derekdotspace.bsky.social
239 Launches and Counting! Freelance spaceflight photographer catching each and every ride to orbit he can.
Check out my work at derekspace.com
He/Him
403 posts
1,176 followers
99 following
Regular Contributor
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Oh I need to know how she did the scales on the arms. I've been getting in shape to do a Bucky Barnes cosplay next time I go to a con and I've been trying to find a good way to do the arm and that looks fantastic!
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It's the humidity kicker that makes it brutal to be out and about here in the summer! 70% isn't a joke!
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*sighs in Florida*
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Following his comments in support of the skinny budget and not supporting Gateway/SLS continuance, while Congress was clearly and significantly against that very likely killed off any momentum he had within not just Congress but the GOP as a whole.
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That was quite the show to watch when driving home tonight that's for sure
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I understand the feeling. I took up spaceflight reporting because I enjoyed it originally, but it is really hard to enjoy it when there is a constant parrot cycle with no actual work being done to see past the press releases. I can't say I'm perfect about it myself but I try my best where I can.
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The presentation also provided no update for the 4 billion dollar lunar lander SpaceX is providing for NASA's upcoming Artemis III mission.
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ULA and Kuiper aim to ramp up their launch rate significantly this year, reducing the turn time between Kuiper launches to as a few as 4 days, though the companies expect the standard rate to average around a launch every 10-14 days.
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It appears that it was cancelled, the link now goes to a 404 page
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And sitting in Florida right now is NASA's rocket that's going to take humans to the moon in February.
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Given the fire in the aft and the overheating raptor seen in the aft section I tend to agree.
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Yeah you got me with that one lmao
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What Larson did was really bad, but at the same time he did genuinely put in the work to educate himself and earn his way back.
I highly recommend reading some of the interviews with the people he worked with during his suspension from NASCAR.
apnews.com/article/spor...
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As a longtime fan of the sport, it's actually been really nice to see how NASCAR's leadership has handled things in the modern era. They've stuck to their morals hard, especially with banning the confederate flag and strong penalties for members who make derogatory remarks about race or LGBT+ etc.
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The previous deflector, which was used on Artemis I, used a "scale" system of plates to assemble the full deflector. While these worked, the ridges caused more erosion than expected resulting in a redesign of the plates.
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Kuiper doesnt deploy at Vulcan's lowest available orbit, which is ~200x200km at 28 degrees, it deploys at a ~450x450km orbit at higher inclinations.
A standard VC6 can only do ~24mt to the Kuiper orbit vs the 25.7 for KV-1. KV-1 will also not be maxing out the performance to evaluate the new stage.
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I still can’t believe I was able to see and photograph the Aurora here at Cape Canaveral that night!
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Of note that number includes the S-IVB stage and its propellant after orbital insertion. The payload on Apollo 17 weighed “only” 48,600kg.
Notably that is still a gargantuan number.
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ULA’s been quietly building up a very large stockpile of vehicles during the past year, as far as they are concerned as soon as each payload shows up, they can move straight into launch flow.
📸 @torybruno.bsky.social
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Yes! It’s a ~35,000lb decrease in propellant load that allows for a similar increase in payload performance!
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While rockets do use carbon based fuels, their overall impact to carbon emissions is miniscule compared to almost any other major transportation industry.
Any impact they do have too is also massively outweighed by the direct impacts to decrease emissions from science payloads they launch.
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Image Credits:
Post 1 and 3 are my own photos
Post 2 is from ULA
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However before that flies, ULA is expecting to fly another Atlas V Kuiper mission and a pair of Vulcan rockets for the Department of Defense.
This year for the company is focused on ramping up launch cadence, with ULA targeting being able to fly every 10-14 days by the end of the year.
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That launch, known as KV-1, will carry 45 Kuiper Satellites and debut a new version of the Vulcan rocket. That variant will utilize 6 GEM-63XL SRBs, and a new Centaur upper stage that features a smaller fuel tank to allow for increased performance to LEO.
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Oh that's a wonderful way to do a signature!
I'm always in a toss up on how to watermark my photos for public posting because I don't want it to take up much space, now I'm a bit jealous that we don't have the side of a canvas to use virtually 😅