisted it was safe, but nobody at NASA seemed to be inclined to trust Boeing's word on that.

The next few flights should be made with people from the C-suite and the Board of Directors of Boeing. Let them put thier cushy asses on the line.

An Eight Day Trip to the ISS Turned Into an Eight-Month Trip, Thanks to Boeing

NASA decided Saturday it’s too risky to bring two astronauts back to Earth in Boeing’s troubled new capsule, and they’ll have to wait until next year for a ride home with SpaceX. What should have been a weeklong test flight for the pair will now last more than eight months.

I can't imagine how much this has upended their lives. Besides that, it also screws over the two astronauts who were going to ride that Dragon capsule to the ISS.

You can bet the farm that Boeing lobbied hard for NASA to fly the two astronauts back on the Starliner. Oh, they may claim they didn't and that they're good with NASA's decision, but the real world knows that's just bullshit and spin.

Boeing may fly again, but it'd be better with some crash-test dummies for the next flight.

Play Russian Roulette or Go to Space on Something Built by Boeing.

Boeing is operating the Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisisana and, basically, they are using unskilled or semi-skilled labor to build the rockets.

And NASA management doesn't seem to give a shit.

"According to Safety and Mission Assurance officials at NASA and DCMA officials at Michoud, Boeing’s quality control issues are largely caused by its workforce having insufficient aerospace production experience," the report states. "The lack of a trained and qualified workforce increases the risk that the contractor will continue to manufacture parts and components that do not adhere to NASA requirements and industry standards."

This lack of a qualified workforce has resulted in significant program delays and increased costs. According to the new report, "unsatisfactory" welding operations resulted in propellant tanks that did not meet specifications, which directly led to a seven-month delay in the program.

NASA's inspector general was concerned enough with quality control to recommend that the space agency institute financial penalties for Boeing’s noncompliance. However, in a response to the report, NASA's deputy associate administrator, Catherine Koerner, declined to do so. "NASA interprets this recommendation to be directing NASA to institute penalties outside the bounds of the contract," she replied. "There are already authorities in the contract, such as award fee provisions, which enable financial ramifications for noncompliance with quality control standards."

That's NASA-doubletalk for "We don't care and you can't make us." Each year, Boeing slips another year behind schedule. Which means that, at the current rate, the Heat Death of the Universe will occur before Boeing fulfils its contract.

The Biden Administtation seems to care not and neither does Gym Jordan and his crack-pack of investigators.

Boeing has to have some serious juice. And yes, it is as corrupt AF.

Gilligan in Space

When two American astronauts blasted off on a test mission to the International Space Station on 5 June, they were expecting to be back home in a matter of days.

But things didn't quite go to plan.

In fact, Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita Williams are still there, floating high above the Earth nearly two months later.

The pair - who are stuck indefinitely - now face the sudden prospect of missing the summer entirely and e.en spending Christmas and New Year in space.
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One potential option being considered, they said, is to attach the two astronauts to a mission that is scheduled to launch in September, and return them to earth with that mission in February 2025.

That flight to the space station will be made by a SpaceX Crew Dragon craft. The initial plan was for four crew members to be aboard, but two of the seats could be left empty if needed.

That plan would mean the astronauts would spend more than eight months – rather than eight days – aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

Boeing, of course, is trying to pressure NASA to stick the astronauts on the Starliner and bring them back that way. Boeing's reputation is on the line, but that's nothing compared to what will happen if things go pear-shaped on the return flight. If they kill the astronauts, Boeing's manned space program will probably be zeroed out by Congress.

That there is any thought, at this point, of bringing the astronauts back on Starliner is evidence of severe dysfunction, if not mental defects. Does NASA really want to risk losing another crew burning up on re-entry due to, in this case, a known problem?

Worst comes to worse, the commander of the Starliner mission should think hard about sending an email from the ISS if the decision is made for them to ride that turkey back with a one word response: "Unable." Yes, it would tantamount to mutiny. It would mean the end of the space careers of both astronauts.

Starliner should return from the ISS without a crew and point-down, if necessary. They should cram-train the heads of the program at Boeing and have them fly the next mission. If there is one.

The Gilligan Astronauts

[A]fter multiple return trip delays, NASA officials said [at the end of June] that the Starliner will remain in space indefinitely while they try to figure out what’s going on.

I don't know if anyone at Felonious Aerospace knows what's going on, you know, the company that crowed that they had so much experience at manned spaceflight.

I'm not up for it, but somebody like Weird Al ought to rework the theme song for Gilligan's Island to fit the crew of Starliner.

The Seattle Chicago Arlington Pooch-Screwers Keep Screwing the Pooch

Boeing received orders for only four new planes in May — and for the second straight month, none for its best-selling 737 Max, as fallout continues from the blowout of a side panel on a Max during a flight in January.

The results released Tuesday compared unfavorably with Europe’s Airbus, which reported net orders for 15 planes in May — 27 sales but 12 cancellations.

Meanwhile:

Boeing and NASA announced Friday night that mission officials are again delaying the Boeing Starliner capsule’s return to Earth from the International Space Station.

The announcement is only the latest in a string of recent delays. Officials have pushed back the Starliner spacecraft’s departure date several times after the vehicle — which launched Williams and Wilmore to the space station on June 5 — experienced some issues en route to the space station.

Officials did not immediately announce a new return date, but the space agency indicated the return of Starliner’s crew, astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, won’t come until July.

When Wilmore and Williams turn in for their sleep time ("night" being a tenuous concept in low Earth orbit), one wonders if they are pondering the choices they've made in life that took them into orbit on one of the biggest pieces of shit to fly on a rocket since Soyuz 1. And, you can bet that the last thing NASA wants is to see another manned spacecraft burn up on re-entry.

I don't know what the chances are of Starliner being jettisoned to burn up as space junk and those two astronaughts being stuck there until SpaceX can send up a Crew Dragon capsule with two empty seats, but they are definately non-zero. Even if Space Karen will be crowing about it until he strokes out.

No Dark Matter?

A study, published today in The Astrophysical Journal, challenges the current model of the universe by showing that, in fact, it has no room for dark matter.

I'm not a physicist. But I have been skeptical of the hypothesis of dark matter/energy ever since I first read an article on the subject.

("Read" is a bit of an overstatement. I usually couldn't get past six paragraphs in Scientific American before they might as well have printed the rest of the article in Swedish, for all that I could understand it. But I digress.)

Dark matter/energy always struck me as being a massive fudge factor. But, since I couldn't get through the articles on it, it made little sense to write the science magazines and suggest that this particular emperorer has no clothes.

Still, this is what science does: Look at the data, the observations, and try to come up with a hypothesis as to how things work. More data, better observational tools and then the hypothesis changes to accomodate that.

787s: Maybe They Won't Fall Out of the Sky. Maybe.

The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it has opened an investigation into Boeing after the beleaguered company reported that workers at a South Carolina plant falsified inspection records on certain 787 planes. Boeing said its engineers have determined that misconduct did not create “an immediate safety of flight issue.”

The crackerjack managers running Boeing set up a plant in South CArolina so that they could use cheaper and nonunion workers. It came out last year that Boeing's SC airplanes had quality problems. Well, no mucking fit. Setting up a plant based on low wages, cost-cutting and pushing product out the doors isn't a great idea for making blenders, let alone large jets.

Anyone who trusts Boeing to fairly investigate and correct this latest issue has a large amount of gravel in their cranium.

The smartest decision NASA has made in years was to not give Boeing a sole-source contract for their Starliner. NASA gave the lion's share of funding for that program to Boeing and a taste of it to SpaceX. SpaceX's Crew Dragon has made eleven flights to the ISS, Boeing, well, they have yet to get off the ground with people on board. NASA would still be stuck with flying crews to the ISS on Soyuz capsules if they had gone with Boeing.

Gulp. Going to Space in Something Built by Boeing

Launch around 2230 EDT

Scrubbed.

Odysseus Lands At Motel 6

A private U.S. lunar lander touched down on the moon Thursday, but contact with the craft was weak, company officials said.

There were no immediate updates on the lander’s condition from the company, Intuitive Machines.

Tension mounted in the company’s command center in Houston, as controllers awaited a signal from the spacecraft some 250,000 miles (400,000 kilometers) away, which arrived about 10 minutes later.

“We’re evaluating how we can refine that signal,” said mission director Tim Crain. “But we can confirm, without a doubt, that our equipment is on the surface of the moon.”

The lander, Odysseus, descended from a moon-skimming orbit and guided itself toward the surface, searching for a relatively flat spot among all the cliffs and craters near the south pole.

The old joke is that the south pole of the Moon is like Motel 6: Free ice, no atmosphere.

I don't quite get the enthusiam that people have for the Moon's potential as a base. Yes, it has 1/6th the gravity of Earth. But everything needed, except maybe water, has to be flung up to the Moon from Earth and nobody is really sure that there will be enough water to be usefu.

And even if there is, every swinging-dick of a lunar-capable nation will want a piece of it. We know how that goes here when there is a scarce resource everyone wants-- sooner or later, the guns come out.

Night Launch by SpaceKarenInc. Scrubbed.

Maybe from Vandenberg in an hour or so, flinging German spy satellites into polar orbit.



Nothing is sure when it comes to rocket science, though.

UPDATE: Scrubbed.

Uranus is Glowing

And it's a mystery.

We might get around to sending a probe to Uranus (and Neptune) before a century has passed since the Voyager-2 flyby. Or maybe not.

Boeing Starliner, Again

Boeing’s astronaut capsule faces more launch delays after the discovery of problems that should have been caught earlier, officials said.
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Until recently, the Starliner capsule was on track for a July test flight with two astronauts to the International Space Station, a planned trip that was already well behind schedule.

But final reviews uncovered issues with the parachute lines and other problems that were present on last year’s test flight with no one on board and, officials said, should have been caught years ago.

Some of the issues involve flammable materials, because the World's Most Space Companytm apparenlty forgot about the Apollo 1 fire. (Fun fact: The Apollo 1 capsule was built by Boeing. Well, actually North American, but Boeing absorbed them, so if Boeing can claim the MD-90 and the DC-3, they can damn well claim the Apollo capsure.)

Other problems "should have been caught years ago"... tell me again about Boeing's historic experience with manned space flight.

Eminently Foreseeable; SpaceX Ed.

SpaceX launched the largest rocket ever built for the first time on Thursday from its Boca Chica, Texas, spaceport. The Starship spacecraft, designed to fly people on a Mars mission someday, lifted off the launch pad then blew up in mid-flight, with no crew on board.

Now, residents and researchers are scrambling to assess the impact of the explosion on local communities, their health, habitat and wildlife including endangered species. Of primary concern is the large amount of sand- and ash-like particulate matter and heavier debris kicked up by the launch. The particulate emissions spread far beyond the expected debris field.

As a result of the explosion, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded the company’s Starship Super Heavy launch program pending results of a “mishap investigation,” part of standard practice, according to an email from the agency sent to CNBC after the launch. No injuries or public property damage had yet been reported to the agency as of Friday.

Anybody who had experience launching rockets more powerful than an Estes model rocket could have foreseen this. SpaceX launched a rocket that had a maximum thrust of two Saturn Vs. After engine start, it sat on the pad for six seconds, building thrust, and those nincompoops thought that they could get away with launching from a pad with no blast protection.

That suggests, at least to me, that SpaceX is operating on a Sillicon Valley mindset, rather than an aerospace mindset. The Silicon Velley mindset is to say "ecch, close enough" and if things blow up or people die, that's the price of progress. That includes doing things that anyone with even a glib understanding of things, would have said "no fucking way, dude."

When they start putting passengers on board SpaceX's Starship, Musk can go first. And you know and I know that he never would.