Category Archives: Technology and Society

Business, Economics, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Space, Technology and Society

The Latest From The Lexington Institute

5 Comments

“Why is the USAF trying to destroy the launch industry?”

I may fisk this later, if I get time, but what a load of bull.

[Wednesday-afternoon update]

A response from Jim Knaupf:

Daniel Gouré’s op-ed “Why Does The Air Force Want To Destroy The Struggling U.S. Space Launch Business?” is inaccurate and misleading.

You don’t say.

[Bumped]

Business, Economics, Space, Space Science, Technology and Society

Mars 2018?

48 Comments

SpaceX dropped a news bombshell today, via tweets from Elon and other sources. Here’s the story from Eric Berger, Alan Boyle, Sarah Fecht, Loren Grush, and Jay Bennett. It’s a sample return from Mars using a “Red Dragon” (Dragon 2).

My thoughts: 2018 is ambitious, but not undoable. It depends on getting FH going this year or next, and what else they’ve been working on behind the scenes. I assume that 2018 is the next window that they think it’s possible to be ready for.

I’d like to see details. For instance, will Raptor be involved, or will it be an all-kerosene mission? The CONOPs chart at Popular Mechanics shows it as dual FH launch. I’d bet that they could do it with a single one if they bought a Centaur from ULA, but SpaceX doesn’t like to depend on others for space transportation. I assume this is part of the larger announcement they’ll be making in Guadalajara in September.

In other Mars news, NASA has just released what looks to be an interesting document on advanced technologies for Mars settlement. None of which are seriously funding (including the Senate cutting funds for Mars landing technology this week so it could shovel more good money after bad at SLS).

[Update a few minutes later]

Here’s the relevant Space Act Agreement between SpaceX and NASA, including how to deal with planetary protection protocols.

[Update a few minutes later]

Eric Berger notes the irony of the Senate cutting the tech budget for Mars landing in the same week as a private Mars-landing announcement. So it can fund a giant rocket that isn’t needed to go to Mars.

[Another update]

But wait! I thought private companies couldn’t afford space exploration!

[Update in the afternoon]

Here’s the story from Christian Davenport at the WaPo.

[Update a while later]

And here’s the story from Alex Knapp.

Business, Economics, Media Criticism, Space, Technology and Society

Reusing Falcons

16 Comments

SpaceX has just announced that they’re going to attempt to add another vehicle to their reusable fleet, with another landing attempt at sea early next Wednesday morning from the Cape.

Meanwhile, here’s the most comprehensive analysis I’ve seen so far of how much they can reduce cost and prices, but it’s based on a lot of assumptions.I found this curious:

Musk said the fuel used on a Falcon 9 is between $200,000 and $300,000. Reserving fuel in the first stage for landing adds mass to the vehicle and deprives it of performance, effectively carrying fuel instead of extra payload — a penalty that expendable rockets do not need to pay. Musk was addressing not the performance penalty, but the issue of fuel cost, which is a non-issue in the overall economics of reusability.

Actually, much of the point of reusability is to get to the point at which one cares about propellant costs. It’s expendables in which they are a non-issue.