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Cygnus left the ISS!

Discussion in 'General Discussions' started by genuinemommy, Oct 23, 2013.

  1. genuinemommy

    genuinemommy Moderator Staff Member

    There's another cargo vehicle out there! This one is basically a waste barge. It launched from Virginia on an Antares rocket, docked with the ISS, picked up a load of garbage, and will burn up in the atmosphere over the Pacific.
    Here it is docking with the ISS - note the Canada Arm.
    [​IMG]

    News story:http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20131022/SPACE/131022004/Cygnus-completes-first-visit-ISS?nclick_check=1
    Fact sheet: http://www.orbital.com/NewsInfo/Publications/Cygnus_fact.pdf

    Do you care?
    Do you see this craft from Orbital as a competitor of SpaceX?
    What does this mean for the longevity of the ISS without the Shuttle program?
    Share what you know of Orbital Science Corp's space program.
     
    genuinemommy, Oct 23, 2013
    #1
  2. Xerxes

    Xerxes Bulking.

    Yes! I am going to mindfuck and abuse my first born son so he can run for public office. This shit is getting too old with the stupid govt. focusing on stupid issues like CISPA or the debt ceiling instead of focusing on dwindling resources and research and development.

    Not really, both of them may be similar but they serve different purposes.
    I have no idea, will get back to you on that one.
     
    Xerxes, Oct 23, 2013
    #2
  3. snowy

    snowy so kawaii Staff Member

    A college buddy of mine works for Orbital, so yes, I'm interested in what they do. He worked on the project for the Minotaur V, which launched LADEE. I'm sure MSD has much more to say.

    Competition is good and healthy. However, I'd love it if we'd invest more money in NASA. We need to remember that companies like SpaceX and Orbital wouldn't be around if it weren't for our investments in NASA.
     
    snowy, Oct 23, 2013
    #3
    • Like Like x 2
  4. MSD

    MSD Very Tilted

    Location:
    CT
    It's a shame that NASA has their love affair with daytime launches, makes them harder to see from the coast. Daytime is great when you're watching on TV, but holy shit that Minotaur launch of LADEE was one of the most beautiful things I've seen.

    I've already taken my ambien, so I'll answer more deeply tomorrow. I was thinking about starting a spaceflight thread for TFP, this is a good start and may grow into one. I watched a rocket launch yesterday on the Internet!
     
    MSD, Oct 27, 2013
    #4
    • Like Like x 2
  5. MSD

    MSD Very Tilted

    Location:
    CT
    Do you see this craft from Orbital as a competitor of SpaceX?
    Not really. Just like the Russians have Soyuz for manned launches and Progress for cargo, I see Cygnus and Dragon filling the corresponding roles in the short term. As far as pure performance and cost efficiency, I expect that SpaceX will be top dog, but you don't want to limit supplier diversity too much with space launches (and the money will always be spread around with commercial launches to keep the defense contractors who build the rockets happy.) A few years down the line we'll probably see the Boeing CST-100 flying, and Dream Chaser seems to be doing pretty well despite yesterday's crash -- it was caused by temporary landing gear rather than something intended to be a production part.

    What does this mean for the longevity of the ISS without the Shuttle program?
    The ISS has a limited lifespan anyway. Unless something changes drastically, somewhere in the next 5-10 years the Russians are going to shake hands with the rest of the ISS team, say "nice working with you," and boost most of their orbital segment to a 70° inclination where it's easy to launch to from Plesetsk. The US will either run their modules until end-of-life then deorbit them, or relocate them to Earth-Moon L1 or L2. I'm leaning toward the latter because that way the people in Congress who demanded SLS can pretend it's useful for something.

    Share what you know of Orbital Science Corp's space program.
    That's going to be a big post, I'll write it later.
     
    MSD, Oct 27, 2013
    #5
    • Like Like x 1