A Few Photos From Secretive Blue Origin: Is That a Crew Capsule? 70
RocketAcademy writes "Among the emerging commercial space transportation companies, Blue Origin is the most secretive and mysterious. A VIP tour by NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver afforded a rare glimpse inside Blue Origin's headquarters, including a look at what appears to be a Blue Origin crew capsule."
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Autism research is just another gravytrain, as well as an excuse to proudly announce "My child is different and special".
Given that that which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence, allow me to be the one to declare this as complete bollocks. Thank you.
Re:Looks like a Soyuz capsule (Score:5, Interesting)
Seriously - maybe they bought used components or are just ripping off the design to stay relevant?
My thoughts as well. Bear in mind that the Soyuz TMA is probably the most successful manned space craft ever. More of them have flown than anything else combined. They power the manned programs of Russia, China and India.
Sort of the AK-47 of the space capsule world.
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Checkoff?? Surely you mean Chekov. You may turn in your geek card.
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Sort of the AK-47 of the space capsule world.
You mean that it's going to be popular with insurgent, revolutionary and terrorist space agencies?
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You spelled "freedom fighter" wrongly.
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And right now it's powering the USA's space program too. Without the shuttles, it is currently the only man-rated launch vehicle operating.You want to get to the ISS? You're going up in a Soyuz
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Until Boeing gets the CST-100 built, or SpaceX uprates their Dragon capsule, or if the Chinese want to let you fly in one of their Shenzhou [wikipedia.org] spacecraft. Orbital Science is also working on a crew-rated capsule too.
Still, since the ISS partners don't trust China for trips to the ISS, the Soyuz spacecraft is pretty much the only way to get there at the moment.
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Sort of the AK-47 of the space capsule world.
Yeah, occasionally something jams
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Re:Looks like a Soyuz capsule (Score:4, Interesting)
It makes sense actually, orbital reentry presents some pretty demanding engineering challenges, and your options are basically to try something completely new or clone a time-tested design. The Apollo/Gemini/etc style conic capsules have history on their side, while the Soyuz was designed to have an extremely high volume-to-surface area ratio (closely related to the ever-important volume-to-weight ratio), while providing good lift and air control (a sphere would be purely ballistic).
Then there's space-places like the shuttle, which is basically a one-of design at this point in terms of repeated use, and doesn't have the best track record. It's also been criticized for making some serious design compromises to enable it to do a lot of things that it has rarely if ever actually done.
Other variants like SpaceShipOne are interesting, but only really relevant to suborbital flights - getting up there is the easy part, going fast enough to stay up takes the other 90% of the energy, and without a heatshield you also need to carry along enough fuel to slow down again instead of letting atmospheric friction do the work for you, more than doubling the fuel requirements.
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I don't know if the SpaceShipOne design is necessarily inappropriate for orbital spaceflight. Certainly some other way to get more velocity is needed (like perhaps a significant booster engine being used by Stratolaunch) and there would need to be some sort of thermal tiles added to "SpaceShipThree" resembling what was done for the Space Shuttle. The "shuttlecock" re-entry mode thought up by Burt Rutan has some interesting characteristics which would be very useful to at least explore in terms of how much
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You still need to dump energy getting down. That is why heat shields get so hot, as it is the atmosphere + shield which is absorbing all of the kinetic energy of the spacecraft on its way back to the surface.
An alternative solutions has been proposed by JP Aerospace [jpaerospace.com] with an alternative launch + reentry vehicle design that uses airships rather than rockets. It seems like a really crazy idea as it is something that nobody else has even considered and doesn't really have anything to be used in comparison. S
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The problem with the airship/balloon concept is that while it can get you above most of the Earths atmosphere it doesn't actually get you anywhere close to orbit. Think of it this way: since they depend on buoyancy balloons can only approach the edge of the dense atmosphere - about 60km above sea-level, but to maintain a stable orbit you need to be above the thin atmosphere as well - any orbit below 200km will rapidly decay. Moreover the real killer is speed - in terms of just the raw energy delta needed
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I would suggest you look at what JP aerospace is proposing. The interesting thing is that they are working on propellers that can work at very high altitudes for thrust, and their long-term plan is indeed to use airships for travel into orbit, not just high altitude locations. They are fully aware of the delta-v requirements, and it is a part of their business plan and development model for their vehicles to get there.
Yes, a simple balloon like a weather balloon is not going to get you there, and those fo
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Ah, It seems that when I skimmed their site I spotted their publicity stunts and missed their actual plan. That does look intriguing, though I have my doubts about whether the second suborbital-to-orbit stage is feasible - my gut tells me that if the air is dense enough to support an airship then traveling through it at several km/s is going to be a challenge, but it could well be wrong.
If they're really going to test the high-altitude prototype soon that will be one to watch...
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Speed is a much bigger issue than you're thinking, reaching 60km (the so called "edge of space") only takes ~10% as much energy as it does to then reach orbital velocity (~8 km/s). Reentry has the same problem - there's just no way to do it gracefully - sure at 60 km the ultra-thin atmosphere will cause your orbit to gracefully decay... right up until you get into the thicker lower atmosphere, at which point you suddenly realize you're traveling at about Mach 23 and the front end of your craft is beginning
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There are ways to make re-entry possible without the traditional ballistic re-entry process that currently is being used. You need to manipulate your overall density and engage in some flight dynamics that haven't really been explored to any significant degree, so it really is bleeding edge science. In theory you could ride something appearing like a surf board and be able to attempt re-entry without a capsule (something seriously considered for emergency situations for crewed flight in orbit) and you may
That is a Spacecraft, sir (Score:3)
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we do not refer to it as a "capsule"
I see. Care to then correct the other folks who would disagree?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_capsule
(you might also note they use the word "spacecraft" as well on that page...)
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Re:That is a Spacecraft, sir (Score:5, Funny)
Ehm, sorry to break it to you, but it is better if you don't comment, since you haven't got the Right Stuff...
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Is it a red capsule or a blue one?
It isn't really a spacecraft (Score:2)
Let's be serious, folks. Sierra Nevada did a captive carry test, in which they took their model and dragged it around on a helicopter for a while. Blue Origin might not have gotten that far. Meanwhile SpaceX fully qualified their cargo solution, has a contract to carry real cargo, and is working on the manned version. So far, exactly one of the companies mentioned has a spacecraft.
Re:Won't work (Score:4, Insightful)
I fail to see the entertainment value in going up in an uncontrollable firecracker to go float around a cramped tin can for a few minutes.
I fail to see the entertainment value in sitting for hours on a worn sofa shoveling salt and sugar into one's mouth for hours... As with the evening Couch ride vs the Rocket ride, it's the view that's important, not the vehicle.
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If there were so much demand for these types of trips, there would be a lot more private jet fighters since a few decades.
The last time I checked, the Classic Jet Aircraft Association reported over 300 jet warbirds in private hands.
Just because you aren't interested doesn't mean nobody is.
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If you read the article, you'll find out that the company was stopped for political reasons. On one hand, the fear that knowledge about building missiles could get into some African countries where the company had testing facilities, and on the other hand political pressure from some powers that didn't want Germany to have their own long range rocket technology.
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and on the other hand political pressure from some powers that didn't want Germany to have their own long range rocket technology.
Given they pretty much invented it, it seems ironic on one hand and yet totally understandable on the other...
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I fail to see the entertainment value in going up in an uncontrollable firecracker to go float around a cramped tin can for a few minutes.
Since that value exists despite your failure to see it, maybe you ought to educate yourself first before commenting further. It's got to be one of the top five annoying Slashdotter traits, that if I can't see how to do something, then it must not be possible.
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Prototypes (Score:2)
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And yet interested enough to post in the discussion thread about it; curious. The summary says it's a space transportation company, what else did you want to know? Of course, you were probably in such a rush to post your lame-ass comment that you didn't read the summary either.
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And yet interested enough to post in the discussion thread about it; curious. The summary says it's a space transportation company, what else did you want to know? Of course, you were probably in such a rush to post your lame-ass comment that you didn't read the summary either.
Ah yes, the Anonymous Coward weighs in. It was pretty easy to imagine that it was space related, but it would have been nice to have a little more detail.
Just tossing in my 2c about article writers who presume that everyone knows the little things they know about.
Sort of like when someone starts a "Why doesn't everyone want linux on the desktop?" thread where everyone debates the technical merits, while not realizing that its a solution in search of problem, and that the technical details aren't relevant.
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...someone should have mentioned WTF "Blue Origin" is. Apparently its so secretive, I have no idea as to what it is. Not interested enough to find out either...
Yes, we do a shitty job of reporting information, like leaving out large portions of "what the hell is this and what does it mean", and thats worthy of a -1 troll rating.
I used to think the group moderation scheme was a good one, but apparently many people don't understand how it works. You see, a 'troll' is when someone posts something wrong or unnecessarily inflammatory, with the primary intention of riling people up.
Reporting a story saying "Wow, this is really exciting!" without saying what it is, or w
Background information (Score:1)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Origin_New_Shepard [wikipedia.org]
The purple thing is a capsule for BO's reusable suborbital rocket "New Shepard". BO got some money from the 2009 era stimulus package for some minor development work related to it. It is the "composite pressure vessel" mentioned in the wiki link. The capsule sits atop the vertical take off/vertical landing reusable suborbital rocket, and separates in the event of an accident.
The biconic capsule in the third picture was part of Blue Origin's entry for la
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What "stimulus money" did Blue Origin actually get? I'm curious and calling your bluff as I don't think there is any.
Looks very Soyuz-ish (Score:2)
Oh well. I didn't think the US was actually serious about manned spaceflight anymore.
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Of course they're going to do EXACTLY the same thing with Space Travel that they've in the process of doing with The Internet (ie wait till it *really* gets going well then do their best to completely STIFLE it with regulations-and-taxes).
After all, the true measure of successful governance is MORE REGULATIONS AND TAXES, isn't it?
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To quote Burt Rutan on the topic:
I think he was quoting some other bloke, but I tend to agree that is general philosophy of governance in America and most of the rest of the world.
We are right now in sort of a "golden era" of spacecraft construction, where anybody with a few million dollars can slap together a rocket and go into space with a minimum of regulation. Sort of like how the automobile industry was like a hundre
Secretive like a consumer tech company? (Score:3)
There's only one obvious reason for a spacecraft company to be secretive. They're involved in a top secret military project.
Then again, maybe Blue Origin is trying to be the Apple Inc of the space transport biz. Except that Blue Origin's chief financial backer is a web billionaire named Jeff Bezos. So maybe Blue Origin is trying to be secretive like Amazon?
Maybe BO has figured out a way to bring down space fares to a new low, a Kindle Fire among the iPads of the launch industry? That, or JB is trying to cover up the lack of progress.
Re:Secretive like a consumer tech company? (Score:4, Funny)
Maybe BO has figured out a way to bring down space fares to a new low, ...
Sort of an unfortunate acronym, really. Though I imagine things get pretty high in a confined space where several people sit for a few days, under stress and can't open a window...
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There's only one obvious reason for a spacecraft company to be secretive. They're involved in a top secret military project.
Then again, maybe Blue Origin is trying to be the Apple Inc of the space transport biz. Except that Blue Origin's chief financial backer is a web billionaire named Jeff Bezos. So maybe Blue Origin is trying to be secretive like Amazon?
Maybe BO has figured out a way to bring down space fares to a new low, a Kindle Fire among the iPads of the launch industry? That, or JB is trying to cover up the lack of progress.
Maybe its really Black Origin then?
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There's only one obvious reason for a spacecraft company to be secretive. They're involved in a top secret military project.
Well, that or a lack of significant achievements. When you don't have a viable product available there isn't much point in blowing your own horn, is there?
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There's only one obvious reason for a spacecraft company to be secretive. They're involved in a top secret military project.
Then again, maybe Blue Origin is trying to be the Apple Inc of the space transport biz. Except that Blue Origin's chief financial backer is a web billionaire named Jeff Bezos. So maybe Blue Origin is trying to be secretive like Amazon?
Maybe BO has figured out a way to bring down space fares to a new low, a Kindle Fire among the iPads of the launch industry? That, or JB is trying to cover up the lack of progress.
the secrecy is to douse flames that NASA is paying them for nothing.
simple? (how is it a private company when it's money source is NASA contracts, which seem to be much like in fashion like when building Apollo.. plenty of parts were done by outside companies, usually defense contractors)
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the secrecy is to douse flames that NASA is paying them for nothing.
simple? (how is it a private company when it's money source is NASA contracts, which seem to be much like in fashion like when building Apollo.. plenty of parts were done by outside companies, usually defense contractors)
The money that NASA gives Blue Origin is peanuts for their operating expenses. Most of the money is stuff they get straight from Jeff Bezos and from a few private contracts they have received over the years. It certainly is disingenuous to suggest that NASA is the only source of money and that this company (by implication) is living off of the teat of government largess due to a couple fairy god-senators.
Jeff Bezos is trying to build a company which will be doing stuff in space. The long term goal is to b
So *that's* what YoYoDyne has been building. (Score:1)
Next stop - Planet Ten.
So, (Score:1)
What did this 'arcticle' show or say that hasn't been really, really old news for a really, really long time?
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Mainly that the capsule isn't just a concept on paper but that "metal is bent" and the capsule appears to be moving well down the path of becoming something real that may fly in space. Far too many companies don't even make it that far, so it is an accomplishment to be noted. Bending metal costs serious money and doesn't really give you an immediate payoff for having done that. It tends to separate out the scams from serious efforts trying to get into space as well... or for any other similar kind of en
Will Be the Cost Leader in Space Travel (Score:2)
But Astronauts must click through an ad to get to the guidance and control system.